Hi Laura, I was trying to remember whether we tried Liquid Fence there or not, so I asked my husband. He thinks we probably didn't try it, as, as he believes the non-vegetarian racoons would probably find the stinky rotten egg smell attractive, the same way they like Fish emulsion. But we've not tried it, so I can't say for certain that it wouldn't work. You can use bone meal successfully, Laura. You just have to keep it at the bottom of the planting hole, not up, say, to within 6 or 8 inches of the top. We put a lot at the very bottom of all of our holes and have only had the digging problem with the one new planter where I think we added some a little closer to the top. Compost ought to work out really well for your roses and anything else you want to grow wherever you want to put it--in the holes and on top too. You don't have to go the extra step to make compost tea and carry around that heavy water if you don't want to; if you just scatter it on top of the mulch when it rains off and on, the compost will gradually dissolve into the ground and the plants will be able to gradually use its nutrients that way just fine. (Note: this method depends on leaving your mulch in place on top of the ground, and replenishing it with more mulch on top of that as it becomes necessary. The partially depleted mulch contains the nitrogen the new mulch will need to begin the breakdown process all over again without having to take much from the soil to accomplish that.) I'd not personally recommend the use of non-organic fertilizers, as their use changes the natural balance of the soil's microbia. Plants have evolved over the centuries to coexist with and benefit from the naturally-occurring soil organisms, not a soil whose microbia have become wildy unbalanced. I briefly used superphosphate (in the Dark Ages) on my rhododendrons until reading a research-based article about the long-range unhealthy soil effects of using superphosphate. Plants will be much healthier in the long run if you can use only organic fertilizers like compost. To take for example the plants we've had the longest experience with, our rhododendrons absolutely love cottonseed meal, judging from their generous, gorgeous blooming on reasonably healthy plants (with no spray at all) for the past 35 years. We haven't used regular commercial fertilizers of any kind anywhere in our yard, including superphosphate, for all that time. We just throw cottonseed meal out on top of the mulch and let it get washed down into the soil with the rain. It gradually decomposes, consistently furnishing its nutrients to the rhododendrons. In noticing our large healthy rhododendrons, surprised people around here have said that they can't grow rhododendrons in their own yards, including even some landscapers who ought to know how to grow them. But the key is in the soil health and that's the difference in what we do compared to what they tried that didn't work. Organically based stuff is all you ever need to successfully grow rhododendrons; anything else, like commercial regular fertilizers, sets the plant up for diseases to a much more crippling extent than it would likely have had to deal with in a natural setting. Since starting with roses, we've put lots of good organic stuff into the planting holes, but cottonseed meal and banana peels are the main thing they'll ever get on the top, other than tree leaves and mulch. It seems to work well for roses thus far; our roses were heavily budded up this spring and looking quite healthy until Rose Rosette Disease swept through the yard. Regarding your dog, well, if he/she starts barking wildly after dark, you might get out your flashlight and take a look in the front yard. We've done that a few times, and sure enough, there was a racoon. We gave up bothering to fuss at the racoon, though, since we noticed it had no effect whatsoever. They might saunter off a little, but as soon as you go back inside, they come right back. They don't seem to care the least bit what people think of their digging! Pesky little critters... Well, good luck with your critters. Best wishes, Mary

She's right when she says, "don't touch it'! I can't recall the exact name right now, but it's closely related to the hag moth caterpillars. Seems like one quite like this was posted some time ago. Somebody will jump in here with the correct name.

I have a neighbor who is similar to this guy, but my neighbor is about 75 years old. Creepy, nonetheless. When we first moved in as we got to know our neighbors, we invited some to our wedding. This neighbor, I will call him Joe, was telling guests at my wedding that he is disappointed that I purchased blinds and how my husband and I like to kiss and hug a lot. Tell me that wouldn't creep you out. My blinds on his side of the house are never opened, and he even comments on it. Whenever we go out in the yard, we feel like we are being watched. You might think, ok, this is just some old lonely guy, but it's far more than that. I had contractors at my house replacing the roof and doing exterior work. I came home one day and they told me that "Joe" went on for about 15 minutes telling them everything he knows about my personal life from where we work, what time we get home, what we do for a living, that we bought the house when we weren't married, etc. I was so upset, but as always, my husband thinks it's more important to keep the peace with the neighbors. I am a private person, and I do not like people sharing personal details with strangers without my consent. He would also brag to us repeatedly that he has a key to our house because the prior owner would have him watch their dog sometimes. Of course, we ignore his comments because the day we closed on the house we changed the locks. One day I'm at home sick and I'm sitting in my t.v. room in my pajamas. He didn't know I was home. I hear this commotion at my back door, and my dogs are barking like crazy. I look, and the door knob is being jiggled. I look through the blinds (they were closed at the time), and he was actually trying his old key in our lock!!!! I was so freaked out, I called my husband at work and told him enough is enough. I don't think the guy was trying to be malicious, but I do think that he's controlling and his curiosity got the best of him. But who knows. From that point, my husband asked him if he ever needs anything (his excuse for being at the back door was to drop off a neighborhood flyer - which he did, but that was his excuse for being there), in the future to drop it off in our front mailbox. Again in the wintertime he would come to our back door, so I told him we don't want people back there because if he fell on the ice we don't want to be liable. The guy is very persistant, and I can't stand it. The next thing going up is an electric gate in our driveway. He will no longer have access. Another time we had people over for a cookout in our backyard. He sat in his breakfast nook directly across from us and watched us the entire time. It made all my guests uncomfortable. We started planting trees along the perimeter of the property. Finally, as I started working from home, he noticed that I wasn't leaving for work every morning. So I'm heading for the garage one afternoon and he says, "hey, I notice that you don't leave in the mornings anymore. Are you still working?" My response was, "Yeah, but you don't need to worry about it. It doesn't concern you." He looked shocked, but has backed off somewhat. My life is not an open book, and I don't appreciate people prying into my personal business. It really annoys me. Most recently, he has been making comments because we have some old paneling that we've been replacing in our basement, and the old stuff is sitting out by the garbage in our back yard up against the garage. My husband hasn't broken it down yet because it still has nails in it. Something we just haven't gotten to yet. So now that he's making comments, I'm not in any rush to get it out of there. It's my property, and I don't see how what is on my own property should concern him. Our home was a major eye sore when we purchased it, and it's like night and day now. So a piece of paneling in my backyard is not his business, and it is going to stay there for another couple of weeks before I decide to do anything with it. Just because I can!

If you just recently had the work done I would definitely call them back it sounds like an air leak or a gsket or loose piece of tape or damper partially closed Here is a link that might be useful: Air Conditioning Repair made easy