They may look cute, but there’s nothing cute about the damage furry little critters can do to your garden. So it’s a good thing that practically all four-legged pests – including gophers, groundhogs, skunks, squirrels, and roaming pets – will flee from the scent of ammonia. Just soak rags in the stuff, put them in old panty hose toes, and hang them in the areas you want to protect. If there’s no hanging space, pour the ammonia into wide-necked bottles (like the kind juice comes in), and bury them up to the rims here and there throughout your garden.

Here’s a great idea that’ll really help you baby your potted plants and fragile herbs: After you’ve emptied a baby powder container, wash it out, and turn it into a mini sprinkling can. It’s perfect for giving delicate flowers a gentle shower, and it’s just the ticket for tiny tots who want to help you with your watering chores. And don’t fret if your container isn’t quite empty and you’re rarin’ to put it to use: Just sprinkle the rest of the baby powder around your flower beds and borders. It’ll keep curious squirrels and other rodents on the outside looking in.

Long summer days are perfect for outdoor activities, and sometimes the best fun is a big game of backyard bowling! It’s one of the best ways I know of to have fun outside and recycle all those empty, 2-liter plastic bottles into good, clean fun. Just pour a few inches of soil, sand, cat litter, or pebbles into ten clean, dry bottles, put the lids back on, and—voila!—you’ve got a set of bowling pins. Arrange ‘em on the lawn, then round up the kids, grandkids, and neighbors, and take turns trying to knock down the pins with the ball of your choice.

Looking for a way to stop pesky bugs from destroying your hard work this growing season? Plastic bottles (emptied of their contents, of course) make terrific traps for all kinds of pests. Just coat the bottles with corn syrup or a commercial stick-um like Tanglefoot®. Then either hang them from trees or stick them upside down on stakes that you’ve pounded into the ground among your precious plants. You can tempt garden troublemakers to your traps by adding color to the bottles, too—most bugs zero in on yellow, but here are a few exceptions to the rule:

• Apple maggots adore red.
• Tarnished plant bugs, flea beetles, and rose chafers go for white.
• Thrips make a beeline to blue.