What *is* the predator of the slug or snail? pazzaglia asks. Snakes eat slugs. Here in the Northwest, where our snakes are not poisonous, they do more for the garden than not. I jump/scream every time I see them, yet realize they are hard at work. We have watched them swallow a large slug. The slug mucus's up and must be like swallowing dry dirt clods. It takes an hour or more for him to get it down his throat...a discusting display, yet very interesting. Once the slug is gone, his face is sticky and he wants to clean it up so he whipes his head all over the groud trying to get the goo off. Sometimes other snakes come to the feast wanting the catch..I'm not sure why as I live in the slug capital. There is plenty to go around. Idea: fill a spray bottle with water and add about 1/4 cup plain ammonia. Spray under the leaves of plants where you see the very smallest slugs, snails. The solution will kill them and the nitrogen will aid the plant. Oh, hte best preditor is MAN!! Smiles, D.....

My tomatoes, beans, squash, and cucumbers are virtually gone thanks to some critter. I have found no tracks or traces (bunny poop). I checked at night and saw no signs of worms, snails, or other insects. Whatever it is has done significant damage. I've gone from about 100 bean plants down to a half dozen. Strange thing too is I had string between stakes for the pole beans to climb and something broke (or gnawed through) three of the lowest strands of string. My giant garden is almost gone.

I'm gardening in Santa Monica and going for a more drought tolerant garden while keeping roses in the mix. I haven't been checking the forums for a bit and I'm sure I'll echo many recommendations already made, but I like the following so far: Lavenders of all sort, but especially Fern-leafed in tighter spots. Eschscholzia in a myriad of colors. Platystemon californicus. Annie's carries this absolutely charming California native. It has lovely light yellow flowers that close up at night. It looks great right now for me. I really love this annual/companion. It's definitely for the front of the border. Penstemons in darker purples, blues -Marguerite BOP amongst others- and red. They can fill out nicely. Salvia of all sorts. I like gregii hybrids for sunnier spots, but check out the selection at Annie's. It is terrific! Cerinthe. I love the blue-grey-green foliage and purple flowers. It's very easy from seed. Centranthus or Jupiter's Beard in pink/red and white is all over my garden. It spreads almost to the point of invasiveness, but it looks good with little water and the volunteers are easy to rip out. I like the way certain ornamental grasses blend with roses. Smaller Pennisetum, Calmagrostis, Bouteloua, and Deschampsia varieties can be blended with roses and other drought tolerant plants fairly easily. Nicotiana mutabilis is very low maintenance and low-water for me. It looks great Spring-Fall with tall stalks of multi-colored flowers. Limonium -statice or sea-lavender- comes in all sorts of colors besides purple and is very easy to maintain with little water. I like the apricot and white varieties a lot. I really enjoy variegated Euphorbias like 'Blue Glacier' and 'Tasmanian Tiger.' They can lend much needed foliage interest and form very shapely mounds. Columbines fare a bit better in light shade for me, but I love to grow them. I have a Rosa rugosa alba in light shade under planted with black/dark purple columbines that looks wonderful right now. Eriogonum or buckwheat can be mixed at the front of drought tolerant borders with great success. I like E. latifolium and E. grande v. rubescens a lot. The former has terrific light pink flowers if I recall correctly and the latter red. Some dwarf Correa varieties look great with roses. The common name is Australian Fuschia. They bloom in winter/spring and require little water. Consider South African bulbs that go dormant in the summer when there's little or no rain here anyways. Ixia, Aristea, Ferraria, species Gladiolus, and others can be unbelievably beautiful and very drought tolerant. Lewisia looks terrific in Spring in containers or in areas where it won't be covered up since it is quite short. Check out Annie's Annuals in Richmond for plenty of ideas if you haven't. I can't tell you how many wonderful plants I've seen on their site that I wish I could have ordered without thinking about it. Being able to go in person removes the need to save on shipping and you can see their demo gardens with mature examples of most of their offerings. Jay

Okay, so I'm not a "country girl". But I think you are being very unfair to the OP. When one builds in the country, one accepts many things but I don't think snakes slithering around ones house need to one of them. If one has dogs and cats, snakes can be a real danger to them. Learning what to keep away from being directly up against the house (a pile of firewood) an other things only makes sense. May who live in the country, fence off a smaller area for their dogs - they don't want them out of sight in the woods for innumerable reasons. There is nothing wrong with this. And there is nothing wrong with trying to snake-proof that area as much as is reasonable. I remember the Six Flags opened outside of St Louis - it was in what was then (nearly 50 years ago!) a very rural area. Copperheads were a major problem and people who visit theme parks don't expect to encounter them. The local newspaper had articles on all that they did (deep fencing, snake repellent) to keep snakes out of the park. It did not always work, and a child was bitten by a copperhead. He survived but I"m betting there was a huge lawsuit. Some people just don't like snakes and I'm sure one. Since I was a child, I will NOT sit down on a toilet without first looking in the bowl. Somehow as a very small child, someone must have told me a story about a snake coiled in the toilet biting someone. It's just an image I cannot end. I had a snake in my garden pond a few years ago, and it undid me. I'm not terribly fond of spiders but don't scream. If a mouse startles me, I am "startled" but again, no screams. If I saw a snake in or directly outside my house, for me it would be like that common nightmare where one wants to scream and is too terrified to get out a sound. I'm human - I have my frailties just like everyone else. Mine happens to be snakes.