Lisa, I agree. Watching the critters and insects at the stream is so fascinating. The birds love to bathe in it and drink from it. So far I haven't seen any chipmonks drinking from it, but one of their holes is close by. The bees/wasps/hornets (whatever they are) come for their drinks too. All of my life I was terrified of them, but now I can even gently move them out of the way without fear or being stung. They love the lavender, which you can't see in these pictures, and I have to brush up against it to work on the pond. I haven't once been stung or threatened by them. There is an Anise Hyssop and a butterfly bush just the other side of the arborvite, as well as globe thistle, yarrow and bee balm. So I have lots of insects coming to visit the back yard. Even though I want to make changes, it has been so nice all week to sit out there next to the head waterfall and just listen and watch - and breathe deeply!!!! I leave for work at 4am and walk to the gate to listen for the waterfall to be sure all is well in the fishie world before I start my day. It is Friday afternoon, I'm through with work and after work work (I do scrapbooking for other people) and have a martini mixed and am headed out for the pond! WHEW!! Long hard week deserves a relaxing sit by the pond! Anne

From my own experience with rocks around the yard do not work out very well for looking good for very long. Mine were meant for looks only around the pool. Spend 300 bucks just for the rocks alone and DH and I had to haul them to the back. This was before I started planning on gardening the yard but I sure wished that I had known I was going to garden cause I would have planted something all around the pool instead of putting down the rocks. Live and learn HUH. If I had to choose I'd go with French drain. I don't have a dry river bed but do have river rocks around the pool BIG mistake dirt and leaves get in the cracks then seeds from weeds get in there and I've got to weed it all the time and I have the heavy black plastic down but that does not stop dirt on top getting in between the rocks. Good luck hope this is helpful.

On the poison ivy, it's very easy to identify in the growing stage. You can see pictures on Google. All parts of the plant is poisonous as all times, so once you learn to identify the leaves, study the aerial roots and stems and avoid the plant during winter as well. It's very easy to get rid of. Cut any climbing vines and spray the rest with roundup. It will come back so let it get 2-3' ht and spray it again. Repeat this process until it is gone. If one comes in contact with it accidentally, a soapy shower will wash off the toxin. Be careful not to touch the dirty clothes again. I've been exposed and gone 20 or 25 minutes (I think) before washing it off and escaped injury. (It was awhile back so the sooner, the better.)

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