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Part of my justification for having a weedy border with the new neighboring subdivision (made from the back 40 of the original property), besides having it provide a natural screen and helping keep people off my property, is that it provides a bit of natural habitat. I have all sorts of critters showing up in my yard. The local housecats even seem to enjoy laying in the grass under the trees (assuming they aren't simply waiting for a bunny to come close).

I'll keep it like that as long as I can. I'd like to gradually expand it, actually, by randomly planting bushes so I can cut down on my *@#!! mowing.

All the *@#!!ing time.
Doesn't everybody?

I don't have to mow anything, but I do have to deal with dust storms and monsoon season.

that sounds about as often as I cut my hair

jeff-o wrote:

Chickenhawk wrote:

that sounds about as often as I cut my hair

Me too!  Wait - how often do you weed your scalp?

What he said- about as often as you mow your *@#!! .

See, I could see people not wanting junk in the yard, and there are laws regarding that already for both city and country folk.  You need a junk yard permit if you want to keep that stuff around.  What I am complaining about is neighbors who bitch about lawns, flower beds, paint color, etc.  I work in a town that is too smurfing picky about that smurf.  I had a guy whip out a machinist rule and bitch that his mower was cutting 1/32 of an inch lower on one side than the other.  He wanted me to fix it.  WTF?  Another guy was bitching about a "weed" in his lawn that was spreading from a neighbor's place.  The "weed" happened to be an attractive plant that put out tiny yellow flowers.  I thought it looked nice in the lawn and gave it some color.  This guy nearly blew a gasket over it and threatened to call the cops.  smurf, if its green and it grows, it becomes lawn around here.  Crab grass, quack grass, bluegrass, wild wheat, canary grass, brome grass, timothy, prostrate knotweed, creeping charlie, fox tail, ragweed, pigweed, etc are all present in my lawn.  Its awesome.  I never have to water it, never have to fertilize it, and it stays a nice deep green.



I still think that the "requirement" for keeping your house/yard all tip-top is bs.  If I want my grass shaggy and I want to park my car in the drive way, and I want to grow "weeds" in my flowerbeds, then why the smurf can't I?  Its not hurting anyone.  Like Res said, doing so can invite wildlife back into the cities and make life more interesting.

The coyotes already traverse the northern corridor of the Dallas area. I've seen coyotes as far down as old downtown Carrollton, and in the creekbed behind my house.

Fished a small snake out of my pool this morning too. He went back into the creekbed.

Last edited by sturner (2008-08-14 2:25 pm)

There was a coyote wandering around Central Park, Manhattan a couple Summers ago.

It probably went along the corridor of Parks in the Bronx and crossed one of the small uptown bridges.

I've seen plenty of deer within 1-2 miles of the Bronx border -wouldn't surprise me if there were deer in the Bronx itself.

Can you guys at least TRY and keep this on track?

Not sure you've seen the real one. But she's always been a BIG fan.

you also have mushrooms which look like penises.

Pariah wrote:

I am deliberately introducing "weeds" into my backyard. I stop by the side of country roads and collect cuttings from flowering indigenous plants and transplant them into my yard.
My goal is to have all natural flowering plantings that will attract and support native species of birds and insects. I call it my "hippie garden" project.
I haven't gotten that much in yet but I am already seeing many more butterflies, dragonflies, bees, birds and giant garden spiders. Artificially fertilized and cultivated yards might as well be dead zones as far as the native flora and fauna are concerned. I want a yard that is alive and thriving with life.

Look hippie, in America you are expected to have only zoysia or fescue in your yard cut at precisely 3.25" a minimum of once a week with a gasoline-powered mower. You are also required to water it during the daytime and use fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides that may cause your pets and/or children to develop health problems. Get with the program!

If one plants a nice row of Norway maples, the shade will be thick enough to blot out the sun and the ground cover could be non-existent.