stu, Sodding the small area is easy for him and he's charging for every piece of sod they put down. I would have some good garden soil put there and plant several blueberry bushes and use strawberries as a groundcover. Pine bark mulch with a pine straw mix works for a mulch and won't wash away if it's not too high above the side walk. On the other side of the sidewalk I would plant some nice medium sized shade trees such as red maple, black gum and sweet bay magnolia. You can use the same mulch here. All of these are AL natives so there won't be any issues with getting them to adapt.Reaserch the proper way to plant trees or take a look at the tree sction of the forum. If you want pretty flowers check the Alabama garding section for suggestions.

Soil is composed of the mineral (sand, silt, clay) portion and organic matter. Terms such as "topsoil", "garden soil", "flower mix", are meaningless unless well defined. I have found, over many years, that many people think "topsoil" and loam are the same thing when they are not. :Loam is a specific soil type, "topsoil" is just the top 4 to 6 inches of soil from someplace that may, or may not, contain some organic matter. So, some "landscaper" sells a fairly decent soil mix (92 to 95 percent mineral and 5 to 8 percent organic matter) usually about 4 inches on top of soil with little to no organic matter. Simply not enough good soil for any plant that roots deeper then 4 inches. So that 5 to 8 percent organic matter quickly turns into not nearly enough. Most soils I have looked at over the last 50. or so years, have more then enough of the mineral (the sand, silt, and clay) and lacked adequate amounts of organic matter. What the soil you have needs is organic matter, not more of the mineral portion of what makes up soil.

To get rid of an animal, you have to think like the animal. You also have to consider that the rain and weather will affect your repellents. Deer and rabbits are both repelled by scent and taste. The smart ones smell it and move along, the not so smart or hungry ones have to taste it to be sure. For deer and rabbits I have found that border repellents (hot pepper flakes, blood meal, predator urine etc.) are minimally effective. But combined with a surface repellent like Liquid Fence they are effective. However, you must reapply every time it rains no matter what the label says. Oh..and it stinks. A lot! Until it is dry. You can make your own mixture of rotten eggs, garlic and hot pepper oil. It's basically the same as Liquid Fence and its ilk. I know...not what you wanted to hear. Fencing is effective if you remember that a white tailed deer is an olympic jumper. 6 feet or higher to keep them out. Rabbits will tunnel under the fence so you have to run a foot across the ground before going upward. I have heard (but never used) that the motion sensor water sprayers work well for deer. The one I have seen around here is the "Scarecrow". Squirrels bury stuff everywhere! I am not one for harming animals. I had the same problem and resorted to feeding them. I did. I nailed an old plastic pot to a tree. I fill it with feed corn. Then I placed an old hanging basket with soil on a limb near by. They bury the corn right in the basket. It has reduced the damage but not eliminated it. I have not found a repellent that works for them. They are either too smart or too stupid...not sure which. Cats. Ugh. The Scarecrow water sprayer may work for them. I don't know. I assume these are stray cats? If not, talk to the owners and see in mentioning animal control gets them to keep their cats at home. If they are strays, I would make the call. You can see if there is a group in your area that gathers ferral cats for rescue. I know of a few people who say moth balls work to repel them. I have never tried it. Everyone's animals are different. I have found that breaking their feeding pattern and remaining diligent is the only way to be effective. I also fence my veggie garden. Too much work there for the risk. Good Luck! I share your frustration. Here is a link that might be useful: scarecrow

Have you considered sod? That gives you an instant lawn. You could plant seed now with the understanding that you will likely need to do it again in the fall. Water lightly several times a day every day to keep the seed moist (not an inch! Just a few minutes) and as the grass germinates and grows, increase the amount and decrease the frequency. Eventually you get to one inch all at once each week. Do you have irrigation? If not, you will need sufficient hoses and a timer if you're not home during the day. You cannot use normal pre-emergent now if you're planting grass. You might give the seed a little more time to see what it will do. You have what is called "dormant seeding" since it didn't get much of a chance to germinate last fall. It's just now warming up enough to get going. Keep it moist (lightly several times a day) for a couple of weeks and see what happens.