I just use Borax sprinkled under sink and on floor of linen closet in bathrooms (where there is access door to bathroom water pipes)... plus under bookshelves which hold potted plants and around back of washer where pipes enter house...in other words near any water source or dampness. Years ago I tried monthly pesticide service but odor of spray was worse aggravation to me than insects...when I complained they offered odorless spray which was okay but I still worried about potent pesticides. Plus I still had occasional insect visitor. If it was cold and wet they said bugs trying to get warm/dry. If hot and dry, the explanation was they came in looking for water. LOL Always willing to make extra trip but it just meant more pesticide all over my baseboards. So I cancelled service and we started using Borax recommended by County Extension Service. Works well...I still occasionally see a half-dead slow moving roach but I can deal with that. If you have pets be sure Borax used in inaccessible places only. Doesn't work on spiders and I sometimes have those tiniest of black ants on windowsill in kitchen but they are easily dealt with by rubbing alcohol/water solution in spray bottle...josh

Don't give up! I can tell you our 4 Sambucus shrubs really took off this year after being planted 3 years ago. They are finally stunning and thriving! We were really considering giving up on them if they looked as ratty at the end of this season as they did for the last couple. I'm really stunned and wish I had a before/after pic because it really is something. By the way... No fertilizer - no nothing other than it's "natural" environment and some minimal pruning/shaping.

Your BF never should have gotten into a relationship until he had worked out the issues he had with his ex-wife. It's not fair to you, him, or his daughter who is emotionally invested in you now. I suggest looking into getting him some kind of counseling. Meanwhile, while it is real easy to place all the blame on the ex-wife, just remember there are two sides to every story. I mean, many many people are emotionally and physically abused and yet they are able to start new relationships and are able to utter the words "I love you" with no problem. So it just seems a little too convenient to blame the ex-wife for all the hurtful things your BF says and does. This post was edited by Amber3902 on Fri, Feb 15, 13 at 18:27

Y'all make me laugh. Goats would work but some neighbors don't appreciate having goats next door. I happen to love goats, but don't have any and don't want them. I already have enough animals and plants to feed and care for. We do have neighbors with goats, and if there is anything cuter than little kids playing in the pasture or goat yard, I don't know what it is. Goats are great unless they find a way into someone's vegetable garden, and then they can become demons of destruction. Kate, I love invasive vines and plant them on purpose because they generally survive drought on no rainfall, unlike everything else around here. They do make a wonderful privacy screen. If you want to cut and remove them, you will have the best success by cutting them off at ground level and painting a brush killer onto the stumps. Or, drill holes in the stumps and pour the brush killer into the holes. Nothing else will get rid of aggresive vining plants, and there is nothing organic that works even 10% as well on aggressive vines as a synthetic brush killer. You have to be careful, though, and cannot compost any of the plant matter from plants treated with brush killer as it sometimes degrades very slowly and can survive the composting process and then kill plants you try to grow in compost that contains traces of the brush killer. I am thinking about extending the eastern edge of our garden about 20' by moving the fence 20' east from where it sits now just so I can plant a row of aggressive vines along the east and south garden fencelines. I was watching our neighbor's hired hand drive back and forth pulling a spray rig behind him for the last two days and I know what this means 9 times out of 10. It means his herbicide drift will reach my tomato plants and severely harm or kill them. As I pondered what I could grow as a living border to protect the plants, it occurred to me that trumpet creeper would do it. Now I'm going to have to break the news to Tim that I want to extend the size of the garden just so I have room to plant some highly invasive vines. He hates putting up new fencing (after fencing in our 14.4 acres when we bought it, he swore he'd never put up any more fencing again). Ha! It is like pulling teeth to get him to put up more fencing, but I've managed to get him to fence in gardens, chicken runs and a dog yard that keeps our dogs contained in one spot. Be sure you really want to get rid of the vines before you do it because it is a ton of work, and you lose a ton of privacy and also a living barrier that may keep your neighbors' use of herbicide from sending drift into your garden that will kill your plants. I get herbicide drift when local ranchers spray herbicides in their fields, when the county road workers spray roadside areas that are too steep to mow (like the banks of our creek near the county road/bridge), and when the railroad sprays the area alongside the tracks that are well over a mile away from us. The more highly invasive plants I can grow to our east the better since all the sprayed areas from which we get herbicide drift are to our east because our woodlands protect us from the south (mostly), the west and the north, the better it is for all the flowers, veggies and herbs I love to grow. Sometimes highly invasive vines serve a very useful purpose. Good luck killing them, if you're sure that's what you want. Dawn