There is so much misinformation about RoundUp on this thread, it is difficult to comprehend!! The "original" RoundUp was just glyphosate and a surfactant. Glyphosate is a broad spectrum (read: non-selective) herbicide........it has the ability to damage or kill anything it touches, although it takes more and in higher concentrations when you are addressing anything very large or very woody. It is NOT restricted to grassy weeds and it DOES translocate down into the plant root system. It moves through the phloem and so will be transported to ALL parts of the plant tissue. That is why painting the cut stems of woody saplings or other plants with glyphosate is an effective method of control. Plants that develop a waxy cuticle on their foliage - like many BLE's or English ivy - are somewhat more resistant to a glyphosate application than those that lack this protective covering but they are not immune!! Also the larger and more established the plant, the less likely it will be for a single application of glyphosate to kill it outright. Which is likely the case with the OP's large hosta. Even with some larger weeds it takes more than a single application to do the deed. Glyphosate tends to be bound by chemical action when in the soil and dos not move through the soil easily and evidence of it leaching into groundwater is difficult to document. It is suggested not to be used close to waterways due to its toxicity with aquatic life but I would suspect that is more a drift issue rather than leaching through the soil. And it does breakdown very rapidly once in contact with soil biology....it has an estimated half life of 47 days under average conditions but can degrade in as fast as just a few days if conditions are favorable. Newer formulations of RoundUp may include other herbicides that have other, longer reaching or more pernicious effects. But pure glyphosate (Monsanto's patent has expired so you can purchase under any of several dozen brand names), remains one of the most useful and safest herbicides that currently exists.

Yama and others, I hope you will start this forum anew. I would like to have a small Japanese garden area in my backyard, but I don't know where to start. I am originally from Hawaii but now reside in Kansas. Needless to say, the plants are very different. I am quite accustomed to Asian styles and would love to begin a small Japanese garden. I will keep checking back to see if this is still alive. I do have many healthy peonies. Alas, my Japanese Maple of nearly ten years had to be removed this past year. We had a late killing frost last year and it was lost along with apples and peaches and all the peonies. The frost was unexpected so no one could prepare. A tragedy.

To all posters: especially Jillmcm an vonyon, thank you so much for your input on this subject. I live in a wooded area. I love watching all the wildlife,- turkey, deer, and especially the birds, we have blue bird, martin and wren houses, and several bird baths. I have suet feeders, finch feeders, and a hopper feeders, along with several bird baths. I enjoy the birds so much, and spend many hours watching them. Then last summer a pair of phobees built a nest on a window sill on the second floor of our house. What a delight! They would swoop down and eat tons of insects. When I saw a hawk in a tree next to our house eyeing the baby phobees, it was too much, I went over the edge. I was obsessed with how to keep them out of our yard. All of the posts on this forum have been so helpful to putting things in balance. I am going to rethink my pattern of feeding the birds. Although the Phobees don't eat at bird feeders,they do use the bird baths, and the mere fact that there is a concentration of birds, attracted the hawks. By the way, the hawks nested in the woods next to us, and I heard the baby hawk calling after it's mother for food and say them hunting together, so I know they have to eat too. Thank you, again!

For the last two years, I've been experimenting with methods used to deter hawks. I wanted to see if any particular method worked better than another and, I was hoping to find their achilles heel so I could perhaps create a method that would help people who want to enjoy the critters in their yard. I did this for not only songbirds but mammals, such as rabbits. I found that tape, for the hawks here, did nothing. I didn't try CD's but I would think they'd have little effect on a seasoned hunter. I tried that easily torn regular bird netting and fishing line. This did deter bigger hawks like a redtail or goshawk and definitely eagles. It did nothing to deter male coopers hawks, peregrines or sharp shins, assuming they could find a tiny gap between pieces of netting. Now if you get the holes small enough with the fishing line, it could have an effect but a quickier and easier alternative would be the aviary bird netting. I bought some on amazon. It's very strong, and the holes are 2" x 2" which is too small for any hawk to enter. That did deter them, as long as the netting completely covers everywhere the prey animal is located. So basically, a barrier is needed since gadgets used to 'frighten' or 'confuse' don't usually work. A bigger hawk, like a redtail, could possibly go crashing into the netting and if it isn't stuck in it, it would not only ruin your set-up, it would probably kill the prey but redtails here tend to avoid netting. For smaller mammals like rabbits, I recommend burying the surface of a solid corrugated pipe at least a few inches deep from the surface, not in a low spot where water can sit and possibly get in an entrance, covering up with the soil and putting a brush pile over top. Hide entrances in shrubs if possible. Make sure the pipe is pretty long at least 12 feet but preferably 18 ft or longer as hawks will try to flush the rabbits and this is less likely if pipes are longer. If you have larger mature rabbits in the area, I'd recommend you buy 8" if offered, or split the 6" pipe (that's the only size pipe our stores offer) and open it up a bit before burying, to allow a bigger rabbit entry. If trying to protect a small dog or other small animal, I'd definitely go with chicken wire whenever possible but otherwise, the aviary bird netting is strong and on a strong frame, should deter most attacks. It's also black which makes it blend in much better than chicken wire. I've tried water guns, nerf guns, clapping and yelling. Yelling is very effective if you see a hawk chasing down prey. It distracts them for a moment and the prey gets away but given you'd have to be monitoring constantly, that's not practical. But if you see it, a great big 'hey!' usually is enough to break up the chase. Nerfs work but again, you have to be there constantly. Recordings of owls or a peregrine falcon will work but usually only on juvenile hawks. I've buried pipe but found the pipe wasn't long enough and wasn't hidden well enough. All the hawk has to do is be able to put a talon at the opening of the pipe and the rabbits or whatever small animal is hiding, will flush from cover that the hawk couldn't possibly have accessed. So best protect entrances with brush or a large stone. In conclusion, hawks will go where the food is. They are also capable of retaliation when they think you're trying to stop them (confirmed by a falconer and my own experiences) and will try that much harder to thwart you. The best thing is to not concentrate any animal or bird to avoid attracting them and if you do decide to feed, hide feeders or mammals/buried pipe under trees and shrubs before they discover it because once you get on their radar, it takes a couple of years for them to forget you.