Do you have questions for Tim? Send them to ndn@ecnnews.com and he will answer them in upcoming columns.

Over the years, I have learned that people can be afraid of many different things. The gardening business lends itself to learning some of the creepy crawly things people hate. Insects are on the list. Spiders, too. Snakes are near the top, but mice seem to bring a shudder to more people than any other thing. Granted, mice can carry diseases and such, but the sight of a mouse scurrying across the floor causes a lot more faint hearts than any other thing that can cause problems to humans.

Over the years, people were limited to poisons to kill mice or traps to catch them. Both work, but have disposal problems that don't rate high on the fun list for most people. A better idea would be a mouse repellent. Keep the mice out of the house, and there would be many happier people. Now there is a product that will repel mice.

I tend to be skeptical of anything that repels anything. I have seen my share of dud products over the years that claim to repel, say, an animal. Some work, but many don't. So when I heard of a mouse repellent, I was skeptical. The product's name is Mouse Magic. The product is in little packets that are placed in areas where mice come into your home. The packets smell nice to humans, but mice do not like the smell. Fair enough, I thought. The mice love a few spots at the store. They like to build nests under the propane scale. The scale is outside, and it is so much fun to be filling a propane tank and have a mouse come whipping out of the scale and head toward waiting customers. My thought was, place a packet under the scale and see what happens. I go to place a packet under the scale and a mouse comes whipping out. I take the cover off the scale and remove the nest. (Yes, folks, I am a brave man!) I place a Mouse Magic packet under the scale and then go back to check every few days. The mouse doesn't return to build the nest. The directions on the package say that it repels mice for 30 days or longer. So, I regularly check the scale and no mice. At about 45 days, I check under the scale and, sure enough, the smell of the packet has worn off and the mouse returned. I put in another packet and the mouse hasn't been back.

Mouse Magic uses mint oils to repel the mice. Unlike poison baits, it can be used where pets and children may congregate. If you place the packets where mice enter your home and replace the packet every 30 days, I feel that we can do away with mouse traps and poison baits. To me, if you can repel the mice and keep them out of the house, then it is a win-win situation for both the human and the mouse.

Well, that's all for this week. I'll talk to you again next week.

Tim Lamprey is the owner of Harbor Garden Center on Route 1 in Salisbury. His Web site is www.Harborgardens.com.