I'm appalled that you believe you have the right to tell another property owner how to maintain their shrubs, or anything else to do with their landscape. I planted a dozen shrubs this year and if any of my neighbors come up to me to complain, as I plan to let them grow "wildly", then I will tell them unless they want to pay my mortgage and property taxes then they need to MYOB. I would never allow us to be bullied. If I found out that anyone came onto my property and poured Roundup on ANY of my shrubs/trees I would have them arrested so fast their head would spin, and I would sue. Trust me, I would make a huge stink about it. I understand how neighbors can frustrate us with their landscaping choices. I get that. My next door neighbor built a huge 2 story addition to his one story house that comes within 15 feet of our house, not to mention took away every single bit of privacy we have in the backyard. Then they planted a sugar maple 3 feet off of our property line. I was furious! I wanted to scream at them are you insane! This is eventually going to cover up 1/3 of our backyard! But I have absolutely NO right to tell another property owner what to do with their land. All I can do is put a root guard up along the property line, which we are doing in a few months, and trim back any branches that are bothersome. But other than that I have kept my mouth shut. Shame on you for bullying your neighbor! By all means cut back anything that comes onto your property, you have every right to do that, but as for everything else, mind your business.

I'll share it with you all, since we've steered this one to customer service. Occasionally I'll need something that can only be found at a retailer and I drive 1.5 hours to the place. The way they do things, you select what you need and find a sales person to radio in and start/add to your ticket. After you find everything you want, you go pay then come back and load. If you want something from heal in, sales will direct the yard crew to dig and reburlap when necessary. So here I am braving the impending rain storm, traipsing through the boxwoods when a crew member asks if he can help? I mildly surprised to hear english, say oh sure I'll take these 1st 10 green velvets. He yells to the crew and away they go, I say, don't wait for me I'll be awhile so just set them at the edge...thanks, he nods. later I'm just getting to the counter in the store when the storm hits, I pay and decide to wait it out as many customers were. A young man blusters in behind the counter and annouces on the PA, due to the storm they will be closing early then proceeds to irritatingly freak about someones 10 boxwood and who was it and did they even pay for them and are they going to get them yadda yadda, he ignores the soft spoken sales girl who is trying to say that I've paid and am standing right there. So I raise my voice a bit and tell him that I will load my plants when I have less chance of being hit by lightening! He's mad because the crew is evidently waiting and I say, tell them to go, I'll load myself... here it is, your moment of zen... He says, you can't load them, you don't know how heavy they are... mam, they're too heavy for you. OMG!!!! I look the boy in the eye, standing there in my company uniform and work boots, felcos at the ready and am perfectly stunned. and all I can say is a very sarcastic EXCUSE ME, who do you think will be planting them? me thinks the fat little effeminent boy has never lifted a boxwood himself, as I'm sure he thinks that hard work is for the latins... ARGH!

Wouldn't it be nice if people just spoke the truth? Clearly someone who advocates the use of a 22 to solve a problem isn't worth engaging. IMO, it's best to just ignore that level of intelligence. I'm in awe of the work some of you are doing to help cats with TNR and fostering colonies and so forth. I'm very impressed, and feel that I've learned a lot from your detailed explanations. I intend to find a local chapter and get involved -- for no other reason than it would be a good thing to do. What a concept, huh? As for all of those who were mocked with sneers of "feeding the cute kitties," it is heartening to hear of people with kind hearts. Bless them for being that way. And the exaggerations about the killing of birds is amazing. I have 5 cats that all go outside. Between all of them, they maybe kill 4 birds a year. Granted, they are domestic and well cared for, but they still have instincts. I also had feral cats around my property. I didn't find "tons of feathers." I wonder... should we start killing all the hawks, crows, owls, and other predators of "songbirds"? This whole "songbird populations are being decimated" blah, blah, blah is just another BS soapbox that people who don't like cats like to jump on. And, of course, ALL of the "feral" cats are loaded with fleas. How is this known by those who profess it with such exuberance? Did it ever occur to any of you that there are rabbits, raccoons, mice, moles, voles, opossums, etc. etc. with fleas in your environment? It's never ceased to amaze me how people justify their thoughts that some animals/people are worthy of their care and concern, while others are not. The "outside" dog in the prison (aka kennel) vs. the "inside dog" by the fireplace. My cat vs. some other cat. "Songbirds" vs. grackles. Pet pigs or cows on "family farms" vs. the tortured animals (look up gestation crates) that we all have no problem eating. We're all God's creatures, aren't we? No one's telling you, original poster, that you HAVE to do anything. You whined. We answered. Try to find some compassion in your heart for those poor cats and your neighbors.

Understand a bit about grass will help. There are two general types: the kind that grow in warm weather, like Bermuda and St. Augustine ("warm season"), and the kind that grow in cool weather, like Fescue ("cool season"). Water needs aside, Bermuda looks worst in the winter, because it's close to dormant in the winter. Fescue looks worst in the summer, because it's close to dormant in the summer. Some grasses grow in clumps that either don't spread at all, or spread a little. These are better behaved, but they don't repair themselves quickly when damaged by, for example, dog urine. Burns spots stay burnt for a long time. Fescue (for example) is more of a clumper. Spreading grasses, like St. Augustine, will rapidly repair dog urine burn spots because they spread, or "run", rooting and forming new plants as they grow. They are not as well behaved, because they can spread into plant beds. So it's a trade-off between control-ability and repair-ability. If you have small kids, nothing will replace a turf grass lawn. Nothing. It's the play surface of choice. Pets don't really care what they play on. My dog's play surface of choice is mud, of which there is none on our property. Some less thirsty choices are the UC Verde grass, or a hybrid, sterile (non-reseeding) Bermuda. Zoysia is also sometimes recommended, but it can spread and be invasive, so that is something to consider. It also turns brown without sufficient water. Hybrid Fescues are soft and a beautiful green, but they need more water. disadvantages of Zoysia, Zoysia vs. Bermuda, etc. Read and investigate and learn a little, it will help you with your choice. Hybrid grasses tend to be better performers, but more expensive, and may only be available to purchase as sod, which is more expensive than seed. The expense may be well worth the higher price, because in the long run, maintenance and watering of a lawn costs far more than the original purchase price. Look around and make sure whatever you choose is a good choice for your particular local area. California is a big state and what works in Claremont won't have the same performance in Santa Cruz or Napa.