These types of pages freak me out in the gallery especially around Oct, realism is generally great but with these kinds of elements, I'm reluctant to click on thumbnails in the gallery !
OK this is the least freaky thing to me so far! And y'all can keep your wolf spiders & skunks -i don't have a clue what that would smell like & hope Yankee never make a candle like it but your making me feel better about our slithery surprise guest at least!
These two bring me dead "gifts", my previous dog would bring them alive. Not sure what I prefer the most!
There are lots of plants, both pretty and useful that will keep the rabbits away from your sunflowers: From https://www.backyardgardenlover.com/how-to-keep-rabbits-away-from-the-garden/ marigolds – planted all around your garden will create a rabbit barrier (they hate the marigolds smell) spicy globe basil – keep the bunnies out and make lots of pesto throughout the summer Christmas basil also works well onions leeks lavender mint oregano Savory meals, beautiful in appearance and aroma, and most of these need little care. Marigolds have the added advantage of keeping mosquitoes, fleas, and other pests away, too. I like them around my patio. Some of them are even edible and lend a peppery taste to salads.
I had a skunk come up to my back door when I was moving from my apartment in Huntsville, Alabama to the house I'd just bought. I was coming up to my patio to get some boxes and saw it with my female cat almost nose to nose. I almost stopped breathing. But a skunk won't generally spray unless it has no avenue of escape. I just prayed my cat wouldn't give offense. I didn't realize then that cats are feline and the skunk came to my patio because I grew catnip and catmint for my babies. From then on, I always grew it indoors until we came here. We now live in a rural area with some woodland and some farm land around us and a creek as our property line on three sides. Both plants tend to be invasive, but planted down on the creek bank at the far end of our property, it lures the skunks away and helps control erosion when the creek is in spate from the rain so they can be as invasive as they like.
@Susan - s3js thanks for the tips! I'll have to try planting a few of those in my front garden beds. In the back, I plant sunflowers around the kids' sand box to provide a little shade. I'll have to figure out how to plant other stuff too (since I don't plant them in an actual garden bed lol).
I think they would do nicely in pots. Does the sandbox have wood edging? If so you could maybe bore some holes down through them into the dirt and fill with potting soil. Old broken toys might be another though or plastic pails. It would be a great way to get the kids involved.
EWWWWW! If a snake possible had slithered anywhere into my home, I would move. The end. I guess that's why I live where I do where the only snakes we have a rare in town and are harmless. The visitors we get in our yard are tons of black squirrels, deer (more every year) and the craziest visitor was a flock of wild turkeys that walked down the sidewalk about 3 years ago in the middle of the day. My hubby and I were walking around the neighborhood about mid-morning and i did a double take when I saw those walking a block from our house. Our neighborhood also had a random buffalo that got loose from a farm somewhere around us and was charging wildly around. It was front page news that day. Lol. Did I mention I love in the City limits? It's a small city of 8,000 but still!
Last week I bundled up 5 daycare kids for some MUCH needed outdoor play time and a skunk showed up! It came out from under our shed. My daughter walked over and said Kitty. That is NOT a kitty. Inside we went - as having five 1-3 year olds around a skunk is a recipe for a very stinky disaster.