Don't ask me about the furry animals, but the pests in my vegetable garden last year were turned away by plain old white baking flour. My 3rd grade daughter sprinkled it on a cabbage she was growing for a school project and the bugs left it alone. I tried it on my tomatoes, too. I didn't have to use it on my flowers and would be more hesitant to if the white powder made the blooms look bad, but to save the plant I would do it. My daughter also got rid of black ants. She took a bottle of tobasco sauce and poured it down every hole she could find. They relocated out of our neighborhood. Think of the stories those ants are telling their children! Beware of any remedy that includes vinegar.. While it's not a chemical, it's often acidic enough to eat through the leaves and destroys foliage. If your soil needs help there are natural recipes. Mine isn't on this computer or I'd include it. One I read included a can of regular Coke, a can of beer, saltpeter, and a few more items I found strange. I sprayed it on and it did wonders. If you have areas you want NOTHING to grow, instead of Roundup or some chemical use a heavy dose of salt. Of course, as with Roundup, be careful where you put it. In the "olden days" (I've heard) dish soap used to have phosphate in it and if sprayed on the lawn would kill the worms that wrecked the smooth grass. In the spring if there are areas you don't want anything to grow in try the salt and/or cornmeal. The cornmeal has to be worked into the ground, but it prevents seeds from germinating. Don't put it with all your seeds or your flowers won't come up, either because it stops ALL germination. I haven't figured out how to work it into the soil in an effective way, but I'm thinking about it.

I've had a problem with raccoons getting in my garage. I've had to call for professional help, in July of this year another one got in my garage. So since I had some unused Bell and Howell sonic pest repellents, I thought I would try using one but I wanted other options also besides paying for a professional to come out. I found an article that suggested you can use organic apple cider vinegar or ammonia. Soak a small rag with either item, place in a paper bag punch holes and place near raccoons location. That I wasn't going to do. Yes I was too scared. So I soaked old sponges never used and too them in the garage. I plugged in one sonic repellent in less than 30 sec I heard the raccoons moving around. I placed my soaked sponges in areas around the garage and out of there very quickly. Went in the house and closed the garage door, waited around 15 minutes, raised the garage door and the raccoon came running out. So was it the ordor or the repellent. It worked no racoon even coming around my garage. Cost $0 had everything I needed in my home

I recently followed the ammonia suggestion...and it worked fast! During daylight hours, I poured about a cup of ammonia into all openings less one. Within a few MINUTES, the ground hog poked it's head out the non-ammonia scented opening, looked about a bit and went back down into it's cave. A repeat treatment the next day, all openings this time, revealed that it had abandoned the home beneath my 8x10 shed. But, to be sure, I continued the treatments daily for 5 days in all holes, then filled in dirt to all but one hole. Seeing no re-excavation and feeling victorious, I then filled in the final opening and thought all was done. Within in a week, it was back and had re-excavated! Not dissuaded, I started all over employing the same tactic, which worked again to drive it off. Since then, I have dirt-filled the holes again and added one more step aimed at prevention: I pour ammonia around the base of my shed, about one cup per side, every day or so. Almost a month has passed with no more signs of the unwelcome squatter. As winter is not far off, that groundhog will find another place to be. When Spring arrives, I'll be watching for a re-visitation, ammonia in stock and ready to pour. As an added bonus, it seems the chipmunks, who ran commune around my shed, don't like the ammonia much either!

I do own a .410 shotgun and have used it when desperate. After 35+ years of gardening I pretty much have developed methods to make my gardening easier. First is a fenced-in garden with quarter inch hardware mesh along the bottom. Lots of traps of all sizes from havahart cages to rat traps to mousetraps, baited with apples. I use a can of soapy water to tap insects into, and have learned how to squish pest bugs faster than they can escape. I gave up growing corn because of pests and space. I plant only deer/rabbit-proof bulbs, flowers, shrubs outside of the fence. I cried enough over eaten plants. Experience and lists of plants tell you what works in your area. When there are no bears in the area I sprinkle dried blood all around which keeps deer away. I don't use smelly sprays because I am sensitive to bad smells. I gave up on root crops because of tunneling varmints and buy my organic beets and carrots at the markets. I grow a lot of greens and peas, tomatoes, cukes, leeks, garlic, herbs, etc. and have some pests at some times and bounty harvests at other times. Every year is different depending on conditions. Decide what you want to get out of it. Nice flowers? Some veggies? A relaxing place to work? A place to get rid of your energy and calm your nerves? Tailor what you grow to that. After trying various plants and pest controls, I have come up with what makes me enjoy my garden with no poison and relatively few problems. There is no such thing as a pest-free garden, so when you can accept that there will be days when your plants get chewed or you have to set traps, that will be when you start to enjoy being out there. Take time to smell the roses, watch the birds, and enjoy the play of nature in your garden from a seat.