This also brings back a flashback of my own situation. I had been landscaping my backyard over the years, but in pieces and not as a whole landscape. This resulted in several disparate forms, a gazebo on a berm (circular), lawn (rectangle), and playset on bermed area (another rectangle). It wasn't until I saw a little side-bar snippet and drawing in Fine Gardening (don't remember the issue) that referenced "recieving forms". I posted here awhile back my excitement about this (see link to thread below). A recieving form is basically relating shapes to one another, be they bed shaped, lawn shapes or berm shapes so that the peices look that they "go" together, which unifies an area over a stretch of negative space. For example looking from space at the earth, it's easy to see how S. America (brazilian coast) can fit into the west coast of Africa. This type of re-structuring your lawn shape and bed shapes will help to bring together all of the areas of your backyard into pleasant spot. Also consider adding some berms for changes in elevation (assuming drainage won't be adversely impacted)to add some interest and aid in the recieving form effect. Here is a link that might be useful: Recieving forms

Youch!!! That would fit with what I'm seeing... they stay small for the first couple of years, but this taller one has rocketed to 8 feet in just this spring!! Looks like I'll have to keep a leash on it, but it's nice having an oak in the yard. I keep hoping, of all the couple-dozen plants that have been sown by birds, that one or two would happen to be natives, but that doesn't seem to be happening. Thanks for the ID !

That makes sense. We had some work done on our underground sprinkler system there last fall, I bet they severed the roots while they were digging up the irrigation pipes. What should I do with them? I hate to kill them, but will they grow healthily there? Also, they're only 3-4 feet away from one of my Monterey Oaks.

Yes, I agree not moonseed, looks like wild grapes. But since we are talking about eating wild plants, I just wanted to mention the look alike so the OP and anyone reading this post (and we both know there are plenty of those!) would know that not everything that looks like a wild grape might be a wild grape. I personally have never seen moonseed. Grapes, on the other hand... I live in a part of the US known for grapes and wine. Wild grapes grow every place. They are a common "weed" for me to deal with in gardens. Old vines in forests here get as thick as young tree trunks - you could swing on the vines like Tarzan! I would think nothing of using anything that looked like wild grapes. But I'm sure not everyone has the same situation, hence the word of caution. :) FataMorgana