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A Gardener's Notebook: The latest incarnation of my column detailing the trails and tribulations of my garden. Join the list and ask your own questions about gardening Subscribe

Who will end this plague of ants?! I have always had a big problem with ants colonizing my garden. Since we moved in I have noticed them climbing up trees, into hummingbird feeders and using my trumpet vines as aphid ranches. But when you have a young child in the garden you don't want to get too heavy handed with the pesticides. Therefore I must take the ants in stride. Of course, I am always looking for a non-toxic answer to help out. I know I will never remove the population entirely, but reducing it would make me feel a little bit better.

I have seen a couple of lizards in my garden. They are great ant eaters and I wish I could attract more. In one case I saved a lizard from the local cats and moved him to my garden. I saw him on a couple of occasions after that. He was easy to identify as he was missing a specific portion of his tail due to his ordeal. My wife, Rosanne, is not quite as enamoured of lizards, though, as one morning she was surprised to find one camped out behind her purse in the living room. I guess it was a little to cold in the garden that day.

No rest for the wicked

The ant problem wouldn't be so troublesome if we got a break sometime during the year as folks in colder climates do. Winter is a wonderful time if only because weeds, insects and other troubles take a few

"Winter is a wonderful time if only because weeds, insects and other troubles take a few months hiatus."

months hiatus. Here in California it seems the trouble never stops. Plants that die back each winter in the North and the East turn into monsters out that threaten to tale over entire properties. Morning Glory is a beautiful plant, but left on its own it will engulf entire houses. The castor bean plant is often grown for show in colder climates, but takes over canyons and pushes out native plants.

Spiders

Thankfully, I do get a short break from the spiders that seem to think my house is a much better location than my garden. I like spiders in the garden as they help keep the general bug population in check, but I draw the line at having them in my house. Most get nicely moved to the outdoors but, depending on my mood, a few get squashed unceremoniously. The cats also take a few to supplement their diet, although they don't seem to find them as palatable as the occasional fly that wanders in. The flies are much more fun to chase.

The cats do seem to have an innate sense of what can hurt them. One evening our older cat was raptly watching something on the floor and mewling loudly. He wasn't approaching whatever it was, but badly wanted to attract our attention to it. Closer inspection showed a very large black widow wandering across the hallway carpet. A heavy magazine quickly dispatched the trespasser. Black widows are just a bit too dangerous to have wandering around the house. They also are rather unpredictable if you try to capture them. While a bite probably won't kill you, unless you are very allergic, you will feel pretty lousy for a few days and have a nasty sore for a while.

Update

To my surprise, all the passion vines, transplanted a month ago, are throwing off new leaves. Plants can certainly amaze you sometimes. I thought all were goners. The transplanted irises are showing more signs of growth. It always makes me feel so good when I have such clear signs of success. It gives me the impetus to move on to larger and more difficult projects.

Until next week…

Keep digging!