My parcel of 1.25 acres can be described as an open woodland or "savannah". There are plenty of trees but they are spaced farther apart than a woodland. I purposely have left snags or dead trunks standing in the back yard (until they eventually fall over), and had Bluebirds that nested in woodpecker holes for 2 years in the snags! I also refrain from pruning most of the dead lower branches on the trees, because the birds love to use these for perching spots. I have saved some large branches that were pruned from the trees, and have a natural and gnarly shape, with the purpose of burying the butt end of the branches about 1 - 1.5 feet into the ground and this provides great perching spots for the birds. I also built a 25 foot long trellis out of natural wood - the straight trunks of Norway maple and Ash saplings mostly, but also adorned with ornamental and curving branches - on which I grow morning glories, Cardinal Climber, and native Honeysuckle and Virginia Creeper. The birds love to perch on this trellis! This type of landscaping is "naturalized" - and is not a formal, highly manicured landscape - but the birds love it!

When we were building, we had to abide by our neighborhood covenants using either wrought iron or wood (pasture style 4 board). They let us substitute alumninum for wrought iron (less maintenance). I had to have a cottage fence because of the deer and they go under and over the 4 board style. We got the Jerith aluminum (ours is bronze). It doesn't have the cottage charm of a picket fence, but it works well with our house style. Lifetime warranty and we're very happy with the way it turned out. No maintenance. Our style is '401' and retails for $135 for a 6 foot section that is 4 ft high. I think the in-line posts run around $50 each, but we have stone corner posts that were built by a landscaper (and match the ones in our neighborhood). Our gate was around $400+. Cameron

I have HEARD (but not needed to try) that the capsaicin repellents work very well. Those would be the products containing hot pepper. There are many on the market. You can also alternate it with the very common Ropel, another product that has a very bitter taste. I believe that in a situation like this you need to use something to make the plants taste horrible PLUS an olfactory reminder. After a while, they will associate the odor with the awful taste. Just be sure to read the labels carefully on anything you buy to make sure that you aren't purchasing yet another 'predator scent' repellent.

Paul, I think I dumped about 2 bags of Wal-Mart steer manure on the string of ornamental grasses seen in the pic above, around May 1 last year, right after I chopped them off. I cut off everything above about 6 inches. This Spring Im going to try leaving it a little longer, maybe 12 or 14 inches tall. My thought is this might give it more strength and help it stay more upright when the snow hits. So far I havent seen any new ornamental grasses come up anywhere from seed. I dont get the feeling they start from seed all that easily. The Giant grass sends out runners about 6 or 8 inches from present grass clump. No further than that. On the Hardy pampas the new stems are in very tight to the old. Id say it spreads only an inch or maybe 2 inches per year. I read somewhere that these tall ornamental grass varieties are very responsive to Nitrogen fertilizer, so you might want to consider putting a little manure or something on yours. If not that, then I imagine a little cheapy lawn fertilizer (without the insecticide and weed killer) would also make yours very happy. The Giant silver grass is being used in Germany for the stuff to put into the fermentation vats to make alcohol motor vehicle fuel. Apparently it grows more fermentable mass per acre than any other crop. In pictures of it growing there, it seems to be about 14 feet tall. Bruce