Those stories just make me sick. I've just been complaining recently about that sort of totalitarianism in my small town. The city comes by regularly and rips limbs off my trees in the back alley - they do not trim them, they rip them with some sort of huge machine on a truck. I know their goal is to kill them, and they did kill one old silver maple that I remember from my childhood when it was a baby. (I live in the same house I grew up in.) I try to flout them where I can. Much to my husband's dismay, I let my kids keep a small stand of corn in the front strip of lawn that sprouted up from last fall's Halloween decorations. I maintained it meticulously, weedeating around it, and handweeding between the stalks. That was cleaned up after harvest, but we still have the watermelon and pumpkin vines out front...Thank goodness I'm not the only rebel. My neighbor and cousin are both growing pumpkins in their front yards too this year!!! I really fear I may be cited soon for my "Green Globe" - an experiment gone awry. My daughter and I plant these beautiful foliage plants every year - well, ok, technically they're weeds...Redshanks...really cute. Anyway, we always stick a few in odd places where they don't have the best conditions. This year we had the brilliant idea of putting them in a heavily amended slightly raised bed right up in front of the porch. They usually top out at around 3 ft. in a good year. This year they are over 6 ft, and filling an entire bed. The stems are like bamboo, about 2" diameter in some places. And when it rains, it flattens the whole thing from the middle. I trimmed it back some, but it just keeps getting out of control. When it's at its best, it's really pretty and different. Even my husband admired it for quite awhile. Everyone asks me what kind of shrub that is - "Wow, that grew really fast..." I can't wait to relieve the city - and my husband - of this problem, but it is just on the verge of setting prodigious amounts of the best seed ever...

no experience, but this would be a great example of why people often don't pull permits. Too much red tape, and it sounds like you're trying to comply yet they're trying to discourage you from installing it. It also sounds like the mfr knows people are doing this, and/or your locality has really strict requirements. If you didn't pull a permit, have you put yourself on a list that the city will come back to some day looking to see if it's there? Or do they do drive-bys looking for improvements (not uncommon in my area)? Would this become a huge problem then? I'd ask myself that before I made a final decision. For all the additional costs w/a permit, I'd want to be growing some rare orchids or something to justify it, unless you're rich lol.

Thanks everyone! One of the best joys of gardening is the wild life that you can attract. This is my *new* squirrel proof feeder that I bought at Kmart for $16. I have to say - so far, so good. The squirrels have not broken into it yet. Now, my $35 squirrel proof feeder seems to not work quite as well... The vine on the trellis is Blue Sky Vine. It has gorgeous large, blue flowers, although you cannot see any in this pic. I love it, but it is a vigourous vine and trying to climb everything in site. I'll probably have to replace it with something less prolific.

Misty, if you've never seen it, check out the PBS video, A Murder of Crows. It's about the intelligence of blackbirds, and it's pretty amazing! I've seen it on TV a couple times. http://video.pbs.org/video/1621910826/ I’m not a big fan of blackbirds! It’s not because I don’t like them “as birds,” it’s because they EAT all the seed I put out for the “little birds,” and I can’t afford to feed the BIG birds! I’ve developed a Blackbird Dispersal System so I can scare them away without hurting them, but they are VERY smart, and they keep coming back several times each time they show up—until they realize that the “scarer” is going to “appear” every time they come—and then they—all of them, at the feeders AND in the trees—go away and usually don’t come back for a day or two—to try again! There have been some VERY cool “animal” shows on PBS lately! The “animal homes” series that’s on right now is amazing! Also linked on that page. And if you click “see all” there are many more possibilities, including Leave it to Beavers, which was just on (TV) last week, and it’s absolutely incredible to see in such detail “what they do” and HOW they do it—and how good, and necessary, they are for the environment! If you have time, I highly recommend it! (Full episodes of “animal homes” are available on the “see all” page!) Easy enough to link things now, so here IS the “see all” page!!! http://video.pbs.org/program/nature/episodes/ Gotta go! P.S. Zach, I never managed to get back here to post, but I LOVE all the pics you posted. Thanks for posting them. I didn’t have a “very successful” bird count this year! Very few birds, and not much besides the normal “regulars” I have. Definitely no “murder” of robins this year! Misty I love your “icicle bluebird pic!” Feel very sorry for the bluebird—but love the pic! P.P.S. Since I already have WebAlbums up, here’s a pic (not very close up!) of a Golden Eagle on the Ute Mountain Tribal Park last spring! This is the only Golden I’ve ever seen! https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lKmHq6gaCDC_S3BtFXaMIQPPcO__tq0XI6jlKd1A8Lg?feat=directlink