Hi, aliska. Are your coreopsis seedlings or actual plants at this stage? Do you think it would hurt to spray Liquid Fence or a soap/cayenne spray on seedlings? I just don't know how tender they are. Tomorrow will be their third day hardening off (early a.m. sun, porch shade the rest of the day,) and I know I'm going to have to put them in the ground any minute now, they're so tall (almost 10") to be growing in 1 1/2" - 2" peat pellets. Don't cut worms cut plants off at ground level? (I need to look those up.) They'd have had to climb up the stalks and bite the heads off, then climb back down again, if they were worms/caterpillars. Plus, as I think about it now, I'd really love to walk out there one morning and see a worm digging up peat pellets buried to a depth of 2 - 3 inches. The idea of that just cracked me up. I think a sight like that would actually make all this hassle half worth it! LOL Again, Moonflower is a type of Morning Glory, or at least in the same family. Most poisons are hallucinogenic, from what I remember. I think that's why whatever's eating them is spitting them out after they've chomped down once or twice. They're smarter than a lot of Homo sapiens. Good idea about the marigolds. I picked up a number of dried seedpods at WalMart last week. Once I get my shelter set up, I'll have to sow those in among my Moonflowers. I agree with you re. the chipmunks burrowing under the netting. To me, these are just a series of deterrents and I guess I'm hoping the more they have to contend with, the sooner they'll give up. They could all bite through it easily enough, anyway, because it's only plastic mesh. Oh. One last thing. After brainstorming this afternoon on the phone with my SIL, I finally came up with a workable solution for my problem. I've got tons of overgrown privet in the little woods part of my back yard. I can cut green (therefore pliable) switches and use them, criss-cross fashion to support the netting. I could sharpen one end and stick that into the ground, then notch the other end so that it fits over the chain-link fence wire, bowing it between the two points. I think the curve and tension will hold it in place and give it some strength. It won't have to stay there for long because my plants seem to be extremely strong and healthy. Now I just have to find out how flexible those switches can be without snapping. I really appreciate you guys reading this and giving me things to think about. I love this site! Thanks again, Lauren

"Good fences make good neighbors" R. Frost Although you could do many punitive things back at him the reality is that you need to protect your roses, children and yard without his co-operation. In these days of angry gun-toting (and using) people we all need to act defensively, not offensively, for self-protection. I'm sure you've made an effort to talk about it ("it didn't go so well") so now you need to be defensive. You've gotten good ideas but perhaps if you posted a photo, one from your side looking out and another from his side looking in, you could get the benefit of everyone's brain, and the BEST inexpensive solution. I went thru this dealing with our HOA landscaping crew when we lived in Naples FL. It took phone calls, letters and yelling (over the noise of their sprayers) to end it. I had to threaten calling the state authorities that regulate pesticide use (they used Round-up as well as pesticide). Online I found the regulations that they were breaking and called the state office to find out procedure to file a formal complaint. I don't suggest you do that because you live next to the offender. I was dealing with employees of the HOA. I now live in a non-HOA home (only reason for selling and moving). Put up your defense shield (Star Wars?), make a Secret Garden behind it and enjoy your roses. Denise

Hello cpartist, here are the elevations which have the deck running on the two sides of the house. I was also digging through the plans this morning and found a spec note from the Architect about the Deck Coating & Waterproofing Deck coating: Liquid applied elastomeric two part urethane traffic bearing surface. Install per manufacturers specification. Minimum 60 mils multi-coat DFT, finish with walnut shell non-slip aggregate. Finish embedded aggregate with aliphatic polyurethane topcoat. 24 gage GSM perimeter flashing, saddle flashing provided and installed by deck coating subcontractor. Prime flashing, center spun polyester flashing fabric over joints. Vulkem 350NF/351NF or GacoFlex U66. There is definitely going to be waterproofing done but the top finish coat(material) is what i was going after. From the note above, it appears to be 'Aliphatic Polyurethane'. I am not sure I've ever heard about this product before. I wish I could see an example of this on the internet somewhere. @jannicone, yes, this is definitely sloped and will be water managed.

Here is the sum total of what OP said/asked. Is it a bad idea to wrap porch posts in redwood? "HU-53334342yesterday He have two pretty skinny wooden porch posts. Our designer (who doesn't have much exterior experience) is suggesting to wrap them in redwood so that they are thicker. I have gotten conflicting info from carpenters. Will the seams look weird if we want to stain the wood rather than paint it? (The seams won't be right on each corner.) More importantly, will this crack and get damaged quickly due to water exposure and as the wood expands and contracts? We live in the SF Bay Area. Thank you!" Nowhere do I see them ask if there are other ways or superior ways of making posts THICKER. Nowhere do I see them ask if posts should or should not be thicker. In relation to Redwood they ask (A) Is it a bad idea? (B) Will seams look weird stained Presumably based on what carpenters say,OP asserts that seams won't be right on each corner. (C) Will Redwood crack due to water exposure,expansion and contraction? One only needs to go aboard 50 year old yachts to see Redwood which has endured more than any home ever will and still beautiful in their owner's eyes. Why in the world do ya'll need pictures to answer those questions? Don't interpit me as coming down hard on designers for no reason,to the contrary I'm attempting to show how you can do your job without causing needless conflict with and amongst other tradespeople during construction. Many many people are clueless to how they want their home to look and call on designers to basically decide for them and are happy in the end knowing their look is the latest. Nothing bad about that and I wouldn't suggest homeowner do it different. Where problems arise is when a designer assumes others are the same and proceed to call shots without asking. Still no foul or harm,,,,,,,until,,,,,,a real live example that follows. Builder furnished in house pre-contract consultants,engineer, architect ,decorator consultant,material package and trades subs for new house under construction. Homeowner hires a decorator consultant that has no affiliation with builder. After home is in the dry but long before cabinets are delivered decorator convinces homeowner the kitchen island would look better and be more practical at a different position. Hard feelings ensued over who would foot the bill for relocating plumbing and electrical buried in slab. I blame the homeowner for not just backing away and leaving plan as it was but they didn't and flames flared when concrete contractor insisted an addendum be attached relieving them of warranty due to demo plumber had to do to foundation in order to relocate plumbing. Eventhough costs for change orders fell to homeowner,decorator faned the flames by telling homeowner electrican could bury junction box and house wiring with plumbing to avoid a hideous floor recptical where it wasn't needed. With everyone on the job simultaneously soured, the inspector retaliated by giving plumber a bad time over not being able to avoid connections below and/or incased in slab. I tell this story and there's some that are worse,to point some things out. Do decorators stand behind their work with implied or issued written warranties same as other trades? I've never known anyone in construction other than decorators that routinely cause change orders for issues they aren't qualified to perform or do a detailed material list and scope for.