I have used the castor beans dropped down into holes in the ground and it is hard to say if it works. I did it this summer when the pine voles started traveling underground through pre-existing gopher tunnels (the cats got all the gophers, but the voles are mostly active at night when the cats are safely inside for the night) in the new garden area, eating the roots of a fig tree and the roots of tons of perennial flowers and annual veggies and herbs. The voles seem partial to the roots of lantana and fennel. Now, I have a lot less lantana and no fennel at all, but have quite a few castor bean plants that sprouted and grew from the castor bean seeds that the voles did not eat. So, did it help? It is hard to say. Damage seemed more sporadic after I started dropping castor bean seeds in the holes left each time I removed a plant that died because all of its roots were eaten. Based on how many of the beans sprouted and grew, I don't think the voles actually ate the beans. The damage to the garden plants never stopped completely though. When you have acres and acres of woodland, you never will get rid of all the voles because that is their habitat. I'm not convinced the castor bean seeds work, but they work at least as well at repelling the critters as the castor oil sprays do. I don't have much gopher experience. The cats control them, and the cats try to control the voles when the voles are foolish enough to appear in public in daylight, but I think we'll always have voles. From now on, when I plant fruit trees or perennials or some of the vole favorites like fennel in the back garden plot, I'll plant them in gopher baskets made from hardware cloth to protect the roots. Most of the people I know near me who have sandy soil and who have lots of gophers have pretty much switched to growing in containers. The number of gopher mounds that pop up out of the ground is those areas just blows my mind.

I suggested the name for your troll but I certainly don't deserve any credit. Tonto always called the Lone Ranger - Kemo Sabe which was supposed to mean 'faithful friend' in his native language. It just seemed to fit your troll perfectly. I'm so glad he's been your loyal companion, he's taking good care of you and Jammer too.

Hi Carnevale. HOE is one of my favorites. When I first received it I loved the blooms but it was kinda floppy. After a couple years it got much sturdier. There still some low canes that get floppy but the majority are sturdy. The fragrance is lovely. She has great repeat, one of my fastest. Her disease resistance is great but I do spray. She gets about 4x4. She's an all around great rose. Here's some I cut the other day. Take care, Judy

Our family found a different solution. Our children live in the PacNW; usually we go up there to visit them. But a few years ago we had our get-together here. We have a very small home, two bedrooms and baths; the only other place to sleep would be on an air mattress in the living room. Not doing that at my age. So we had the house cleaned spic and span, all polished up, and stocked the fridge (all of them are excellent cooks) and I also made welcome baskets with goodies for each son and wife and our DGS. Assigned the front bedroom to DS1 and DIL and the master suite to DS2 and DIL and DGS, with its adjacent laundry room. For ourselves, DH and I took a comfortable room in a nearby motel, thereby putting the sons and families together in comfort, but no one squashed anywhere. We would come to the house between 9 and 10 a.m.i, and have an all day visit, going here and there, then dinner either at home or out together. Then around 6 - 7 p.m. DH and I returned to the motel for a long relaxed evening of unwinding and having some quiet. It was wonderful! We all agreed that it was one of the best family visits ever! We did this for 5 days and no one got tired of anyone else and there wasn't a single harsh word...We hope to do it again this year. I would allow my sister (if I were lucky enough to have a sister) and niece to be comfortable with their sleeping plans, and would not fret about being together 24/7.