Re: New England, April 2015

quiltbea 5/1/2015, 4:37 pm

No matter what the weatherspark tells me, our local weatherman says it might drop to around 34 tonite. That means we could get a frost in my pocket. I'll be bringing in all my trays of transplants and covering up my lettuce and radish bed for the nite.
This morning was very windy and overcast and cool and I had to close the door and windows. This afternoon the sun came out, the door and windows are open to the fresh air and its lovely. One never knows minute to minute around here lately. I hear we could hit 80*F on Monday.

I put out the hummer feeder yesterday in hopes the red fabric hanging near it notifies any flybys that food is available to them. So far not a sighting.

CapeCoddess 5/1/2015, 4:44 pm

NHGardener wrote:

Catmint family? Is that the mint family?
Can you cover your boxes that the raccoon is getting into?

No, the catmint isn't like mint. It's a big round thing that stays where you plant it. Mine looks like this one:
: New England, April 2015 - Page 8 Images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRCwzi0bMDp8LlpyyljJjhbTjjvEAYF0osTmM15H6X730nJ9eLjCQ

New England, April 2015 - Page 8 Images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRCwzi0bMDp8LlpyyljJjhbTjjvEAYF0osTmM15H6X730nJ9eLjCQ

Not sure about covering the beds...those raccoons have little hands. The problem areas are the 2 inground SFGs on the lower left that are mounded up. New England, April 2015 - Page 8 Nexus_13

New England, April 2015 - Page 8 Nexus_13

I supposed I could try placing some chicken wire over them. I don't know how coons are with chicken wire, do you?

NHGardener 5/1/2015, 5:18 pm

Chicken wire is probably worth a try.

A friend used to put I think ammonia in her garbage cans to keep the raccoons away. I wonder if a dish of it around would help.

Wow, is that catmint beautiful! Another perennial on my list! I love the blue hues.

**sanderson** 5/1/2015, 9:58 pm

Oh, no! Not the Borage! I can't imagine having to fight against racoons, they are just too intelligent and dexterous. Two complete turns to the right to 23, left to 36, right to 14 and pull.

mollyhespra 5/1/2015, 10:19 pm

CC, have you ever heard of the "Scarecrow Motion Activated Deterrent"? I looked into it before I finally decided on getting a tall fence instead. It had good reviews at the time. Whatever you do, do it soon before your little masked invader settles into a nighttime routine of visiting your SFG, especially once everything starts growing. I know for a fact I wouldn't be able to grow a thing if it weren't for the fence. Damnable woodchucks are bad but racoons might actually be worse because they're clever. Unless your chicken wire is really well secured, my guess is that they'll be able to figure out how to lift it and get in anyway. Actually, even if you add a critter cage, try sprinkling some Dr. P. while you're at it or even right away? Can't hurt and it might put him off.

quiltbea 5/1/2015, 11:02 pm

Hey gardeners, you're posting on April. We now have a May thread. rock on

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