No, not unless you want to be replacing the entire wall in the upcoming months. If you want beneficial insects, plant a perennial flower bed nearby. Spiders live in your garden too, you just may not see them.

Leave them be. They may die out this winter but if not spring is the time to remove them if you still want them gone. Honestly, you probably won't notice them once you get used to them. I have fifty hives on less than one acre including twenty in my garden. I have yet to be stung without opening a hive.

Hi all, Palo Alto, California is just about what is considered the Northern end of Silicon Valley on the Peninsula side of SF Bay. Real Estate along Page Mill Road has the distinction of having once been the most expensive in the entire United States, topping Manhattan for a brief time toward the end of the 90s, just before the economic tech boom came to an end. For gardeners, the area has some wonderful places to go. The Elizabeth F. Gamble Home and Garden is located in the City of Palo Alto, at the corner of Embarcadero and Waverly. It is a working garden as there are several beds which are planted with a large variety of plants. The home itself is apparently a museum and the folks at Gamble provide classes on Gardening. The Gamble Gardens are a nice way for folks to see those flowers that bloom in Winter ( now ) and later, in the other seasons. The photos here should help to answer some of those questions about which plants flower right now, like this Iris ... Here's a shot of the Gamble Home, 'The Carriage House' ... Also in Palo Alto, is prestegious Stanford University which has a sprawling well landscaped campus and ... The Cantor Center for Visual Arts. The Canter Center hosts an Auguste Rodin Sculpture Garden, a Garden of Stone. Often, one of the things that makes or breaks a garden is not the plants, but the trappings, walls, figurines, a trellis, etc. While touring the garden spots in the Palo Alto and Woodside area, choose to visit the Rodin Sculpture Gardens and Stanford's excellent Visual Arts Museum. It's a treat. And inside the Cantor Arts Center ... And now for a formal garden ... The Filoli Center in Woodside, located just of the 280 and sitting for all intents, right on top of the San Andreas fault, is a huge estate which is a California Landmark. Like the Hearst Castle, the grounds and mansion are open to the public. Filoli has special events throughout the year when they feature floral and garden displays that must really be something to take part in. Inside the mansion ... Back outside again ... Well after that, I feel like Italian food. There's a place in San Jose called Santana Row. It's new and is right across the street from the famous Winchester Mystery House. I saw this place recently and had to try it ... A street scene from Santana Row is included and notice how happy the staff from Maggiano's is to see me? Ciao! BTW: Did you see the Humming Bird in the Filoli Garden pictures? Little guys are hard to photograph, but I froze one in time. The Gamble Gardens are a nice way for folks to see those flowers that bloom in Winter ( now ) and later, in the other seasons. The photos here should help to answer some of those questions about which plants flower right now, like this Iris ... Here's a shot of the Gamble Home, 'The Carriage House' ... Also in Palo Alto, is prestegious Stanford University which has a sprawling well landscaped campus and ... The Cantor Center for Visual Arts. The Canter Center hosts an Auguste Rodin Sculpture Garden, a Garden of Stone. Often, one of the things that makes or breaks a garden is not the plants, but the trappings, walls, figurines, a trellis, etc. While touring the garden spots in the Palo Alto and Woodside area, choose to visit the Rodin Sculpture Gardens and Stanford's excellent Visual Arts Museum. It's a treat. And inside the Cantor Arts Center ... And now for a formal garden ... The Filoli Center in Woodside, located just of the 280 and sitting for all intents, right on top of the San Andreas fault, is a huge estate which is a California Landmark. Like the Hearst Castle, the grounds and mansion are open to the public. Filoli has special events throughout the year when they feature floral and garden displays that must really be something to take part in. Inside the mansion ... Back outside again ... Well after that, I feel like Italian food. There's a place in San Jose called Santana Row. It's new and is right across the street from the famous Winchester Mystery House. I saw this place recently and had to try it ... A street scene from Santana Row is included and notice how happy the staff from Maggiano's is to see me? Ciao! BTW: Did you see the Humming Bird in the Filoli Garden pictures? Little guys are hard to photograph, but I froze one in time.

Sammy, again, thank you for your compliments. I guess the most important thing in becoming a good gardener, is to be observant, and learn what each plant likes and doesn't like, learn all you can from books, from fellow gardeners in your area, and be glad for the things that didn't work out because they teach you valuable lessons. You are right when you say it is a learning process....you learn what plants do well in different micro climates in your yard, which ones do best in sun, despite the label and book recommendations, because you live in the northeast. My Actaea (formally Cimicifuga)) is a good example....everything you read says shade for these plants....mine languished until I moved it into sun, just to see what it would do, and it thrived! Just make sure it is mulched and the soil never dries out...that's the important part, not being in shade. The same with Astilbes.....the further north you are, the more sun they can take, just keep the soil moist, and mulch! As far a maintenance goes, I have put more effort in reducing the maintenance needed throughout the growing season by putting more effort in in the beginning of the season. Get out in the garden early and clean up any debris from last years garden. Refresh mulch or put down mulch around your plants to keep weeds down and soil cool and moist. If the garden is mature and plants cover all the soil, less of that is needed, but make sure to pull any weeds early before your plants fully leaf out. There are areas that I wait to mulch until I see what seedlings come up that I want to continue, like the Cleome, Poppies, Feverfew, Coneflower.....then I decide where I want them and get rid of the rest with a scuffle hoe. Once they are getting to be a good size, I mulch around them. The nice thing about these raised beds is the grass/lawn never encroaches into them...but grass seedlings and weeds do, especially in the paths. I just put down thick layers of wet newspaper right over them, and put my mulch over that...thicker in the paths, thinner in the beds. For the beds that do border lawns, I dig a trench to edge it, once in Spring and then neaten it up again mid summer. I am pretty much out there every day doing some kind of neatening up, trimming, transplanting, watering containers...my favorite summer activity. And don't be afraid to cut back overzealous plants that are crowding out their neighbors, cut back any plants done blooming or looking scraggly. Oh, and THE most important part of having a good garden is of course the soil....we make tons of compost from hay, goat and chicken manure, leaves, garden clippings and use it liberally. Know the soil requirements of your plants...do they like it fast draining and dry? Heavy and moisture retentive? If you don't know, look it up, books, Google, Gardenweb! There is so much more I could go on about, but I think I'll stop here....glad to answer any questions....