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

Old dry studs are really hard, sometimes too hard to hammer a nail or screw a drywall screw without a pilot hole. If you are not using an air nailer, I recommend one. You can adjust the depth to get it just right. If the air nailer will not set the nails all the way even at it's deepest setting, or some of the nails get bent over, you are using too long of nails. For 3/4" trim with 1/2" drywall, use 2" nails if the studs are old and hard, but use 2 1/2" nails if the studs are new and still soft. If you are not going to use an air nailer, try drilling pilot holes 80-90% of the fastener length and then hammering the nails in. Pilot holes are not just for screws.

The nail puller will make large gouges on each side of the nail head when it is hammered in to get a grip. A drilling hammer (small hand sledge in the 2-4 pound size) and a metal punch that is the same size or barely larger than the nail head will get them in most likely on all nut the hardest of woods. If you want it to look nice, it might be worth trying to center punch each nail head then drill the head off. It is one of those things that the less work to sink them, the more work may be required to repair the surface. To a certain extent the floor might be considered so damaged that it is only worth tearing it up and installing a new floor. And I love old floors.

Hammer, nails, and nail set----making sure the nail set is the correct size for the finish nail being used(I have three different sized nail sets.) Since you already have the nails, it will be less expensive to buy a nail set---or a nail set set(A set of three or so different sized nail sets). You want to use a smooth faced hammer as well. There is a chance you will miss and dent the wood----but, with a pneunatic nailer there are several bad things that can happen as well----all worse than dented wood trim. Nail blowouts split the wood, or can stab fingers. Nails not buried far enough---a real bear to sink when that happens as most small nail sets are too large for air finish nails. Predrill just the trim, that allows the nails to go in easier as well as protecting from splits.