All I want for Christmas is for MY NEIGHBOR to:
Clean up his yard. My front window looks across the street to my neighbor's driveway. He keeps his walkway and front yard clean, but has junk piles cluttering the entire back corner of his lot. I wish he realized how unpleasant it looks from my perspective. To fix it is really quite simple: plant a screen of bushes or hide it behind a fence.

Stop pruning his bushes in perfect geometric shapes. It's one thing if the landscape is at an industrial complex or a formal English garden, but for heaven's sake must every bush be trimmed to a perfect square or pom pom in a home landscape? Even I caved in and bought an electric trimmer for my privet hedge, but the goal is to keep it round-ish, not perfectly spherical or shaped like a pyramid.

Mow his lawn once a week in summer instead of once every two months. What's the big deal with some people's aversion to mowing lawns? It only takes a half an hour a week and it's a simple chore. Save it up for every two months and it's a real chore.

Turn off his sprinklers in winter. Most neighbors are quite conscientious about water conservation, but there are a few who keep their sprinklers set on the same schedule every week of the year. Hello! Anybody home in there? Don't you know that the weather is a lot different in December compared to July? Uh, No wonder your yard is full of weeds!

Keep his dogs off my lawn. It's not the dog, but the dog's business that's bothersome. If you know, what I mean?

All I want for Christmas is for MY OTHER NEIGHBOR'S GARDENER to:
Stop using the blower (okay he won't, so then) buy a blower that is less noisy. Many good gardeners realize that the blower noise is irritating in neighborhoods and have upgraded their blowers to the quieter models. Unfortunately many people tend to hire "cheap" gardeners and the outcome is that their neighbors get what you failed to pay for.

Stop using the string trimmer around the base of trees. String trimmers are okay; just keep them away from tree trunks. Too many young trees are permanently scarred by careless trimming and the end result is a weak tree with poor canopy development. Instead of growing lawn up to the tree trunk, create a mulched area around trees and use the string trimmer to keep the lawn away from the mulch.

Stop the ritualistic raking of all leaf litter from under bushes to the point of exposing plant roots. Bushes, trees, and flowers like a mulch layer on top of the soil. Leaf litter is some of the best mulch there is. Go for a walk in the woods. I keep thinking that one of these days I'll see someone vacuuming under the plants so that it is spotless. How did it enter into our psyche that a landscape has to be swept clean of all leaves? Poor earthworms.

All I want for Christmas is for EVERYONE to:
Learn more about the proper care of trees and then practice it. Many of us put such tremendous energy into taking good care of our lawns. Why don't we pay more attention to trees? Choose the right tree for the right place. Stop planting tall trees under power and utility lines. Plant the trees in a well dug hole. Water deeply and infrequently at the tree's dripline. Remove unnecessary tree stakes and ties. Start training the growth of a tree when it is young. Don't let your tree grow ten years and then decide to prune it. Stop pruning trees like hat racks. Stop the unnecessary pruning abuse to mulberry trees. Must I continue?

Plant more perennial flowers. "All gardeners live in beautiful places because they make them so." I didn't make that up, Joseph Joubert (1754-1824), a French essayist and moralist did.

All I want for Christmas is for ME to:
Be more accepting and tolerant of my neighbor's gardening habits. Not everyone is like me or thinks like me or wants to be like me. And that is a good and wonderful thing. Enjoy life and appreciate the variety of gardens and landscapes in the world. PEACE ON EARTH - GOOD WILL TO ALL!