Despite the original posters overly extensive post, with certain questionable content, the central point is still quite vaild. We as a nation spend more money on grass than on any other crop. That by itself should be reason enough. Read up on the history of lawns and you'll find that they were orginally created as a means of demonstrating wealth (aka, I have this big area and I can afford to do nothing with it except grow grass I can't eat) Regarding the comments of junegem13 and zachslc, you might want to read up on the legal history of this movement. As it turns out, most weed laws (ones based on hight, not on noxious weeds) are unconstitutional. Nonetheless, if you are in a city or subdivision and decide to do a wildflower meadow where there is not an reasonable ordinance, then you should notify your neighbors and the city about why you are doing and the legal preceedants. The EPA has all this information. Regarding property values, that was the original complaint neighbors made against one landowner when she converted her lawn into meadow. When they were unable to demonstrate an actual decrease in property values, the city ordinance was ruled unconstitutional. Afterwards, the neighbors decided if they couldn't beat her that they'd join her and replace their own yards with meadows. Property values in that one neighborhood are now some of the highest in the city (Specific names and places, are available if you want them). Time and time again, lawn alternatives done correctly have shown to raise values, not lower them. In Charlottesville, VA local government is working on an ammendment to exclude native meadows from our weed ordinance. Other cities are doing the same very quicky, especially since the weed ordinance as written by many localites constitutes a legal liability to local governments.

I've never taken formal gardening classes altho gardening has been a lifelong passion for well over 60 years and I've read a lot of books and magazines, picked a few brains, and more recently found so much info online. I used to want to do the Master Gardeners' course but it's not offered here in this backwoods area. I don't think it would benefit me much at this stage of my gardening life anyhow and I have so many other interests that take my time. I'm hoping to get my friends more excited about gardening, too Do you have a Garden Club in your area? IMO it can be a great learning experience for anyone, and especially for beginner gardeners. It might be a way to interest your friends if you all went together. Also for me was a good source of plants as everyone would freely give their extras. When we moved here from warmer zones it was a great help to me to learn which plants grew well here. Connecting with like-minded people is also great. I've finally gotten the solution to the deer problem and that is 7' tall fencing around my main garden. Nothing else worked well for me. As far as the yellow jackets I've never heard of anything that gets them in a 'better mood' LOL but seldom have a problem here. However I'm learning to place those plants that bees love away from my patio. Hated sitting there and having all that buzzing going on and wondering if I'd get stung.

Actually, I can recommend some annuals. We have bunnies around here all year, and they have never bothered snapdragons, marigolds or celosia I put out. It's funny, but I don't notice any rabbit damage at all. (If you want to see my snapdragon photos, I'll include the URL below.) I put out sunflower seeds for rabbits and the chipmunks all winter, and they pretty much stick to those. I see the bunnies munching them late at night. The chipmunks live under the porch, so I just put a handful down a hole there, and they never even have to come out. But the seeds are always gone in the morning. You're right. The dandelions will be gone soon. To be honest, the weeds are what saved our lawn during the sprinkling ban. I'm not sure how that works, but it might have to do with not putting any weed killer on the lawn. There were massive lawn die offs here in the subdivision during the drought. People are having to spend wads of cash on getting their lawns back here. And the weeds are the only thing different between us and everybody else. It seemed like their leaves might have shaded the grass some, too. That's just my supposition. I found out recently we might have to move out of state, so now I'm wondering how much trouble we should go to. We're going to have plenty of other things to concentrate on besides dandelions. The weed killers do hurt the critters. The manufacturer tells you not to let your kids or animals on the lawn for a while after application. And it's a known fact that they hurt amphibians. We live by the Fox, like you do, so you're probably aware we have loads of amphibs around here. Thanks for your response. Nice to hear from Aurora. :-) Pretty chilly this morning, isn't it. Here is a link that might be useful: Snapdragons

'U' are preaching to the choir here...