yeah this neighbor is a real pain. Thankfully they are talking about selling and staying in Florida. Can't wait!! This particular rose bush lived through hurricane Sandy. The fence fell into our yard and flattened that rose bush. I was surprised it was fine after we lifted the fence off of it, raised the rose bush back up and tied it back up. This rose bush has grown over 10' tall. It has very thick stalks that are about an inch or more in diameter and 2 inches lower on the bush. I remember when I bought it that the info on the tag said it would grow up to 20'. Our neighbor never lets it get any higher than the 8' fence that separates our yards. At least not when he's home he doesn't. THing is it doesn't grow over into his yard. I have it tied so that it wouldn't. Just because I know how the guy is. He purposely plants vines along the fence so they will grow through and strangle my plants. I have to constantly cut back all of his ivy and climatis or else my bushes and such get strangled. Well hopefully in less than 2 years we'll have new neighbors and won't have to deal with this OCD guy. And yes we have thought of putting weeds over into his yard. As it is when he finds weeds he has actually asked me, while holding them in the air, is this yours? I reply by saying... you found it in your yard so no its not mine! Some people!! Oh and he ripped out my flowers from my front yard because he thought they were weeds. Mothers day I went outside and all of my flowers were gone He said oh I thought they were weeds!. I burst into tears and said would you please keep your hands off my property and mind your own yard and your own business for ONCE!!!

TY for the update! Definitely still alive! Washing it off right away probably helped a lot. This should be inspirational, encouraging for whoever else might read this, from a similar situation. Accidental & "neighbor sprays" are pretty common. Putting a little mulch &/or compost around the base (but not touching trunks) is usually appreciated by any plant that's tall enough. Helps to moderate soil temp & moisture, increase fertility. A cute little border of bricks or whatever you'd like to look at can help keep grass from creeping in, mow with chute aimed away from bed areas. Doubtful these need water every day. I'd stop doing that unless it doesn't rain for a week or so or you see wilting. Too much water can make plants ill. Assuming they're still alive next year, shouldn't need to be watered unless it doesn't rain for more than 2-3 weeks during really hot weather. Good luck, lilacs!

Spikes are not the best way to go. If there is a need to use ferts, use something you broadcast or water in for better coverage. tj

As the bed is quite tight to the house, shrubs will need to hang over the front of the wall in order to have room enough to develop a proper size. Hanging over will look fine, though. At the left corner, a groundcover or low trailing shrub could look nice. Below the windows the shrubs should be something easy to keep at 3' ht. The heavenly bamboo is not going to look nice below the window. It would be best if you find another location for it where it could grow to natural size. It would be better to have dome shaped shrubs below the windows. Seasonal color could go at either side of the stoop and whatever you have growing at the right side now could be used to fill in the leftover spaces.