I have always protected most plantings with 2" wire mesh, i.e.,"chicken wire", by covering the planting area with it and pinning it down with "hairpins', made of heavy gauge wire. In raised beds, it is covered with mulch and forgotten. In lawn areas, where Crocus and Rockgarden Iris reticulata are planted, I usually remove it after the first season. Once the soil has settled and compacted around the bulbs, the rodents usually lose interest. If you plant perennials among the bulbs, just cut an X with wire cutters, bend the wire back and plant. You can then bend the cut edges back over the planted area, leaving enough space for the plant. I always bend the cut edges upward near the new planting to discourage nosy animals. I grow thousands of plants and since part of my garden is heavily wooded, I have vastly more than my share of Squirrels and Chipmunks, so I purchase the wire mesh in 4' x 100' rolls, which will last about 2 seasons. I also trap and relocate the critters to distant areas, which is a never ending endeavour! Good luck! Rb

Yes, Roberta, it was reg upon reg, for better or worse, that eventually forced my parents out of their farming livelihood. At middle age, with no formal education they were forced to find city jobs (or move and rebuild the barn etc. etc. etc.). Unfortunately, their story is not unique. I'd love to see a documentary of the saga during this era - but the window is closing. I do have one question related to your comment though, before this thread folds completely. Our pullets aren't laying yet - though one of them jumps into the raised nest box and stirs it up good daily, so it shouldn't be too far off. Our ducks ARE laying however - but their nest box isn't so clean. I'm wondering if the tidy habits chickens keep goes for ducks also...If so, perhaps one of the drakes or the pullets are messing in it. It's ground level and doesn't belong to the pullets (paybacks?). Anyway, I have to tidy it up for them each morning. -lf

You could have stuffed it with Styrofoam. Try to save the packing blocks that come with computers and such. Some of the most interesting things have started out as one thing and turned into something else, so keep your chin up. You can always make it into a big rock with crevasses for plants and a bowl for a bird bath.

Poodles are such great dogs! Our current dog is a miniature poodle that failed out of Dog Guides at the end of the foster puppy period due to 'resource guarding' issues. 'Mr Bossy Boots' is one of his nicknames :-). He's not a digger fortunately; his 'crime' in the garden is that he thinks golden forestgrass is candy for his pleasure! 'Leave it!' works if I see him eyeing it but, like your dog, he sometimes has unsupervised access and forgets his manners! He'll be 5 this summer and has definitely matured and settled down a fair bit. Hopefully yours will also learn to 'Leave it!'. But the sharp ends of wire mesh can give nasty puncture wounds so I'd still take up the wire - or build a wooden frame for it, covering the wire ends completely, and put that down where you need to if training - and maturity - doesn't completely stop the digging. My BIL's first Airedale was a digger - they had sandy soil and Hughie could excavate a 3' deep/wide hole in an instant! After about 3 years old he was content to restrict his digging to one area and only one hole a year :-). Is yours still a young dog? If so, time and training are probably your best friends...!