In my ongoing battle against the elements, insects, diseases and critters, certain products and methods have worked.

The deer population is like a mutating virus -- things work for a while and then they don't. I have tried hanging soap, spreading cut hair and even laying out sweaty workout clothes without great success. The thing I will not do is bring products into my garden that use blood or urine as deterrents. I live here, walk here, garden here and compulsively put my ungloved hands into the dirt when I see a weed. Here are some organically based products that are free of those substances and have been effective.

Deervik is a pasty material that looks and feels like peanut butter. It discourages deer by smell, although it seems totally unscented. You spread it on Scentags provided by the supplier and hang them on the trees and shrubs that are favorite spots for foraging. In the perennial garden, you position the product at the level of the browsers. The easiest way to do that is to cut bamboo stakes to the height of the plants, dip the tops in Deervik and place them in the ground. This has gotten all my daylilies through the blooming season. Use one Scentag per tree or shrub and place the stakes every 2 to 3 feet in the perennial garden.

Deervik's only drawback is that you sometimes brush against the material as you garden. It does wash off and launder easily. The product is biodegradable, nontoxic, rain-resistant and will not freeze in winter. It should be reapplied after one to two months. My biggest blunder is adding a new plant and forgetting to put the Deervik barrier in place. It works! One jar will more than cover an average landscape.

Messina Wildlife has a whole array of critter repellents that work effectively by scent and taste. I use their Deer Stopper and Rabbit Stopper, both organic solutions that come in pump and spray containers that can be refilled. Unlike Deervik, this is sprayed directly on plants and is effective for one month unless there are continuous, heavy rains. My problem is that I forget to spray until after damage is visible. Apply this when your plants first surface. The rabbits made a salad bar out of my Asiatic lilies before I applied Rabbit Stopper. These products are pleasantly scented and agriculturally safe for use on vegetables. For the multiple generations of rabbits that have dined on my garden, this is a great salvo.

Liquid Fence, which claims to exclude both deer and rabbits, comes in ready-to-spray containers or concentrate. It is based on a formula using garlic and eggs and is sprayed directly on plants. It has a seriously awful odor when it is first applied. (A nose clip is good to have handy.) The smell does dissipate. I have had luck with it against deer, but rabbits happily hopped over the scent barricade and continued to munch. The product lasts about a month and should be reapplied after a rain.

The last foe to cause me serious misery is the great blue heron, the great white shark of the sky who strikes fear into every pond lover's heart. Since a heron dined at my pond this spring, I have sorely missed seven koi and a wonderful, whimsical bullfrog. In my 18 years of pond keeping, I have never been victimized and this lulled me into a false sense of security. Here are some precautions you can take to guard against a similar disaster:

Do not put a statue of a heron near your pond. Herons are said to be territorial creatures and when one spies another it will continue to fly by. Not so! When a heron is feeling amorous or congenial, it will land by the object of its affection. As soon as it discovers that this is not the real deal, it will become angry, then hungry, and your pond will be its next stop.

My pond was under attack at the time when it was most vulnerable, before any of the plant foliage had matured and leafed out. A good pond has 60 percent of its surface covered with vegetation. This gives the fish refuge. Keep all pond netting in place until your plants have fully matured. The net keeps the heron from wading in and spearing the fish.

An alternative is to string fishing line in a crisscrossing pattern across the pond and tacking it down. Herons will not land where there is any obstruction, and this line is far less obtrusive than netting. Herons arrive in March and migrate in October. During this period, make your fish a safe haven with netting, fishing line and finally good vegetative cover.