Ogrose is absolutely correct. Some people get very upset if a neighbor plants anything that grows past the fence line. My deceased father was one of those people and so is my mother. She HATES her next door neighbor with a wild burning passion because he has two large mature trees with limbs that extend past the property line. Now those trees are planted smack dab in the middle of the man's front and back yards but it doesn't matter. The limbs are a deal breaker for mom. If it were legal I honestly think she would harm him, she hates him that bad. My partner of 15 years is of a similar mind. We had neighbors who planted trumpet and honeysuckle vines right up against the shared fence in the back yard. Sure enough each year the invasive vines would grow up, through and over the fence. They also had big shrubs planted in the front and side yards no more than a foot from the property line. So every year my partner and I were stuck with having to cut them back. You should have heard the blue streak coming out of his mouth. Personally I would love to see a large MAC in full bloom covering an ugly shed, but even I have to admit that those shrubs and vines worked my nerves. This year the neighbors moved to Ohio. A month before they left I contracted to have the fence replaced. Just to avoid any conflicts I paid an extra $700 to have a surveying company come out and stake the property line and that is EXACTLY where I had them put the fence. You should have heard the complaints coming from that couple. They fought me every step of the way. Finally a week before the work began I went out there and dug up all the invasive plants while the neighbors were out of state attending a wedding. When they returned the husband and I almost came to a fistfight. He made threats. I gave him the evil eye but didn't say a thing. What was there to say? I knew they were in a vulnerable situation and took advantage of it. My thinking was the worst that could happen is they would sue me for the cost of the plants. I can afford to replace plants. What I can't afford is having to listen to my partner ca-vetch about the neighbors landscaping. Besides, you can darn well be sure I would drag out the proceedings to maximize the inconvenience to the soon to be leaving neighbor. Flying is expensive. The next week they left and I haven't heard from them since. The new neighbor's have been much more polite about their landscaping. Don't ever put plants against a fence if the growth will invade the air space of your next door neighbor. It really upsets a lot of people. BTW, the new fence is ceder, extends to the maximum height, and has no gaps to allow things through. Good fences make good neighbors. Life has been much more peaceful ever since. Ciao from the wicked witch living next door.

I remember Floyd. It was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it hit Long Island. Everything in the garden over hip height was blown right over, the garden was destroyed. Clean up was actually easier than I thought it would be because I set a rule for myself. If it couldn't be stood up or tied up it was chopped down to the ground. The compost heap grew to enormous heights ;-O Floyd came in with horizontal winds and trashed my cedar shakes too. Grrr. We coughed up the bucks and re-sided with hurricane resistant material. I don't know how the Pacific is for storms, but if you live a few miles from the Atlantic you're going to experience brutal storms. Hell hath no fury like an Atlantic storm. It just stopped pouring. It will start again soon. T

Well, yesterday I put down a little more seed on the bare spots and covered them with another light layer of peat moss. Seems to be doing well so far. Weather has been perfect for new grass seed since the storm washed me out. I also misspoke earlier when I said my lawn was about 1,000 square feet. I measured and it is more like 1,500 square feet. I used so much seed because there were huge bare spots, and my lawn was incredibly thin. On a side note, all of my neighbors had their lawns aerated today. They gave me a funny look when I told them I cancelled my appointment. Oh well, hopefully I'm the one with the thick green lawn come springtime.

I'm not sure how the fruit trees have lasted as well either. We've lost some dogwoods and few fruit trees, but not as many fatalities as you'd expect. I bet the people who buy peppers and put them out the first warm spell in February aren't too happy! The wind has been very annoying. I tried to sow some new seeds for flowers yesterday in a seedling tray I have, but the dumb wind kept blowing either my seeds or my packets around! Luckily it rained here last night. We had a fairly nice soaking for the garden. Down south in Mountainburg, fairly flat town right outside of the Ozarks, got hit by a tornado. We get bad storms in the Ozarks but, at least here, tornadoes are a bit of a rarity with the terrain being as hilly as it is. My beets that I sowed in early April are now sprouting, as are my carrots and second lettuce sowing, as are some potatoes and all my radishes. Onions in the ground. Only supposed to get down to as low as 30 this evening, and it's going to be overcast so I'll suspect we'll manage that. I think mostly everything will be alright but I will cover up tender plants like potatoes.