Don't despair just yet. I checked a fact sheet from Rutgers (NJ) Cooperative Extension, "Landscape Plants Rated by Deer Resistance" and this is just a fraction of the plants listed: Annuals rarely damaged: Snapdragon, angel's trumpet, dusty miller, cleome, larkspur, snow-on-the-mountain, heliotrope, sweet alyssum, forget-me-not, nicotiana, poppy Biennials: Common foxglove (digitalis purpurea) is rarely damaged; seldom severely damaged are sweet william, money plant and forget-me-not. Bulbs rarely damaged: Allium, bluebell, snowdrops, daffodil. All ferns seem to be rarely damaged. Groundcovers rarely damaged: Lily of the Valley, sweet woodruff, others Lots of ornamental grasses are listed as rarely damaged. Perennials rarely damaged: Monkshood, anise hyssop, wild and European gingers, purple rock-cress, baptisia, threadleaf coreopsis, corydalis, bleeding hearts dicentra eximia and d. spectabilis, hellebores, dame's rocket, iris, lavendar, statice, rose campion, forget-me-not, peony, Russian sage, pulmonaria, garden sage, lavender cotton, lamb's ear ... And a whole long list of others seldom severely damaged. Shrubs rarely damaged: Heather and heath, daphne, caryopteris, broom, pieris ... and a long list of more seldom severely damaged. Vines seldom severely damaged: American bittersweet, winter jasmine and wisteria. That's just a taste; there are six pages in all! Below is a link to the Rutgers site for this publication; you might find it easier to download and refer to the PDF version, as the plants are grouped a little more clearly. Latin names are provided as well. As others have said, your house has wonderful bones and Linda did a great job with Photoshop. What fun it will be (as well as hard work) to make your dreams for your home and yard a reality. FYI, at the front of our house I did create a little garden similar to the one you originally proposed. It is between the driveway and the front door, southern exposure, and was to be my "winter garden" ... but then we built a pond in the back yard and now we seem to gravitate there no matter what the season. It's still a lovely, welcoming spot, though. Please do keep us posted ... I'll be looking foward to seeing some updated photos when you're ready. Here is a link that might be useful: Plants Rated by Deer Resistance

Well now... I do live in California and hope to get this piece into a gallery somewhere...right now it is hanging on my covered deck. My niece's portrait went to live with her so this took it's place. It is finished. Don't plan to grout the tg. I like the way it is. Thank you for all your nice comments. Right now I'm hanging out in Montana with son, dil and new grandbaby Evelyn. It is so fun here, they are outdoorsy type and we take a hike in the woods everyday. They are determined to help me lose lbs!!!

Shooting is not an option on the table here. From the town: Thank you very much for the information you provided to the coyote reporting system. All reports are recorded in a GIS database with relevant details so we can use the overall data to determine if there is any highly unusual activity that may require further action. The reporting system is one of the pieces of a comprehensive strategy to help deal with coyotes in the town. Wildlife falls under a “grey” area of responsibility and while it has generally been the province (through Ministry of Natural Resources) who has dealt with many of these issues, this is no longer the case and the town has taken measures to address coyotes to the extent possible. The Humane Society doesn’t generally deal with wildlife unless the animal is sick/injured or in distress. Coyotes have emerged as a highly urbanized animal and have been living in cities/towns across North America for many decades, including our town. They are not necessarily nocturnal (so seeing them during the day is not unusual) and they live well on just about any type of food, including garbage, bird seed and fruit although their preferred diet is small rodents and they play a key role in keeping these populations under control. They prefer to keep to themselves but are highly adaptable and have adjusted to being in close contact with human settlements. Urban and suburban areas provide great spaces for them to live due to the abundance of food sources such as garbage and rodents. While they prefer wooded areas, they can find hiding spaces almost anywhere. Fortunately, contrary to popular belief coyotes have a very high safety profile with people and this is backed up by extensive statistics and research. In our town, we have only had one relatively minor incident with a coyote nipping a girl (2012), otherwise there have been no reported issues in Halton Health’s records (if a bite or scratch is received by an animal, doctors are required by law to report). In the few cases where individual coyotes come into conflict with people and start displaying aggressive behavior, they are almost always linked back to feeding issues. When people feed coyotes (either on purpose or inadvertently), they become accustomed to seeing people as a food source and will come closer and start approaching to access food. Part of our strategy involves using coyote reports to track behavior and look at where clusters of problem behavior are occurring. We can then do targeted investigations to determine if feeding is an issue, and if so to do outreach and if necessary employ fines (through the Parks By-law and/or Property Standards By-law) to ensure feeding of the coyote is stopped. In the few cases where this has occurred, this approach has been successful and the problem coyote behavior has gone down. Some coyotes in this area have become fairly accustomed to human activity, particularly if they associate food with people and do not encounter any negative reinforcement from human interaction. However, even if they appear unconcerned, they are very skittish and will run at the first sign of any troubling activity such as yelling, shouting – things they aren’t used to. In the case of a coyote that is very used to human activity, it may even require running towards them – again, something they aren’t used to. “Hazing” coyotes when they become too comfortable in an area is a recommended way to discourage them from an area. When the coyote is spotted, this involves moving aggressively towards the animal, spraying them with a hose (if in your yard), throwing things towards (not directly at) them and making loud noises and doing this until they run away. Unlike other canines, coyotes are instinctively programmed to run if they are uncertain of something and this teaches them not to approach people. We have used this technique with good success and research supports this approach. While coyotes do not generally pose a risk to people/children, we strongly encourage pet owners not to let their dogs off leash as per town by-laws and the signage in the trails and parks. Smaller pets (both cats and dogs) are perceived as food by coyotes and larger dogs may be seen as potential threats – picking your dog up while a coyote is present is a good approach as this significantly reduces the potential risk to the dog. Although coyotes will back away from conflict, during the spring and early summer they become much more defensive as they are raising their pups. Dens are usually well hidden and set back from human activity but if other animals approach, they’ll go after them to protect their young. If the dogs are off-leash this can cause significant conflict situations which is why we stress the importance of keeping pets safe when out in natural areas and not leaving pets unattended in yards. Sometimes, especially when people are walking their pets, they will notice that a coyote seems to be following them. This “shadowing” is normal behaviour but can be disconcerting. It does not mean the coyote is planning to attack, it’s simply the coyote’s way of keeping an eye on its territory. It’s important to note that in addition to the legislative, ethical and environmental reasons eliminating or moving coyotes is not possible, extensive research has shown that where there is suitable habitat it is impossible to keep coyotes out. Experience has shown that if coyotes are killed off/removed from an area, reproduction rates increase rapidly and more will move in creating unstable and more aggressive coyotes fighting for territories. Except in serious cases where an individual coyote is demonstrating aggressive/risky behavior, removing it is not an option.

Rob...please post it! blfenton...for you... Here's a railing for one of the houses I designed. My DH made it. Note: the base board went in later & the stairs are carpeted. The wood under it is mahogany/salvaged out of a bank demo. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ladypat......For you...my lower patio....