Rhizo; Some of my squirrel problems my have been blown over by yesterdays's tornado many of the giant oaks in my neighborhood were blown over. The one in my backyard that would have blown over onto my house was not Sheerly by dumb luck. Two weeks ago Lowes had stepping stones on sale I bought 114 of them with no idea what I was going to do with them and when I stacked them around one side of the base of the old oak tree just to have them out of the way lucky for me it was on the side in the direction from which the storm came. The stepping stones weigh over 20+ lbs. each you do the math. I use a modified for the south / poorman's version of Al Tapla's 5-1-1 mix which is similar to your bonsai mix that I mix myself. What is the brand of potting medium that you are using I would love to find something good already mixed???? I agree watering is also an art to be mastered if one is to be successful in containers my problem is that I have added so many additional containers each year that it is starting to get out of hand and with the hotter and drier summers we have been having. It is my fault I never met a flower pot I didn't like I also will be getting alot more sun on my gardens this summer and I was just starting to really like Begonias and they seemed to like me. I guess roses my have to take their place. My tongue in cheek joke used to be if I ever wrote a gardening book it would be titled " Gardening in the shadow of a giant oak" LOL It has taken me 20+ years to figure out how to use the shade to my gardening advantage and how to deal with the root intrusion into my beds. In a matter of seconds four of them lay toppled like dominos. Family

Cat Deterrents for your Garden: Keep in mind that each cat is different (like people), what works for one may not necessarily work for another. On the plus side, most cats will keep pesty squirrels, moles and other critters out of your garden. They're great for keeping out moles, rabbits, squirrels, and other critters which can do more damage in your garden than a cat ever will. Birds aren't stupid, they watch for cats and stay away. Sometimes natural law comes into play and the quicker animal wins, it's natural law. If the cats have owners, talk to them without being confrontational. The cat owner who allows his cat to damage other peoples' property is as guilty as the cat hater who kills the cat for trespassing. Remember, cats will be cats, and it is unfair of us to blame them for being what they are and how nature intended them to participate in this world. After-all, we praise them when they catch mice or rats or other creatures we deem to be 'pests'. * amonia soaked (corncobs, etc) * aluminum foil * bamboo skewers * black pepper * blood meal fertilizer * bramble cuttings * Carefresh - "recycled" wood pulp * catnip - donated into your neighbor's yards (so they'll stay in their own yards) * cedar compost * chicken wire (metal or plastic) * cinnamon * citrus peels * citrus spray * cocoa bean shells * coffee grounds -fresh & unbrewed, not just a light sprinkling (highly recommended by MANY Gardenwebbers!) * dogs * electric fence for animals * essence of orange. essence of lemon, lime (citrus essential oils) * fresh manure(ditto) * garlic cloves * gumballs from the Sweet Gum Tree * gutter covers * hardware cloth * heavy bark mulch * holly leaves * keep the area damp, they like dry soil * lavender * liquid manure (good for your garden too) * motion sensor sprinkler * pennyroyal * pinecones * pipe tobacco * plastic forks * predator urine * red wine vinegar * river rocks over the exposed soil * rocks, crushed * rose bush clippings * rue, an herb (Ruta graveolens) (highly recommended in plant form only) Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler (do a froogle.com search or www.safepetproducts.com) Shake-Away Domestic Cat Repellent Urine Powder (do a froogle.com search or www.safepetproducts.com) * short twigs throughout the planted area about 6" apart * six-inch bamboo skewers (pointy side up) * Spray on your leaves (not the cat): fill a spray bottle with 1/2 t chili powder, 1/2 t cayenne pepper, 1 t dish soap and water * squirt gun with water * talk to your neighbors * tansy * thorny berry, lilac, hawthorn, rose clippings * toothpicks * upside down vinyl carpet * vinegar sprayed on areas where they roam * water bottle on "stream" NOT RECOMMENDED: *** chili powder, red crushed pepper, cayenne pepper (NOT recommended), it gets on the cat's paws then they wash themselves and they get it in their eyes, beware cats have literally scratched their eyes out because of this. Even if it's one cat out of 500 infected in this way, that's one too many for me. *** Don't ever use mothballs or flakes. Those little toxic waste pellets destroy cats' kidney function, could seriously harm people who handle them, and yes, contaminate your own garden soil. Their packaging even warns against using them this way. Give them their own areas: (To keep them out of where you don't want them) (If you don't mind them protecting your garden from other critters) + pick the cat up and bring it to eye level with the plant to see and smell it up close. She noted that once her cat has seen and sniffed at the plant, she usually doesn't bother with it later. + give them their own plants - i.e., pots of grass for her to chew on and a place in a large planted container on her balcony with some miscanthus grass in it (the cat likes to curl up in that for some reason) + if the cats are strictly indoors and attracted to your houseplants, grow catgrass for them. If someone forced you to remain inside one enclosed structure all your life, you might be attracted to the plants too. + Barley Grass + Any type of "catgrass" from the pet store + Carex elata 'Bolwes Golden' but put it in some shade + Catmint Nepeta mussinicultivars (Simply put, Catmints are Catnips without any culinary or feline use. In any case, they are, however, phenomenal, long flowering, hardy perennials that belong in every fairie or flower garden.) + Catnip Nepeta cataria (in your own yard) The oils of which also work as a mosquito repellent that works 10 times better than Deet! Catmint is the common name for all varieties of Nepeta. Catnip is the common name for the specific variety of Nepeta called nepeta cataria, which is the variety that cats are most attracted to. + Cat Thyme (Teucrium marum) + Flax + Oat Grass + Jacob's Ladder + Lemon Grass + Loose soil and mulch like small bark mulch + Mints + Purple Fountain Grass so the cat lays in the long leaves all day. Maybe put something in that the cats really like and - you know cats won't winky were they like to hang out. + Sandy area + Silver vine (Actinidia polygama) + Striped Ribbon Grass (can be invasive) + Sweet grass + Trificum aestivum (type of cat grass) + Various Varieties of Cat Mints (Catnips) + Wheat Grass + Wheat Berries + Valerian This list compiled by Violet_Z6, email at violetgw@care2.com for comments and suggestions regarding this list.

Well Pieter, I always thought the squirrels were digging in my pots because it's the easiest thing to dig in and it's near the food source (the birdfeeder). My garden has quite a bit of tree roots so digging in the pots where the soil is light and airy is just perfect! I recently freshed up a small area in my front yard. While I was digging there, I saw a squirrel with something in its mouth coming right for my garden patch. When it saw me, it stopped dead in its tracks! I knew it was thinking "what the hell is she doing there!" So it then decided to go across the road to a neighbor who completely re-landscaped their front and back yard. Nice fresh loose soil over there! Lindalana, I don't have this problem all season either. It is mainly in the spring and the fall. I also have to keep the pots a good distance from the birdfeeder. Never heard of that ConnieMay. Seems simple enough to do though.

I remember when I was first gardening I tried the chicken mesh thing - laid it down in the fall after planting. Don’t know what I was thinking but by next spring I wanted to remove it after the shoots had already started pushing through and I ended up pulling out a good deal of my precious while doing so. So not really good for my purposes. The other thing is that the mesh may stop them being able to dig down to the bulb - but doesn’t stop the buggers from snapping the neck of the flower just as it about to open.