I cant say that in our younger days, and having bought our first home when I was only 20 years old, that we didn't hoard ourselves. Hubby just refused to throw anything away. The excuse.."they might come in handy ....one day. As far as weeds, you cannot EVER destroy a weed by cutting it...that only makes the weed come back stronger than ever. Weeds must have their roots, either kiled...or removed entirely. I guess that speaks then of a glyphosate...i.e. RoundUp...and after being killed, they have to be removed. Then the slow, yearly approach to caring and repairing, and growing from scratch all what has to be done to get a lawn worth something. What you have to do is take stock of what kind of soil you have and what it needs to grow grass. Was the dethatching necessary......was the ground compacted so much that it didn't harbor moisture long in it. Was any compactness the reason why you have weeds....not likely. You have weeds because they are very easy to grow...and they fight like h*ll to live. When you have a semblance of weed free ground, then the ritual of keeping it free and add organic matter to your soil which will help retain moisture and adds nutrition to the soil''s nitrogen, phosphurus and potassium levels. Every spring....whether you believe its necessary or not, overlay a 1/2" - 1" of good compost, triple mix or quality topsoil over the lawn, then do an over seeding. EVERY SPRING. Let your grass grow to 3" - 3 1/2' and maintain it at that level.....don't cut lower at any time. You may have to mow more often but keeping it at that height will ...in time, shade out weed seeds. A pre-emergent might be considered and spread at the optimum time in your zone. Any nursery can tell you when 0the best time is for your area. Pre-emergent kills most of the weed seeds produced through summer and fall. Much of the weeds that are produced from their seeds will be prevented to show up the next spring. But....a pre-emergent will kill grass seed. So you must wait until the pre-emergent has done its job before over seeding the lawn. A fertilizing schedule must be maintained as per the type of grass you have. Liquid grass fertilizer is a waste of money....most of it runs away if drainage is not what it should be. If possible....your mower cuts the lawn and is able to leave the clippings to remain....then follow that procedure. Some mowers are unable to disperse properly the clippings without leaving clumps in different areas. If so... use a bag and save them in a garbage bag and use in a compost pile for later use as an organic to spread on your lawn in the spring. I have one like that....a TORO that has a gate you open to let the clippings go into the bag...otherwise, it collect at the gate and drops at the most inopportune time. So, I use a bag almost exclusively and feed a compost pile with it. I use it to overlay my lawn and feed my garden in the spring. I seed every spring.... BUT....fall is the BEST time to seed a lawn because there is less competition from weeds But.. again.....its now past the optimum time to seed a lawn which must have soil temperature long enough --high enough--to germinate in time before hard frost arrives. So think spring.

roselee, you are SO BAD making him think those were real plants. Tally how in heck do you achieve a dirt lawn where you are? Napalm? I've been trying to kill the sod in my hellstrip since August and we get less water. I mail her some more eggs for her secret. (Unless it involves flamables or smothering with appliances.) ROFL maden!!! We have a lady a neighborhood over that has the perfectly sculpted grass and tree with a different color plasic flower display for each season on a big hanging plant display.The flowers look fake. The display rack is REALLY pretty. The rest of everything else is stark *ss white. The house is brick with bright white trim, the display wrought iron is bright white,the fence is bright white the cars are bright white and anything else around is bright white. It looks like a movie set. Thier neighbors are hoarders. Half done projects,random plantings and just crap is EVERYWHERE even spilling over the fence. It's startling to see the two next to eachother. I'll bet that hoarder house makes Mrs. "White" crazynuts. I can just see her in her (?) bright white kitchen sipping on tea out of a floral mug (that matches the fake flowers exactly)trying to resist throwing a match over the fence. PJ

I forgot one very important point to reiterate that was touched on above: Has anyone made introductions with this family in question? They do not need to be LIKED by the neighbors, but some of this speculation about the seriousness of this situation might be either dispelled or proven (in which case action can legitimately be taken). As a child of an "over-collector" I will not lie. I over-collect. I have a house in Switzerland literally busting at the seams, but with museum quality paintings, furniture, glass and silver far different from my father's seemingly chaotic collections (my father says "two of anything constitutes a collection!"). To some people such as modernists and minimalists my massive collection might look like a massive junk collection. But it is well organized and generally focused. I have individual pieces of "junk" worth more than most people's homes and I take great pride in displaying my collections (even though I HATE dusting fragile glass and polishing silver). My overflow is stored in a secured-facility in Connecticut USA. I can not pass up a good auction. My father's solution (mind you, not most peoples' option) was to buy more and larger houses in which to store and decorate with what would not fit in garages and attics until he had 5 or 6 homes. My father in law is also a pack-rat (albeit highy organized) and built a 40'x100' barn on one of his ranches. The point is this: collecting might be a sickness, but organization is a skill. Some people just need help with the latter. Maybe these neighbors are such people. Don't take these pack-rat neighbors at face value. Make introductions. So much of this speculation and "what should I do" stuff is flat out cowardice. Good God, have some balls!!! These might be nice people and open to help and suggestions like the lady mentioned above who could not care for her yard on her own. I'll bet these people feel very isolated despite having so many neighbors. Have a block party if you are afraid to confront them directly! Safety in numbers if that's what it takes. Just some thoughts.

Wow - I cannot believe the SPCA will not look into that. Is there any other kind of animal control office within your jurisdiction? Maybe you could call a veterinarian and they could offer advice? I would be more worried about the welfare of the cats themselves. A lot of people who are "only trying to help" actually get in way over their head and end up neglecting the animals. As far as getting them to clean up their yard, good luck with that. It will be easier to have someone do something about the cats. Sorry to hear about that - I hope things get better soon.