I was going off the information from my local nursery, the "concept" of gardening and learning all the proper terminology is obviously still a work in progress and as much as I'd love to remember all plant species well probably never going to happen. It's actually not a dwarf and since I normally just refer to it as that ugly " doctor Seuss " tree I thought I was doing pretty good! Ha! At any rate that bush I've seen around so thank you for a possible id ibilous :) those bushes also get fairly big from what I've seen so I'll be discarding it. It's nice to come on here, read and learn from experienced gardeners who are supportive and helpful without criticizing. :)

I've become a fan (over the past three years) of a product called 'Surround'. Its active ingredient is kaolin clay, and is formulated in a wettable powder which, when mixed with water, is applied as a spray. The clay works as a barrier to leaf and fruit/veggie eating critters such as beetles, caterpillars, borers, grasshoppers, etc. It is also effective against aphids and other piercing sucking insects. I use it on the few JB prone plants I have, spraying on a couple of layers, which lasts until those darned critters go away for the season. I've also used it in the veggie garden, where it can be used right up to harvest. It does create a whitish film on the plants, which is not visually appealing. But wears off in time. Surround, by the way, is extremely popular with fruit and veggie growers, as it not only does a wonderful job at protecting their crops against a broad range of important pest species, but also reduces sun scalding and heat stress without hindering photosynthesis. Don't spray it on flowers and use it wisely.

I have a super nice neighbor and my north end backyard fence forms about half of his back fence. A few years ago, I had been working endless to cut all of the roots that ran 5-6 feet into the area that I had planned to plant and increase the size of my garden. My neighbor came over so I stopped and came inside and got some soft drinks and we just sat in the lawn chairs in which was once a back yard where I had created a small corner as a garden. We visited for awhile and he stood up and picked up the trimmers and went over to the Virginia Creeper where he had seen me trying to trim it back. He trimmed for a few minutes and sat back down. Within minutes, the entire vine that ran 20 feet along the fence began to wilt. He had unintentionally cut the main stem coming from the root and it took out the whole vine. I was so grateful and wished that I had known where the main stem on the other one came out, so I could have him trim there too. I don't know if they grow the same everywhere, but in my yard the roots will crawl on the surface of the ground for 6 feet straight out from the plant, in addition to the underground ones. When you mow the grass you can see them and it looks like little snakes crawling under the fence. They have made me jump more than once, but most of them are finally gone. They do look pretty on a farm fence or in the woods but in an area that gets a lot of rain they can become monsters in a hurry.

Cornell Lab says Sometimes Black Vultures wade into shallow water to feed on floating carrion, or catch small fish. They occasionally kill skunks, opossums, night-herons,leatherback turtle hatchlings, and livestock including young pigs, lambs, and calves. If that's good enough for the lab at Cornell, it's good enough for me. I took this pic this morning of the 4 month old BVs. Sorry for the poor quality. They are still covered with fluff but can fly short distances. Interesting that they don't have a voice box but they can still hiss and sort of bark.