Hello stompoutbermuda, This is really quite a coincidence as I rarely visit the landscaping forum, but just happened upon it a couple of days ago. From what I can see of the mountain range in your pics, and I could be wrong, but it appears as though we are practically neighbors. :-) If so, I live in the neighboring town maybe 7 or so miles east of your location. I agree with the poster who said you've got a 'diamond in the rough' there. I'm in my 50's and have lived in this area for nearly 40 years, and have seen many a beautiful desert oasis built in the area where it appears you are. :-) Not being a fan of snakes either, lol, I feel safe to say that in the many years I've spent in the high desert, and many hikes out in the desert, I have seen rattlesnakes as many times, or less, than I can count on one hand. They are shy creatures, not aggressive, and while dangerous, they are an important part of the desert community. We would be overrun with rodents otherwise. And I also agree with the poster who said king snakes, roadrunners and hawks are natural predators who help to keep the rattlers at bay. I'm afraid it's a waste of money, effort and time to try to create a snake proof fence. Your best bet is to accept that they are a part of the community - walk with loud but cautionary steps around hiding areas where they may be, and carry a long stick with you if you need to poke around in an area which may be a hiding place for them. If I may offer a few suggestions, for what they are worth...? :-) Line your fence line with oleanders and cypress. Both are drought and wind resistant, are green all year round, and the oleanders offer beautiful and colorful blooms this time of year. Yes, oleanders are poisonous, but one would have to actually consume many leaves, or breathe the fumes of burning plants to be in danger. Many, many homeowners in this area have oleanders on their fence line for a windbreak, and I have yet to hear of anyone becoming sick as a result of them. I've raised two children here in the high desert and now have several grandchildren enjoying the slow pace and beautiful sunsets over the Sierras. :-) As far as gardening, there is no reason why you can't realize your dream of having a productive garden. I say this as I just went outside and picked several ripe and juicy tomatoes from my plants. I visit gardenweb often and lurk, but I believe this is my first post as it pertains to something I actually know a little something about. LOL. Enjoy your new home, you really do have a diamond in the rough. It sounds like you have some great ideas to create your little oasis. Please pardon me if I have sounded presumptuous. Sincerely, satura

Hi, The white chairs are actually a cream or linen color, and a dirty one at that. The red is imitation velvet. Most of the spots can be wiped clean. The one finial is missing, and so are some of the cross bars on the legs. These chairs are imitations. The black ones are some sort of plastic. They kind of smack of one of those chinese restaurants with nice tablecloths. All of the chairs have been used a lot and may have been in restaurants. If they don't sell quickly, we'll make them into flower pot chairs and sell them that way, or put them back on the curb and make that HAHAHSnort noise that Pattico suggested, lol. We won't need binoculars, because most of the yards here aren't as big as most of yours. There is so much stuff around here. If this were an area where they're picky about what they'll take, I'd be searching for places that the stuff gets dumped, including the legal dump. If it can't be put on the curb, it has to show up somewhere, LOL Linda

Thank you to all who took the time to read my long, novel-like chronicle of symptoms and suspicions. Already working on the cutworm collars...and I had called the exterminator even before I wrote my diatribe. He layed traps. Only one mouse thus far. Oh...and I did start on my own personal comost pile earlier in the summer. But these pictures I put up were of garden #1, during the summer. I bought two cubic yards of the best compost our local landscaping/nursery man carried. I was lucky that my husband just happened to take me to pick it up because I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA how much I had purchased. I about died when I went outside from paying for compost in the office to see a large tractor dumping the last scoop full of it into the now overloaded bed of my bewildered husbands big Silverado truck! (see picture...which is only half of what I bought. The first half was put out front!) Honestly, I thought it would be a few bags similar to what I had purchased at Home Depot! Talk about a newbie! At any rate, all of that has been tilled into the garden now before I even planted for the cold crops. I already have sprouted brussel sprout seedlings waiting to be planted again. It is not due to stop raining here until Sunday; if the ground is not too soden, I will plant them and the others that are ready then, place collars on anything that remains, and then put chicken wire tops on everything until they outgrow them. Now, after all this sage advice, I guess it could have been birds after all. Blue Jays? Now those I WOULD see every morning, along with smaller sparrow-type birds, in their busy little worlds, pecking away in my garden, while I opened the cupboard to make coffee. I usually let my dog out to pee pee and she would make a beeline for them. But who knows how long they were pecking away in there and how big some of them were earlier in the morning hours. Maybe even an owl or larger bird? But I think those are dedicated carnivores. (When I lived in Santa Barbara I once saw a hawk swoop down and carry off a pigeon. It was devastating to me. Poor bird. I am so grateful to be at the top of the food chain. But the seagulls will snatch whole sandwiches out of your hand while you are busy admiring the ocean. So I know that birds take things, sometimes heavy things, up into the air and away. Maybe a 2 1/2 watermelon plant? ) Still a bit baffled. But the collars and cages are coming out until the plants are big enough to survive. This post was edited by lindsaybev on Thu, Nov 20, 14 at 13:26

Ilima--Nature and beauty will always win in the long run. I'll be rooting for you and your garden. How can people muck up such a bit of paradise as Maui with such a thing as the plastic house?