Thanks all for the Replies. I forgot to mention that this is my first year gardening, so I'm a bit on the beginner side. My first gardening area just turned out too small, then the second area wasn't enough. So I made a third, fourth and a fifth. I have crops all over the place (they do look great). That is why the fence idea was ruled out, just too much ground to cover. The other day, I caught him going into my shed. I closed the door on him and tried to figure out how I was going to remove him without having to kill it. Well, next thing I know, he somehow pushed the shed doors open (it was latched) and escaped. I have a burrow in my yard, I believe that the shed and my yard is their vacation home. Their place of residence is my neighbors yard. I could always lay stone all the way around my yard, but I would need a lot. (its at least close to 1000 feet of fence. I'm going to get a trap and trasfer them to a much nicer place far away from my garden.

hi donno bout the animals, depends on if they eat thr plants i suppose. general soil mixes are: most sundews: one part perlite one part peat or pure peat (wet mix) vft: same as above american pitchers: same as above asian pitchers or australian pitchers: two parts perlite one part peat (well draining mix,they hate soaked roots) thats a rough guide. cheers sheldon

I am afraid I don't think this plan stands a chance of working. Dried mint leaves will not put off any animal imo and I fear you would be wasting your money. Besides which if the leaves are mixed in the soil they will decay in no time. But mint will not grow from dried leaves. It can only grow from stems or roots and even then not if they are totally dehydrated. So you have nothing to lose except the cost of the mint and your time.

I have an old terrarium thats probably about the same size as that. Mine is made of all metal though. I siliconed all the cracks in it and put the dirt and everything else right in it. If you seal the wood and silicone any crevices it should be just fine to put the dirt right in it. The only problem is finding a safe sealent for wood, but since the terrarium is so small I'll assume you won't be putting any animals in it, and as far as I know any sealents wouldn't harm plants (once dry.) I'll post a picture of my little terrarium tomorrow in the gallery, so go look there later if you'd like to see a picture of mine. I have a small bromeliad and palms, though they'll probably all out grow it eventually. I actually threw it together really quick, so I'll most likely end up re-doing sometime. I think for a small terrarium the simplier the better. I've always wanted to try a small bonzai in a tank and just have the substrate covered with moss. Perhaps a piece of drift wood. Have the substrate nicely hilled or something. You know, a zen-like, minimalist approach. Just an idea.