Emerogork2, what lovely bulb flowers you have! If mine turn out half as beautiful as yours next spring, I'd be happy. We are back from the nursery. This is our plan: - 1/2" chicken wire underneath the bulbs - "basket" style (soil would, of course, be layered first on top of the wire, then bulbs); - 1" chicken wire on top of the soil, then add mulch to cover it. A nurseryman advised us to get garden staples and we bought some before seeing pitimpani's post. We had an "aha!" moment and wondered why we didn't think of a simpler solution such as bricks, but I guess it's part of being a newbie gardener. We will still use a few bricks and save some staples for the future. Thanks a bunch to all! What a wonderful forum.

I have a friend that makes all natural beauty products. She does everything from soaps to repellants to lotions. Here's the web addy www.forclaudiassayke.com. I love her stuff. It smells good and safe for the kids. You can even use it on infants! And it won't sting on cuts of in eyes (when they wiggle while spraying:)I know it's not plants but until you find something check it out.

Um, yeah, those cats will likely die since they will be no longer fed by somebody. I do understand how it is to have somebody's cat mess up your stuff, my own mothers cats do SO MUCH rotten and FOUL peeing on everything and using plant beds as litter boxes, I can't even have my room door open because they will pee on everything, as favorite is my computer monitor. I do love animals and really hope that somebody will feed them wherever they end up. I live at home with my mom, so, it is HER house, so, I just have to deal with it. I do feel bad for those neighbor feral cats, they will likely die if they are away from people who may feed them, cats that have been fed are used to it, and maybe most haven't got hunting skills at all. BTW, MULCH will attract kitties to pee and poo in it. My mom's have done it all the time.

Cedar mats really well and is my favorite. That over the paper should work. Just a thought - when we needed to obliterate the thistle/bindweed in my yard, we solarized using black plastic and rocks to hold the plastic down. I have *never* seen a trace of either weed in my yard since (well, except for a few thistle babies that come up along the fence line from the neighbors' yard!). This does sterilize the soil but if you wait a bit and work in some compost, leaf mold, etc. you'll be able to plant in it next season. We just used black plastic from Home Depot and weighed down the edges with rocks without burying them. We left it on all through July and August. You may not need to go to that extreme but I am grateful every year as I de-bindweed my front yard that we nuked those suckers in the back! :) http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/soil-solarization http://www.hortmag.com/weekly-tips/qa/solarizing-soil Good luck!