In a word, mosquitoes and ticks. Well, that's actually two words.

Patti, love to see photographs.

Patti ...

>>>I've tried everything to keep snakes from finding my garden so homely.

I just researched "brown snakes". OMG, they are as poisonous as the rattlesnakes found in my mountains !

The method I learned from a friend who has lived up here all of her life to deter snakes from my property is to use wood ashes from my wood stove around the perimeter of my property. My friend has four acres and I have only a quarter acre, but neither of us have found a rattlesnake on our properties in years. Yet we both have neighbors that have to deal with snake problems often during the dry months.

Yes, it is a hassle to walk the property and lay down the ashes, but having no snakes makes it worthwhile. I don't know if this would work for brown snakes.

Smiles,
Lyn

Oh, Lyn, the trick with the wood ashes is really good to know about! I have a friend in Oregon who has to deal with rattlesnakes and she will love to hear about that!

Woofie ...

The success of this method may depend upon the kind of wood ashes used and how thick a layer of ash is put down. I am burning black and white oak and fir to heat my home.

Remember, they use ashes to make lye soap.

Smiles,
Lyn

How thick of an ash line did you lay down?

I wondered if the lye was what make them effective. I sat a galvanized bucket of ashes from the stove outside to let the embers die down before emptying the bucket, and that night it rained. The lye leaching from the ashes ate holes in the bucket!

I had wondered about that being a problem, Neal.

As long as you empty them onto the ground before it gets wet, it's fine. But never a good idea to get wet ashes on your skin though.

We have a pellet stove. And a bucket on the porch where the "ashes" (more like fine sand) accumulate. I always worry about that bucket getting soaked and the pups getting their noses in it.

I keep old kettles and metal buckets on my covered patio for a week before I either put them on the ground or in storage to use for rattlesnake control later in the year. The snakes are dormant during the winter months.

As long as the ashes don't get wet while you are waiting to make sure there are no live embers in the bucket/kettle, there is nothing to worry about. A week seems to be sufficient. I've never had a problem with live embers, if I've waited that long. I have two old kettles and one bucket.

I don't use the patio during the winter, so I don't care if the ash containers don't look pretty ...

Smiles,
Lyn

This would only work under certain situations, but if you have room for goats, they eat all the underbrush for the snakes to hide in. Haven't seen a snake for years. And, we have 4 poisonous snakes in TX

That's true. We had plenty of rattlesnakes in the area where we lived in Oregon, but we also had a bunch of goats and we never saw a snake anywhere near the house or barn. I've heard that snakes also don't like vibrations (which the goats' little thundering hooves provided a-plenty!) Wonder if those gopher chasers would work for snakes?

I've never had to worry about poisonous snakes where I am -- but wood ashes also work great for preventing/getting rid of onion maggots!

I have goats and plenty of garden snakes, of course I don't let the goats in the garden or I would not have a garden . Goats like to eat much more than weeds and underbrush

I consider goats to be cougar bait up here ...

That said, I have a another friend who rents out her goats to private landowners to clear their properties for fuel reduction for wild fire management. She is also a member of the local fire department and has loaned her goats to work on properties which have difficult terrain to clear.

The conservation group uses them to clear stream sides of dense blackberry growth.

If the goats can be protected, they are a fantastic tool.

My property is too small to keep goats.

Smiles,
Lyn

What could be a better use of a "natural" resource!

Patti I'm a little late to the party, but I'm glad you joined us, lots of friendly people at ATP.
Neal the Star of Bethlehem just grows wild in your in your yard? I had heard they were invasive and in fact when you pull one up there are clusters of babies left behind. So far for me they aren't are a problem, YET.
Now if anyone wants to talk horsetail rush...

Star of Bethlehem isn't native, but has naturalized with wild abandon here. Its more problematic in the Bluegrass region of KY than than the eastern part of the state. And yes, they do leave behind lots of little bulblets, but often I can get entire clumps out if the soil is moist. It is on Kentucky's list of exotic invasive plants to avoid and eradicate.