Do you have raccoons around? They love to play with covers, pick up sticks and move them, dig up seeds, replace stones, etc. I swear they are so smart they will open and close the garden gate and rehang the hummer feeder after drinking it - we watched them do it. Sometimes when I find something weird like that I think it must have been one of the grandkids except they weren't even around. Never seen a grub or beetle move a stick and ants generally pose no threat in the garden unless they are fire ants. Just something to consider. Dave

Ouch! Pray you don't move to a house with a smaller lot :). It sounds like you are about done on your tool purchases, especially big ticket items. Stages is a good idea for drip when starting out. There are some different parts that later I found better solutions for or did not use. Corn benefits greatly from the drip. Or if you have something else that would benefit from measured watering and will be in the same configuration year to year. After you get into drip, you'll start thinking of timers and eventually move into ground moisture detection. You can easily spend thousands on the things. I ended up with a simple timer that I would have to turn on manually. It was way better than anything else I was doing and less overall hassle than the full blown set. For a 20'x50' garden it ran me about $200-300. The hard part was designing the layout so that I could isolate the section water requirements and allow for changing layouts year to year. You probably get a kick out of using all the things you bought. I hope you have a trimmer, blower and chainsaw. Some other tools I enjoy using that can cost some. I'd like to have a chipper but I just can't justify the cost for my yard. Good luck with it!

A pruning saw (or any small saw) will cut through roots too thick for pruners. A small spade will cut better with your weight on it than a large wide one (the stiletto heel principle). Then rock the plant from side to side- and cut more roots underneath it. How about inviting some friends round for a gardening party (a bit like a paint party when you get them to help decorate the house), and you provide the refreshments. Tell them it's a "green gym".

I got both the pellets and the smoke-bombs from the County Ag office. The smoke-bombs are literally a large firecraker-looking tube that you light, throw in the hole and quickly fill-in the opening with dirt so the smoke doesn't come out. The smoke is laced with some poison. This is very effective because the dead body/ies stay in the ground. This can only be used when there is no chance of a fire hazard. And, I'm not sure how this would work with the equipment above. You have to be super careful with the pellets so that no other animal gets them. I guess tossing them in the hole might work - unless the squirrels shove them out. I had special containers that were a long, upside-down T-shaped tube; you put the pellets in the top so the pellets stayed in the middle of the tube; the squirrel/rat can get to the pellets from either end of the bottom. This can be used any time of year. Albert, you are correct in that the pellets will be stored this time of year and eaten in the winter. So, no immediate kill, but, no babies in the spring. Or, you can get yourself a dog that loves to kill squirrels. Rosie would catch the squirrel and literally shake it to death. She and DH had a squirrel 'thing'. She would catch and kill them and line them up on the back patio waiting for DH to come home from work and praise her for her efforts; and, no one was allowed to touch those squirrels until he had done so. Then there is a rifle. DH's method of choice. All of which were used to even just keep the critters under control.