Electric fence on fruit trees. Both squirrels and raccoons are a problem for me. Squirrels stripped my 2 plum trees of fruit in days, most apples disappeared, raccoons broke a young apple tree by climbing it. For the last 5-6 years, the electric fence has kept the varmints out. I set up the fence when my plums are showing some color, keep it going until apples have been picked. One year I disconnected it while grandkids were visiting and forgot for 2-3 days, and every plum disappeared. I use a fence charger that Fleet Farm used to sell (about $ 18), meant to keep dogs and cats out . They may still have it, or any other low-priced unit will do. The idea is to keep the varmints from climbing up the trunk of the tree. I wrap the trunk of every tree with wire mesh (hardware cloth), from ground up to about 2 ft. high, this will be the ground terminal. Connect a wire from from the cloth to a large nail stuck in the ground. Run a wire from the ground terminal of the charger to the nail. You only need this charger wire on one tree, the others will connect through the ground. The charger hot terminal connects to a spiral of galvanized wire (16 or 18 gauge) around the trunk, with turns about 6 inches apart and spaced about 3 inches above the wire mesh with insulators. The idea is to have the hot wire high enough above the mesh so the squirrel cannot just jump over it, but low enough so it cannot climb under it. The spirals need to be insulated from the ground mesh. I made the insulators by cutting ½  wide pieces of 3" plastic pipe, then cutting the circles in half. A hole drilled at each end of the half-circle, one hole for the wire, other for the nail that attaches it to the tree. I suspect there are better ways to make the insulators. An insulated wire connects from the hot spiral to the hot (red) terminal of the fence charger. I run this wire to the nearest tree, then from there to the next tree, keeping wire about 2 feet above the ground. If it touches the ground, it will short out quickly, unless the insulation is very heavy duty, like 1000 volt rating. The charger voltage is quite high (several hundred volts) , but limited to very low current for safety. This means that a human would get a unpleasant shock, but not enough to injure (or be unable to let go). I did find a red squirrel dead under the hot wire once, apparently it was not safe for him. My fence charger sits outside, under a 5 gallon bucket (with a heavy rock on top). I check every few days to make sure the setup is still working, bought a cheap tester (about $ $ 2-3).

I would start out gathering all the old-free carpet you can find to start killing the grass. As the grass dies you can move the carpet to another spot. you will be able to amend the soil and start planting. Put in asparagus and all small fruits first so they can get started. My garden has a row of blueberries on one side and raspberries on the other. Hope this helps. Have fun. paula

The only major thing I lost is a Peace rose. I don't coddle it the way they say to with covering, it had survived the previous winter but not the last one. I figure if plants can't survive the winter on their own, then they are not the plant for me! I really only got that since Menards had them almost free with rebate, and figured a Peace rose was appropriate for my Peace Garden. I am getting really sick of the cannas and dahlias that my in-laws gave me in the past few years. I told them to stop giving me things I have to plant and unplant, I hate that. I am very frugal, but I get my gladiolas free from Menards (with rebate) and mostly pretend they are annuals. Life is too short to have to dig things up and replant them every year. I have 5 acres, so already plenty more to do than I can possibly handle. Julie, do you want some potted cannas and dahlias? I just stuck the last darn ones in pots a few days ago, I am refusing to put them into the earth anymore. Easier to carry the pots into the basement in the fall and back out in the spring. Marcia

I was happy it didnt hit us hard here. A lot of the older street trees in surrounding towns fell due to overly saturated soil, and wind gusts. The foothills are the western-most portions of the piedmont area of NC. The mountains can be seen, and our elevations are certainly hilly. I'm an hour northwest of charlotte, and an hour east of asheville. I hear you on overdoing it. Out of all of the cool conifers I see on here and the web, the variegated specimens definitely get the strongest response. I love those Korean Pines. I have my eyes set on a 'Silveray' at a local nursery.