Outsmarting the tree rats (squirrels) around my house is a full time job. This past spring I hit on a new idea. When I plant a container I invert an empty wire hanging basket over the container and the plant gets sun and can be watered but the squirrels can't dig in it. Another idea: I bring in a lot of plants to "over winter" under lights in my garage. I have so many that it is hard to reach my hand under the lights (4 shop lights) to the middle for watering. So I bought a pump sprayer with a long wand and it works great! In late winter I add a little liquid Dawn detergent, few drops, to each gallon of water and not only does the soil get wet easier but the worms that are waiting to hatch into distructive pets just don't hatch. Don't know what it costs me to run those four shop lights all winter but I don't care. It is a small price to pay to be able to "garden" every weekend in the garage. Many people have mentioned that they mark their outdoor plants with a "permanent Sharpie". In my experience there isn't a "permanent Sharpie", they all fade and quickly too. A grease pencil/china marker or expensive "no fade" garden center marker are the only markers I have found that won't disappoint you by fading. Eight years ago I decided to learn about gardening so I tapped into my local library. I checked out nearly every book they had on gardening and learned so much. The Gardenweb forums are also a wealth of information and entertainment. There is always something new to learn and I appreciate all of you who take the time to write in your ideas. One last idea from me...I keep a small notebook on my computer table and jot down any idea I find that's new and I will want to try. Little pieces of paper get lost but I always know where my notebook is and also use it when I order "on line" so I will remember the name of the company and the order date. Tina or Trowelgal

We live on the edge of a wooded valley. At night the deer come out of the valley, through my yard and to the farmer's field next to our acreage. We have lived here for 13 years now and have had the 'privilege' of dealing with the deer. Like Cole, we also hunt and will eat deer meat but the hunting season is only on for a few weeks in the fall and there are too many deer here for us to eat anyways. Around the large garden at the end of our lane we put up an eight foot fence and it works 100%. We used stucco wire for the bottom 5 feet and then a single strand of wire each foot above that. Now I can grow raspberries, strawberries, peas, carrots, beets, lettuce, etc etc. In the yard closer to the house I had to do something else since an eight foot fence wasn't an option. When googling possible solutions I came across this fact...deer do not like the smell of the protein that is in eggs. One of the large wholesale nurseries somewhere in the States was using this solution with great results... Fill a 4 litre milk jug with water almost to the top and then add one beaten egg. Shake it to mix and pour into your sprayer. This solution will need to be added after each rain or heavy dew. Some recipes will ask you to add garlic, cayenne pepper, tabasco sauce, etc etc...but you don't need to go to the expense of adding them since it doesn't make it any more effective. I have also seen similar recipes call for letting the egg solution sit for a few days to rot so that the deer will be deterred by the smell of the rotten egg. Also, some recipes call for using 2-4 eggs in the same amount of water I use one in. The one egg per jug is all that is needed and works just excellent. I mix and immediately spray on as I am walking through the gardens, looking at what is blooming. If there is some left and it does sit for a few days then I spray the plants but stand upwind from the spray. Brenda

The rows of holes do sound like sapsuckers. Although related to woodpeckers, they are not going after insects in the tree, but the sap (hence the name sapsucker). You shouldn't have to worry about ants. I've seen a lot of sapsucker damage, but never heard of them going after conifers. I see them on aspen, birch, mountain-ash, and some small maples like amur maple. I would be surprised if they ate pitch from a conifer. Typically sapsuckers feed for a couple of weeks and move on. The small wounds they make can heal over, although if there are a lot of them - several rows - then there is the risk that sections of bark will die and more serious damage occurs. If the sapsuckers are actively feeding, they will return to the same tree several times a day. If so, it is time to try the beach balls.

1) do something about the bugs that the woodpeckers are going after. They don't make holes for the sake of making holes, there are critters in there that look like breakfast to Mr. Woodpecker. They don't make a hole if they are just drumming to announce their presence. 2) On my barn, which has been infested with winter moths under the shingles, I discourage the woodpeckers by sliding a piece of aluminum between the shingles to cover the hole, tacking it in place with a small SS nail. Hit it with a dab of red paint and it is not very noticeable. Getting the building weather tight and re-painting seems to have made it less hospitable to the moths. In one area I discovered a serious carpenter ant farm thanks to the woodpecker's attention, so it's not all bad.