i guess i am the problem neighbor on my street. i only have 1 neighbor unless you count horse pasture, and part of the 2 acres i have directly next to him is garden. the rest i cut when it gets high. i cut most of my lawn every week, but the area between us is VERY uneven and will bounce you off the mower. his father used to own my house, and that area was the dirt track for all the grandkids. i told him if he wants to spray it occassionally to keep the weeds out of his yard, that is fine. i will cut it before it gets more than 10 inches high, but not much more often. i HOPE to be able to level it out this summer. once it is level and smooth, i will cut it with teh regular rotation. since i have a corner lot, only horse pasture buts up to me on the other side. the guy who keeps the horses out there gets something to kill the weeds and i spray it for him. i think it is called graze-on, it has to be a certain type so that the horses can still graze and not have to be moved from teh pasture until the weeds are dead. this helps part of my yard, but the weeds still spread pretty quickly. i just round up the 2 acres around the house itself, and let the rest grow what it wants. the bermuda grows in fine, with teh exception of 2 small areas that are almost exclusively in the shade. i have to smooth and seed those soon.

Cat Deterrents for your Garden: Keep in mind that each cat is different (like people), a deterrent that works for one may not necessarily work for another. On the plus side, most cats will keep pesty squirrels, moles and other critters out of your garden. They're great for keeping out moles, rabbits, squirrels, and other critters which can do more damage in your garden than a cat ever will. If the cats have owners, talk to them without being confrontational. The cat owner who allows his cat to damage other peoples' property is as guilty as the cat hater who kills the cat for trespassing. Remember, cats will be cats, and it is unfair of us to blame them for being what they are and how nature intended them to participate in this world.� After-all, we praise them when they catch mice or rats or other creatures we deem to be 'pests'. * amonia soaked (corncobs, etc) * aluminum foil * bamboo skewers * black pepper * blood meal fertilizer * bramble cuttings * Carefresh - "recycled" wood pulp * catnip - donated into your neighbor's yards (so they'll stay in their own yards) * cedar compost * chicken wire (metal or plastic) * cinnamon * citrus peels * citrus spray * cocoa bean shells * coffee grounds -fresh & unbrewed, not just a light sprinkling (highly recommended by MANY Gardenwebbers!) * dogs * electric fence for animals * essence of orange. essence of lemon, lime (citrus essential oils) * fresh manure(ditto) * garlic cloves * gumballs from the Sweet Gum Tree * gutter covers * hardware cloth * heavy bark mulch * holly leaves * keep the area damp, they like dry soil * lavender * liquid manure (good for your garden too) * motion sensor sprinkler * pennyroyal * pinecones * pipe tobacco * plastic forks * predator urine * red wine vinegar * river rocks over the exposed soil * rocks, crushed * rose bush clippings * rue, an herb (Ruta graveolens) (highly recommended in plant form only) * short twigs throughout the planted area about 6" apart * six-inch bamboo skewers (pointy side up) * Spray on your leaves (not the cat): fill a spray bottle with 1/2 t chili powder, 1/2 t cayenne pepper, 1 t dish soap and water * squirt gun with water * talk to your neighbors * tansy * thorny berry, lilac, hawthorn, rose clippings * toothpicks * upside down vinyl carpet * vinegar sprayed on areas where they roam * water bottle on "stream" NOT RECOMMENDED: *** chili powder, red crushed pepper, cayenne pepper (NOT recommended), it gets on the cat's paws then they wash themselves and they get it in their eyes, beware cats have literally scratched their eyes out because of this. Even if it's one cat out of 500 infected in this way, that's one too many for me. *** Don't ever use mothballs or flakes. Those little toxic waste pellets destroy cats' kidney function, could seriously harm people who handle them, and yes, contaminate your own garden soil. Their packaging even warns against using them this way. Give them their own areas: (To keep them out of where you don't want them) (If you don't mind them protecting your garden from other critters) + pick the cat up and bring it to eye level with the plant to see and smell it up close. She noted that once her cat has seen and sniffed at the plant, she usually doesn't bother with it later. + give them their own plants - i.e., pots of grass for her to chew on and a place in a large planted container on her balcony with some miscanthus grass in it (the cat likes to curl up in that for some reason) + if the cats are strictly indoors and attracted to your houseplants, grow catgrass for them. If someone forced you to remain inside one enclosed structure all your life, you might be attracted to the plants too. + Barley Grass + Any type of "catgrass" from the pet store + Carex elata 'Bolwes Golden' but put it in some shade + Catmint Nepeta mussinicultivars (Simply put, Catmints are Catnips without any culinary or feline use. In any case, they are, however, phenomenal, long flowering, hardy perennials that belong in every fairie or flower garden.) + Catnip Nepeta cataria (in your own yard) The oils of which also work as a mosquito repellent that works 10 times better than Deet! Catmint is the common name for all varieties of Nepeta. Catnip is the common name for the specific variety of Nepeta called nepeta cataria, which is the variety that cats are most attracted to. + Cat Thyme (Teucrium marum) + Flax + Oat Grass + Jacob's Ladder + Lemon Grass + Loose soil and mulch like small bark mulch + Mints + Purple Fountain Grass so the cat lays in the long leaves all day. Maybe put something in that the cats really like and - you know cats won't winky were they like to hang out. + Sandy area + Silver vine (Actinidia polygama) + Striped Ribbon Grass (can be invasive) + Sweet grass + Trificum aestivum (type of cat grass) + Various Varieties of Cat Mints (Catnips) + Wheat Grass + Wheat Berries + Valerian This list compiled by Violet_Z6, email at violet_z6@yahoo.com for comments and suggestions regarding this list.

Sumac is a good Midwestern plant, underused, in my opinion (I assume you're talking about staghorn sumac), but gaining more attention. Although I didn't grow it when I lived in the Midwest, I think it's a great choice. But whether or not you want it depends on how much attention you want to give to it. I wouldn't say it spreads aggressively -- it does sucker freely, but a yearly culling takes care of those while they're small and easy to deal with. Not, in my opinion, a problem or a high-maintenance thing, but everyone has a different threshold for that. Here in the Northwest (where I am now) it's sort of a gardening mecca, and things that are well-behaved in the Midwest tend to be a little bit wild here -- but sumac isn't a problem. I just tend to the suckers in early summer and that's it. Named varieties tend to be somewhat less agressive than the species, so that might be another way to get around some of the suckering. I wasn't aware of the low-grow sumac, looks like an interesting option. There are some other varieties as well -- a fine cut-leafed variety ('Lacinata'), and one with golden foliage (goes under the trademarked name 'Tiger Eyes' and the variey name 'Bailtiger') that's very striking against dark-foliaged plants and has an incredible fall color. I like the fall color of all the staghorn sumacs, not to mention the great trunks. And they are great for birds. Many native or native-type plants that will attract birds has potential for easy spread -- watch out for some of the species honeysuckles, for example. That's one your neighbors wouldn't appreciate; comes up readily and everywhere from seeds spread by birds. My favorite plant for attracting birds when I lived in IN was a shrub dogwood -- they loved the berries, but it also just seemed to be a plant they liked to hide in and hop around under. I really enjoyed it -- although the suckers on that were much harder to control than sumac -- and would plant it again (and in fact have planted some shrub dogwoods in our front yard, although a different kind). Even so, if I had to pick between dogwoods and sumac, I'd go with sumac -- more year-round interest. Have fun deciding!

:-0 OWIE! I sure hope you are kidding about the mice traps! That is a bit cruel of a deterrent! Besides that, you might find yourself in trouble gardening if you get just a little forgetful!!! My cat slept in the pines, making beds on the stuff that built up over the years. The needles don't seem to deter cats at all unless perhaps you can get them to stick upwards? I have often wondered about the information about repelling cats with citrus. Cats don't like to eat citrus. I never noticed them leaving the room when I ate an orange or grapefruit though. They just don't like the way it tastes. I am not sure they will stay away just because something smells like citrus. Supposedly spraying the base of the soil and plants with a potion make with hot peppers will be unpleasant to their paws. http://www.helium.com/tm/487346/regarding-felines-gardeners-sides I don't know anyone who has actually done this though. It all comes down to poop fighting. I was emotionally involved with my little fighter. I used to have gardening fights with my own beloved cat. I would go out to garden, he would join me. I would walk to the gardens, he would be at my side. I would dig. He would dig and poop. "THAT IS GOING TOO FAR!" I would say. He always had one area that he would dig up. The only way I could stop the little pansy pooper was to keep the garden densely planted enough that it would not be so lovely to dig in. All that loose, black soil, fluffy and soft to the touch is just too much to resist. THAT IS JUST BEAUTIFUL! I lost the little guy this year and have taken complete control of my garden again. Of course, I would gladly go back to the poop fights if I could. I miss him.