I just moved to the central coast of California, and there's a type of bird called a towhee that roots around in tangled bushes in my front yard. I really don't have a problem with that; but these pesky birds seem to take great delight in flipping decorative bark out of the planters and onto my driveway and into the street. I used my blower for the first time to get all the bark pieces back where they belonged, then I was gone for about one hour and returned to find an amazing amount of bark thrown back into the street and onto portions of my driveway. I might have to consider replacing the bark with rock; but is there any chemical repellant and can spray or otherwise distribute on the bushes these birds like to play in, so I can spend more time with yard maintenance other than cleaning up after these dang birds. I've never seen anything like it.

Greetings to all ... Wow, this is an old post but always very relevant, right? Actually, I recently purchased 3 pre-potted plants: Bougainvillea, Pentas Plant, and a large Kale from a popular local farm. They were not pot-bound, so I did not repot them ... Just placed them in my yard. Little did I know all three had millipedes in the soil, and all three eventually died. It was when I uprooted the dead plants that I discovered the millipedes in the soil. Now I know to always repot anything I purchase from them. This soil is very rich in organic matter, so I saved it in a sealed clear plastic bag and solarized it to eliminate the millipedes. I'm not certain if the millipedes eventually feed on the roots of potted plants, but that appears to be where the issue was. The plants just dried out rather quickly. In fact, I placed a potted succulent on top of the soil of the Bougainvillea and it lost all its root system. At least that one can be easily rerooted. Millipedes may be beneficial in natural settings but not in potting soil and definitely not in houseplants. Diatomaceous Earth (food-grade DE) does not address the issue. You have to replace the soil ... Especially so if yours is a houseplant. Millipedes do not bite but most people are allergic to a substance they ooze, which causes itching and skin irritation.

Since now is another season of SOB, let me chime in... like sewwizard et al, we too got rid of them by digging them up. There were a lot of its clumps spread all over an about 2000 sqft area when we moved in the current house (we didn't know they were there because we purchased the house in summer). Clearly they had been left alone for years and years, resulting in a high population density. We dug them up, and dug DEEP and WIDE, along with all of the soil around them, throwing them into trash bag and disposing. Then before filling back the holes with new soil, we burned those holes with the weed burner torch to make sure any tiny bulblet we might have missed there would be killed. It took over two seasons (yep, it was an intense, laborious process), followed by the following few years when we took care of a few tiny stray plants, but now the area is SOB-free. We had given Dismiss a try once before the elbow grease, but it only burned the top of the plants -- it did not kill them and the plants came back strong (perhaps even stronger) the next season. Perhaps if it had been applied over several years it might have significantly weakened the plants (because it did burn them quite well), we just weren't that patient... ugh, the way they spread randomly was just too ugly for us to be patient! So from my experience, I think the most effective way, if the size of your affected area is manageable, is the most primitive way... dig them up.

First mistake is leaving your garbage outside and unsecured. You wouldn't do that in bear country and be surprised that you've got bears hanging around the house? Having smelly food garbage out attracts all sorts of animals. If you live in an urban or suburban area, you're going to have raccoons around. That they were living in the neighbors shed is not really the problem...there will be others nearby regardless. Yes, raccoons enjoy corn. Short of building a complete enclosure around your corn, you are going to have an issue with them. They also have good memories and learn from each other. So, unless you plan to take a multi-year hiatus from growing corn, you will have issues. After a few years, you may have success unless a raccoon stumbles by chance into your yard (the cycle will then start over).