The garden decor in my neighborhood is mostly...

it does help keep out tracked in georgia red mud . shoes off at the door doesn't help all that much. sally

Dahlianut - you MUST read Second Nature by Pollen. He has a great theory about lawns.

I have always thought that every lawn should come with a real live sheep to mow and fertilize it.

or a zebra ^_^ I've always wanted a zebra.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas....only a hippopotamus will do...
Maybe a zebra would be a bit more practical though.

I want a cute little goat. But I have no lawn so it would eat all of my vegetables. When one of my sons was in college his fraternity saw a thing on TV about a pig that was going to be destroyed if no one claimed it so of course the boys claimed it and took it back to the frat house. They fed it everything and named it Chorizo and it got so fat that his belly dragged on the ground. When the pig savers graduated they could not find anyone to take Chorizo so they left the gate open in hopes he would wander away - no luck. So they put him on a big sling and into a pick-up truck and drove to the agriculture building (Cal-Ploy is an ag school) on campus and hoisted him over the fence and that's the last we heard of Chorizo.

Here's a link that gives a short cultural history of lawn-ship (or whatever it would be called.)


http://www.allaboutlawns.com/lawn-maintenance-care/landscaping-and-gardening/the-history-behind-lawns.php

Great ideas all! I would love a zebra. They are even cuter than sheep. I watched a program about a lady who rescues them on animal planet. They are sweet and shy.
A hippo! For a hippo you really need a big deep swimming pool. I think a hippo would make a great pond ornament, rather than a lawn ornament.
I love the story of Chorizo who probably is chorizo by now. On the other hand I knew a Portuguese kid who found a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig and wanted to keep it but his father wanted to make linguica out of it ( pretend there is a little tail on the c of linguica). Luckily the pig was pregnant and produced at least 2 piglets. The boy got to keep the pig who is alive today and named Smudge and his dad mad linguica out of the rest.

There's a guy here in Texas who is on trial for setting 30 pigs out into the wild. They went feral and are incredibly destructive. I can't remember which critters "mow" the grass and which ones pull it up by the roots. I think cows and horses mow, and sheep and goats tug but I'm not sure.

ahhhhhhhhh now I get it. Thanks CCG. I now look forward to lots of rousing games of cricket and croquet in my neighbourhood ;-

Well, I know they say that sheep and goats pull up grass plants whereas horses and cows mow, but I have long thought that this is propaganda put out by cattlemen who can be pretty snooty toward shepherds. If you look at a picture of an English castle it is very often sheep browsing on the lawn there.
Now goats, I think they eat everything in sight. I know they use them around here to kill salt cedar which is one of the toughest plants of all. Goats mow it right down to the soil and would pull it up if the roots didn't reach down 100 feet or so.
My mother never let my father forget a blemish in his history. He once dated the daughter of a sheep farmer. He doesn't say much about it, but my mother said she was from one of the richest families in Wyoming, but he never lived it down.

So the feud between the Hatfield Sheeps vs. the McCoys Cows was really about pulling vs. mowing paj? Cool. I did not know that. I never really understood that dispute. We only have a few sheeps here so maybe our cows and horses ran them off during that war. We do have some llamas too which is really bizarre IMHO.

Paj - I totally agree. Grass is for animals. Goats eat everything including laundry BUT if you ever had a field of grass which only ever had goats on it for several years you would know - they eat only herbage, the grass they don't touch so not a weed in sight and long lush grass - just waiting for er...cattle or something. I kept milking nannies once but decided it wasn't worth the aggro of trying to keep them out of the garden so I did away with the garden. I'll never forget what they did to my globe artichokes!

This message was edited Sep 26, 2008 7:09 PM

Without planning.

Thanks for the info on goats! I didn't know they could weed your field for you. I do know that the U.S. Navy used to use them to keep the weeds down on their ammo depots. Now I will try to remember this fact, in case I ever have a weedy field, I should get some goats.

As for the shepherds vs. the cattlemen, I am not exactly sure what the beef (so to speak) was between them. I think the catllemen were mostly English, Irish, extraction and the Shepherds were mostly Basque and Portuguese, so I think it was kind of an ethnic clash. Frankly, it is hard to understand these days because they could have swaped some cows for some sheep and have a lot more variety in their diet, but on the whole, I think the cattlemen got to the open ranges first and wanted to slam the door after themselves. They preferred not to have competition.

LLamas -- I love them-- as far as I know, everyone likes them. They are soft and sweet, but I guess they do spit on you -- I think I have heard that. So you shouldn't annoy them. I once got some llama poop out at the horse stables and put it on my garden. My tomatoes and squash really grew that year without composting. I have to say the first time I saw llamas used as pack animals on the hiking trails of the Pecos Wilderness, I thought I was seeing things, but now they are fairly common.

The animal that is truly hated in the cattleland of Southern New Mexico is the buffalo or rather bison. Again, it is hard to know why. One reason probably is that they don't worry about fences, they just walk right through them and I guess their hide is tough enough that they don't even respect barbed wire. They have to be trained with electric fences to avoid fences.
Ted Turner introduced them in Southern New Mexico and all the cowboys claim that raising buffalo is no better than raising earthworms. Yes, I saw it in the newspaper. On the other hand, I really like earthworms, so I don't know what the problem is. I just think it is funny that they can get so upset over someone else's kind of animals.

Good to know about llama poop for the garden. Thanks paj.

Yeah really funny Paj especially since diversification would probably help with things like parasites and as you mentioned - diet. A sort of macho thing I guess. I can't think of anything more dull than going out onto the field and having to decide..."now do I have beef or...er...beef for supper tonight?"
How about bunnies? - they taste pretty good and don't eat your washing. Sorry, I got caught up on a food fest on another thred and now can't seem to get off the topic:-)) Anything is fair game.

Since I am a city gal and don't much about goats etc. I think I do need a couple to clear out my back yard. I have enough weeds to keep them feed for a few days.^_^

This has become quite silly, I must say! The best survey yet.

Maybe roybird and I will need to expand our proposed rent-a-chicken business to include a rent-a-goat business. Then we could have something to eat your bugs, fertilize your property, and eliminate the weeds in your lawn. Maybe we will make two million, not one!

My neighbors don't do anything to their yards but mow. I'm the only one in the area who landscapes, flowerbeds, arbors,trees, shrubs, etc. I enjoy it and wish everyone did. Most say to much work. To me, it's a beautiful way to spend my time (and money).

Whoo hooo I'm going to know rich people (paj and roybird). You two realize of course then you will have to turn your gardens into lawns and play cricket and croquet (snort).

Woo Hoo! I do hope roybird and I will be rich. But I doubt if we will spend our wealth on lawns and croquet. We will more likely buy so many plants that we don't know what to do with them all! But we will be happy!

Perhaps your neighbours (yup getting back to the poll topic at last) will be inspired and your neighbourhood decor will improve. I did notice a neighbour this year grew sweat peas up the fence where before there was just lawns and shrubs and nothing on the fence so I think I'm wearing them down.

Wow - I just realized you live in Calgary, dahlianut. I once went to the Stampede - years ago. It was great!
I know we are not supposed to talk about politics but I would love to get opinions from people other than Americans. Can you use some code?

Should have a politics forum on DG - It couldn't get any more heated than the pets forum of late. LOL way off topic AGAIN!

There's dmail , or email for opinions . on a forum , someone would make a crappy remark and the public answer , or crappy remark , would really offend someone . sally

I talked to a young person (in his 20s) some yrs ago & asked about his landlady's garden. He said that she didn't have a garden. I had seen shrubs & bittersweet on a trellis. "Oh flowers" he said. evidently only veggies counted.

Good morning,

I had to go with nonexistent. We live in a small town of approximately 350 people. The majority of people just mow and leave it at that. There's a few who do a beautiful job of landscaping and have those "nicely manicured" looking lawns, but for the most part there's not a lot of "YARD ART" or garden decor.

We just moved into this house a little over 2 1/2 years ago and I really just started this summer trying to make the yard more appealing to the eye. We have approximately and acre and a quarter with our house on the acre plot and a trailer on the quarter acre (just bought it a little over a year ago). The yards are joined, so we basically have one BIG yard. I've never had much yard in the past so I never really got into landscaping etc.. I have always loved roses and have tried to grow several in the past: without much success. I planted 5 new ones this year and we transplanted some OLD ones from my Great Grandmothers yard, she has been gone for years and they decided to bulldoze the house as the people who bought it didn't take care of it. I wish I knew for certain what kind the roses are. I think everyone of them bloomed red this spring. Very pretty and very fragrant.

I just keep plugging away and hope to have a BEAUTIFUL (envy of the neighborhood) yard in the future.... LOL

Here is a picture of part of our yard... Hope this isn't TOO BIG,,, I didn't size it before posting. We have some beautiful old trees, but unfortunately we had a horrible ice storm this past December. It just tore up our trees. We are still trying to get them back in shape. We hope that eventually the broken branches that we couldn't get to will stop falling and littering the yard.

Tough about the trees. However some of the broken branches may attract woodpeckers--hope so.

amuckey - the photo is beautiful. What a nice thing to have your Great Grandmother's roses. It must be very different to look at them and know they belonged to someone you knew and loved. It sounds like your garden is or will soon be the envy of the neighborhood!

irisMA,

We do have a few Downy Woodpeckers around. They are fun to watch. My favorite birds are the Orioles (not sure what race they are). They are the most beautiful sounding birds. I always get excited in the spring when I hear the first one. I've tried, with no luck to attract them to various types of feeders. They just don't seem interested.

Portland1

Thank you! I do love our yard. I'd love to have a little wooden bridge over the small (runoff creek) where our yard adjoins the trailer yard. You can see it in the picture, it runs just behind the weeping willow and the bridge would be at the far right of the picture. In time..... :-)

This spring I discovered a bush at the trailer yard. It's a Deutzia Ruebra.... Don't think I spelled that right.. It is a gorgeous OLD bush that has the most beautiful flowers in the spring. I'd like to plant more of them around our property. We are also trying to think of something to plant along the front of the property line that would bloom most of the spring summer season. I would like a hardy ground cover of sorts. Have looked at a few online, but would gladly welcome any suggestions. The front property line is right next to the MAIN road coming into our little town, so I can't have anything that will get tall or I feel it would block peoples view and possibly be dangerous.

Amuckey I'm greeeeeeeeeeeeen over your luvly setting. The trees are beautiful and you have a creek too! You must have alot of birds as well. Sorry Portland1 I don't talk politics. I just find it too stressing. Not one for the news either for that reason. I do read up before I go to the polls. Speaking of which I better get on it. Our federal election is October 14. I will say VOTE!!!! Hope its ok to say that.

That is so beautiful amuckey - it's just so natural looking. And land not garden too. I would love a bit of land.
:-)) Rosie

Non existant vote here. The neighborhood I live in is really just a "drive through" along a major street. Lower middle class and rental properties (apts.) and a couple of small locally owned businesses. Of the 32 units in my townhome complex, 2 of us garden and although I have the most flowering plants my neighbor's gardening style is more refined and structured.
The rest of the neighborhood is remarkably unremarkable:lol: Many people here in NC tend to just nestle their homes in with the existing trees and just keep their lawn mowed. I think as far as "garden art" goes--there is me with my celtic knot patterned square birdbath and a lady down the road with artificial spring flowers in the spring and fake fall leaves spiked in the ground in the fall:LOL:

Oooh, there is another home a couple of miles from me that is crazy. They have a small arched footbridge over a shallow ditch, a huge bandstand type gazebo, a fake city street lamp and the one that brings it all home....a 6 ft tall Statue of Liberty with lighted torch all in their front yard!!

Yeuuk! Give me a wood and a bit of grass any day. Hate that false thing more than anything. Fake windmills and wishing wells here dmac - want to swap LOL

There was a lady on a busy city street in Calgary who filled her front yard with plastic flowers all year long. Maybe she got too much truck and bus pollution for real plants? The Statue of Liberty is too funny!!! Now where on earth would someone get something like that? The Statue of Liberty gift shop?

I moved here in 1994 and I think I almost ran off the road trying to look at her yard:lol:
They even had a house fire, had to have the home rebuilt but that SoL was there the whole time:) What can you say...you love what you love:) Reminds me of the parents home in My Big Fat Greek Wedding with all the Grecian "yard art" =)