This little video might help ... scroll about half way thru to avoid all the "cute" chatter. This device might help scare deer ... has benefit of being portable so can change placing to keep deer from learning where it is and going around it. Depending on how large an area you want to protect ... maybe put poles every so often in the field with a noise maker ... or battery light source, or ?... sort of scare crow? Here is a link that might be useful: Deer repellent

How lucky you are! If it were me, I would probably also want to make it look like an extension of my yard. I would consider it a playground of sorts. Maybe make the front strip a beautifully curving St. Augustine strip, so it looks like your yard continues that way. Then, approximately 30 feet in or so, I would plant all kinds of lovely flowering trees in extremely large, mulched beds. Make nice, curved, groupings. Poinciana, Jacaranda, Floss Silk Tree, Tipuana Tipu, Hong Kong Orchid, Potato Tree, Cassia Fistula. Don't forget a couple of beautiful, evergreen live oaks. These trees would take up a lot of space in your acre eventually and give you a park like appearance. Once established, they also require very little. I would make a very large seating area where you could have cookouts, or a fire pit, with the privacy of the trees partially blocking the street. If you have kids, you could make the more natural area in the back a field for them to play, run, or have a playground. Alternatively, maybe a water feature, as someone mentioned, although this would require more work and money. It could also be a great place for a raised veggie garden or fruit grove. In this way, you would only have to keep the very front looking mowed and tidy, and still get the look of it being your yard. It could be a fun, well-used area for you and your family that would beautify your neighborhood. Anna

I would talk with the people at your local Rutgers Cooperative Extension office about control of this invasive grass species and plan on a 5 year program to get it under control. Tilling may bring some seeds to the surface but it may also bury others. Since this grass is quite common along roads and other places that have relatively poor soil this may be an indication of how it grows so well and out competes native species, so a good look at the soil may well be warranted now. http://plantscience.psu.edu/research/projects/vegetative-management/publications/state-parks-invasive-species-management-quicksheets/4.-japanese-stiltgrass-microstegium-vimineum A good reliable soil test from Rutgers CES for soil pH and major nutrients before tilling that soil would be a good idea, and a look at the soil with these simple soil tests, 1) Soil test for organic material. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains’ too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter can be bad as well. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. may also help. kimmq is kimmsr

Josue, thank you so much for your reply! I called the number you provided for master gardeners of San Diego. They returned my call a couple hours later and I spoke with a wonderful woman named Beverly. She told me to go ahead and plant my native plants, no top soil, no fertilizer. Terrace if I want to but suggested I could use some erosion control sheeting instead if it actually ends up raining in Southern California this year :o) For erosion control, she suggested doing a lot of ground cover mixed in with my larger native plants. I am going to go with a bunch of California meadow sedge (carex pansa) for ground cover. I will try to update this thread with some photos once my project is done. And then maybe some progress photos too.