12 Pcs Gopher and Vole Wire Baskets 5 Gallon, Plant Root Gopher Baskets for Underground 3 Gallon, 1 Gallon Root Guard Stainless Steel Wire Mesh for Gopher Repellent, Plant Protector

It's hard to bash these just as much as it's hard to give them a stellar 5-star review because there's not much here to actually rate or comment on. I do have some critical observations however.I got an assortment of different wire "baskets" (really just tubular wire mesh cut and crimp-sealed on one end) in a black plastic bag; some of them were wrapped in individual clear plastic bags within the black plastic and some were just loose. Some look "clean" and some look a bit oxidized. On the whole, it feels very random and honestly I'm not even sure these are new... but then if I went to a steel yard and bought a steel I-beam, I wouldn't complain that it was dirty and didn't come in a nice box, either!I think they're fine and I think they're fit for purpose... need to await Spring for just a bit longer and then we'll try them out. They feel pretty coarse all-in-all (in both a literal and figurative way) so if they work, great. If they don't I'll just move one. I can probably find other random uses for miscellaneous stainless steel mesh squares.But here's my closing comment: are these worth almost $40? Absolutely not - no way! I ordered these thanks to the Amazon Vine program so I'm not going to cry over the tax value cost I absorb, but if I did spend $37.99 on this, I would have returned them in a heartbeat, honestly. Not because they are "bad" but just because what they are is so un-special that they are priced inappropriately.

Material is made of metal, so chewing through would not be a problem. However, the design is difficult to use because the bottom is not cut to the cylindrical shape, but rather just welded together, causing distortion to the case. It would be more useful if a cylindrical bottom were welded to the side. I fought with this cover for a while and gave up on using them.

We have a big ground squirrel problem and these seem to do the trick to keep them from eating the roots

I love the wire mesh concept.Don't know why, but I expected this to be shaped to be compatible with a plant's root system/ball.It just isn't, it has the shape of a freezer storage bag. It needs to have a more onion shape with the widest part near the bottom.I may be able to salvage these by using them to protect some of my fruit from the squirrels.My original plan was to use these to protect my potatoes from all my underground critters. I don't think the potato plants would be happy in these.Might be able to use these with rutabaga, turnips, or beets, but my critters don't usually bother them.I wouldn't recommend using with carrots, as carrots put down a long tiny root that swells into the carrot. The tiny root would likely go right through the wire mesh (unless perfectly centered), embedding it in the carrot.

Good range of sizes, and I don't see how anything will get thru them.This fall may be interesting to dig them back out once all the roots grow thru them.