White chocolate is a scam - it is what is left after the real chocolate has been removed. This statement has as much to do with my original post as many of the other comments posted had. To put things in perspective, only 6 of the 21 people who posted comments on this thread actually responded to my request for suggestions and ideas for using recycled items for edging (my main need) and ornaments. To them, a hearty thank you. Another 6 people went off in other directions. Yes, anyone can post anything they want. But, I didnt ask whether people thought I should put in edging, nor did I ask for design advice at all. I am fortunate to have an interior designer and a landscape designer as friends. For a few cocktail hours and dinners, they have helped me develop my design. If only I could figure out a menu good enough to get them to help with some digging! 5 individuals (2 crossovers from the "other direction" category) posted lectures. As more than one posting said, it is my garden. I do not feel the need to justify anything I do in it. But, to give you a little more feeling for what I am doing I will describe my front lawn. My house is a big old late-1960s brick ranch. There is a large expanse of brick, the living room juts out with floor-to-ceiling windows, then the front porch, and finally garage doors. The lawn is the largest in my subdivision (my house was the top-of-the-line display home.) A street runs right up to my driveway - if you dont turn right or left, youll be getting the cats excited about someone coming to visit. I detest boring grass lawns. So, I have put in flower beds with flowering bushes, daylilies, and cannas for summer. Right now, the first of my daffodils are blooming, and the tulips, irises, and mid & late season daffodils are coming up. As mentioned in my original note, I am doing my best to get rid of the dreadful zoysia and replace it with various types of groundcovers. So, I am compelled to edge the borders of my lawn to keep the neighbors zoysia out and keep my groundcovers in. Im not looking for decorative edging - utilitarian without being ugly is fine. I asked for ideas about ornaments because I find ideas breed ideas, and Im also working on the backyard, which can be a little funkier. I agree there is always room for discussion and debate - perhaps folks might want to start their own strings for topics on which they want input or to present their ideas. I'm sure everyone's hearts are in the right place. It just seems to me that responses should address the original posters question. Happy gardening to all. - Karen

yeah, it's in my favorites, too. I e-mailed the same person who is responsible for the study of the tires used in the gardens. To his knowledge, there hadn't been any danger and if there was a possibility of snakes wanting to make a home, there would be a few things to counteract it. If you choose to pile the tires for planting, then the inside could be lined to discourage any snakes trying to get inside. Check any and all tires before even beginning to use them. See, I wouldn't have had that concern because we only have little garden snakes around here. In eastern Washington, there are rattlesnakes but I'm on the west side of the state. It isn't the dry flat lands of the desert type of land. Anyway, check tires. Then choose how you plan to use them. The way I want to do is to use only the actual part of the rubber that touches the road. Everything else is cut away. It leaves strips of rubber to work with. The same idea used to make sandles. When the rubber is in these strips and laid out, they're stapled to pieces of wood at intervals, to make a continuous runner, to be set in place. The length, width and height are all a personal choice. Basically, instead of 2x4's running the length of the planting bed, it's flat rubber. One tire width or more high, to make the border around the planting area. That's how I have intentions of using them. I can't imaging a snake wanting to cozy up to that. I think if I had any snakes around like you do, I'd be gardening inside a warm sunny vault of some kind. No way would I be outside any where near that kind of critter. Hope you still try the tire frame beds.

It took us awhile to figure out the style that resonates with us, which is mostly centered on clean lines, without a lot of knick-knacks or decorative froufrous. Gilded baroque is probably our worst nightmare. Our home is sort of a cross between Frank Lloyd Wright and ultra-modern. We also have a few family pieces that have to be fit in because of the sentimental attachment. I do think that any style or look can be done very well, which is how decorating magazines can be a bit confusing. It's easy to go from "I want a nice looking room" to "this room looks great" to "I want this room" In reality a great looking room may still not be the one you want to look at everyday, or appropriate for your lifestyle. It probably took us 20 years to hone in on just what was our preferred taste, as opposed to just what we'd grown up with or saw in stores and magazines. I think that more awareness and consideration on our part might have hurried the process along. At any rate, once we figured out what we really like, and took the time and effort to find it, we've remained quite satisfied with it. It is definitely an ongoing thing. I've never had a house that I consider "done", but I have had rooms that way. A lot of that is budget. I will no longer buy something based just on price and availability. If I don't like it a lot, or have a dire need, it's not worth any price. ----------------- ps.. I bet our feelings on home decor carry over to other areas as well. I would rather have a few nice clothes than a huge wardrobe of mediocre ones. Other people want to be able to wear a different outfit each day for several weeks. I don't think either approach is right or wrong, just right for the individual.

We live in an unincorporated area of Sacramento County, California. We have curbside recycle pickup. Each house gets three "trash" cans. One for Garbage, one for Green Waste, and one for Recycle. The Garbage is collected every week, and the Green Waste and Recycle alternate weeks. You have your choice of a 30-gallon, 60-gallon, or 90-gallon can for each of the three types. You are billed according to what size cans you have. You can have more than one of each type but, again, you are billed for any extra cans, according to their size. (And, of course, you do not get a credit if you don't put a can out.) When recycling cardboard, the pieces of it must fit inside the can with the lid closed. If they don't/won't, you have to call in advance to let the collection company know that you have oversized cardboard to be picked up. Then, you have to have the stuff bundled together with string and set it out next to the Recycle can. Used motor oil can be left in sealed containers next to the Recycle can. Oh - the cans are plastic and have wheels on the back, and a handle at the top back. So, you just tilt it slightly and wheel it to the curb.