Patio preparation

Today I barreled outside around the crack of dawn midmorning with an enthusiastic urge to prepare the patio for the summer. I saw that I had some work cut out for me: leaves, sticks and junk, plus the little helicopter leaves that plunged into our table last fall, were all waiting for me. I spend a lot of hours out on the patio in the spring, summer and fall, so it was high time for some spring cleaning.

Before:

Eww!!

My chairs cheered me on and made nice shadows.

And after!

Yay!!

In the middle of my cleaning, I discovered that Josh and I actually have two window boxes just begging for flowers. (Yes, we moved in 18 months ago.) And that reminded me that, with warmer temperatures around the corner this week, I should get some herbs going. (If I'm sorely misguided, you can leave me in the dark.)  The trouble is that the window boxes - and most of the patio space - are in almost full shade.

I puttered over to my local hardware/garden shop and jackpot!  It appears from my in-store research that impatiens are good plants for the shade. I bought two four-packs, one for each window box, and picked out a few herbs, too, to put in a more sunny spot near the patio.

Voila!

Oh, yes, and the herbs:

Basil and spearmint. Not pictured: Dill.

Let's see if I can keep these guys alive this summer. Last year, I ran into a host of foes, ranging from my own inexperience to the previously mentioned patio shade to actual animal predators. Today I Googled "what is a squirrel's worst enemy?" which evolved into a more civilized search, "how to deter squirrels from a garden." But so far my action plan involves only crossing my fingers that they'll stay away. 

Any genius ideas, gardeners?  I know many of my readers have greener thumbs than I do. And tell me: what is the best gardening tip or advice you've ever gotten?