Dan wrote: "Report these morons to the BBB". People seem to be under the impression that the Better Business Bureau is some kind of police force that combats shysters and poor customer service. Maybe it's because they've got the word "bureau" in the name that may lead someone to believe they are a government agency when they're not. They are just an intermediary to try to get complaints resolved. Their goal is to get the customer and the vendor to sort it out. They're not going to put on a cape and fly over to the tree service and give them a knuckle sandwich. They're going to write them a letter saying Jane Public has a complaint as follows and wants to resolve it. So contact her. And PS, people have been researching your company, you should pay us $300 a year for a membership. Tell the tree service to remove the tree including stumpand when you post reviews online of their company, rather than tell the entire word what a lousy job they did by ruining your tree, you'll tell the whole world that they made a mistake but owned up to it and removed the problem at no charge. See, now it isn't the BBB that has any real ability to get complaints resolved, it's the customer. Thanks to review sites, a company's reputation is right out there for the whole world to see.

I also have what I call "log features" in the yard, and many rotting snags and stumps in various stages of decay. As I mentioned above, I leave old dead trees standing in the back yard (not the front because it's not visually appealing to most people) and they eventually fall over and become "log features". I am using some of them to edge a wild garden, or just leave them where they fall, because this is what occurs in a natural woodland. This dead wood, including dead branches on a tree, all provide habitat for insects, birds, and other critters! I have also watched the Pileated woodpeckers working away on a stump or log to get their insects. And yes, termites do inhabit some of this dead wood. Am not sure whether it's better to try to discourage them altogether, or give them some wood out there in the back yard to eat, instead of my house?? However, a log that is 5 x 12 feet is so massive, that I would proabably give it away on Craigslist to somebody with a huge chainsaw. :)

Just looking at everyone's posts about dead/dying trees. My dad had several fig trees that he cared for and did a great job. Since he passed away I have slowly dwindled his crop. I have. One potted one left. It's fairly tall - 7ft or so. It had leaves a few weeks ago but the pot flooded (I moved and it was in line with a sprinkler). All the leaves fell off and most of the branches got very dark. I cut off some of them by the trunk. I was just wondering even if this year I don't get any other growth is their a chance that next year I might? We are moving to NC (from NY) by the end of the year so I can't plant it in the ground until then. Thanks in advance.

While bermuda can be beautiful, it is a hassle to keep it looking nice. It is one of the few grasses that should be mowed at the mower's lowest setting. Partially due to that, it should be mowed twice a week during the summer to keep from scalping it every week. Bermuda also needs as much water as all the other lawns if you want it to be green. The idea that it needs less water depends on your tolerance for brown grass. When bermuda gets very dry it becomes dormant and turns brown. When St Augustine dries out completely, it dies. Thus you have to water St Aug to keep it alive but you could stop watering bermuda altogether and it would remain alive but brown. Bermuda also needs monthly doses of high nitrogen fertilizer to stay green. This is to say that you can have a bermuda lawn but if you are not willing to maintain it, it is going to look raggedy. It can also thin out and become a haven for weeds. Back in the 50s, before the modern herbicides became inexpensive, when you bought grass seed you got a mixture of a fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, rye, and even clover. The idea was that one of the grasses would dominate in almost any soil and you could have a green lawn with multiple species of plants. That approach is one you might consider. You are in the transition zone meaning that you would be able to grow almost any grass.