Planting flowers in the root zones of trees, mulch volcanos, invasives, overplanteds.... like Willow oaks in under powerlines and putting crepe myrtles where a bigger tree should go, crepe murder, bananas.
:-)

Speaking of crape myrtles, I see lots of people planting them in much too small of a space and way too close to other things. For instance, planting one within 12 in. of their mail box, and then when it gets fully grown, the mail box is fully enveloped in the tree. Here's another one that gets my goat: planting impatiens, hostas, and azaleas in full, broiling sun. Big box stores are notorious for displaying shade-lovers in the full sun. Then there's the ones gardeners usually mention: pruning azaleas into perfect little balls, daffodils planted in neat little rows, etc.

"Post Properties gardening"...Those who plant lots of stuff just before it blooms and then rip it out two months later...and then rip out the replacements...and then rip out the replacements for new replacements. Surely they have heard of graduated plantings? Therein lies the art.

Fake ferns in front porch hanging baskets. Sorry if any of you on here have these low-maintenance, drough-tolerant, no-fertilizer-necessary plants. But I drive past a brick house on my way to my folks that is just beautiful except for these odd-looking fake ferns that the sun has obviously turned to an obnoxious almost blue color that screams at you all the way out to the road. They're out there 12 months a year.

Other pet peeves...
Big Box stores who toss their neglected plant inventory instead of marking it down or donating it to people or schools. I know they have some sort of crappy policy about not letting people take neglected or dying plants because they get credited for them or something. But they wouldn't even let me take the dirt for my compost pile out of the pots of CLEARLY DEAD plants they had tossed in the in-store dumpster. That's a tad anal.

And while on the subject of big box stores, their garden center workers who think they know more about plants than you do when in truth most weekend gardeners have more knowledge than these paid "experts". I'm no expert by any means but I just cringe when I hear someone ask them for help or advice and they'll recommend a "perennial" that is an annual in our climate or not correctly advise someone on how much sun/shade certain plants can tolerate.

But I digress...

Squirrellypete

LOL hey that reminds me!..................

"Nursery Guy"

who says "_________ doesn't grow here."

(Usually it's something native.)

I guess my pet peeve would be when people (homeowners and landscape designers) use the same plants that everyone else is using.

This guy in my neighbor was planting two trees this fall. "Hey, whatcha planting?" "Oh, some ornamental pears...." He later planted some forsythia and Encore azaleas to go with them.

People want privacy? Off to the big box store to get some Leyland cypress .... Flowering spring trees? How about some ornamental cherries, pears or japanese magnolias? Fall color? Pick up a red maple and some burning bushes.

Indian hawthorne, evergreen azaleas, loropetalum, crepe myrtle, waxleaf ligustrum, burning bush, ornamental cherries and pears, nandina, small leaved hollies, camellias, pieris ... while the list seems long, it is far too short when you realize how many hundreds of choices there could be.

And you know my other pet peeve ... except for the red maple, none of these are native plants. Well, actually Leyland cypress is a hybrid from two natives.

I second the big box stores that throw away their dying inventory peeve. Employee: No, we won't mark it down. We just return them to the vendor for credit. HUH? You killed it, why should they give you credit back? (this occured at the store with the orange logo)

I also can't stand certain 'low maintainence' gardeners - Why did you buy a house with land if you just want rocks and concrete - there's a townhome with your name on it. Let somebody who appreciates a yard get your house.

Subdivision Nazi's - grr!!! - I can understand covenents that prevent rusting non-working vehicles, peeling paint, etc., but when they send a nastygram that the Carolina Jessamine framing my porch looks messy and has to go, or I'll be fined - grrr!!!! Its called 'wild beauty' folks. It got my goat especially since the treasurer of the subdivision has the same plant trailing on her mailbox, and still does. (the ruling is that it wasn't ON her house, so its allowed)

People who have bought a house with plants I want, and they don't even care enough to mow the "lawn" before it hits 18 inches. Pleeeeeeeaaaaaase, can I just dig them up and take them home?

Squirrellypete mentioned fake ferns. I'll take it further...fake plastic flowers in pots on the front porch.

Covenants PERIOD - to do with a single development, or a single building. I do not work in areas, or with buildings who have covenants anymore. My opinion is that if you moved to a place with them, you can deal with them. I am finding more and more designers who won't work in these areas either.

grass

the midset that front yards are only for small plantings or ornamentals only.

people who plant gardens and never take care of them. Might as well have thrown in three of Esh's pet peeves and called it a day (Esh, I have a long list of your pet peeves here in my own garden! lol :)

People who will NOT spend money on plants and complain about the prices that nursery grown plants cost. This is just out of plain ignorance of the whole nursery business, and the whole reality of the time it takes to grow good plants.

USDA rules of organics. They suck and are totally stupid.

Pardon me, but I am feeling cynical today!

GGG

I 2nd Quirky's "Crepe murder"...I cringe everytime I drive down Ronald Reagan Pkwy. They planted hundreds of crepe myrtles several years ago and they take a chain saw right down the middle of them. Last year, they couldn't even put out branches due to the drought, so guess what they did last fall...cut them down again. Just leave them be! They will never grow if they keep cutting them like that with our dry summers!

Another pet peeve...People that make comments that their yard will never be as good as mine. I don't think my yard is that great...in fact, I see so much work to be done. We hired someone to put a fence up on one side of our house b/c the house has been abandoned for 8 months and it's such an eye sore. When I saw my other neighbor out working in the yard, I walked over to the edge of the property and said, "Hey, how are you?" His remark, "Working out in the yard so you won't put up a fence our side too".
Just because I work in the yard (it's my hobby...I enjoy it) doesn't mean that I scowl at other people's yards who don't put a lot of work in it. If you keep your grass mowed...I don't care!

Hmmmm,, where do I start?

Mow and blow idiots that simply blow the leaves into the street or down storm drains. This only serves to harm the Chatahoochee further.

New home developers that plant Sweetgums to appease the Minimum Caliper Requirements or the County or City Arborist.

Developers that leave those "lovely" stands of Privet.

ANYONE complaing about me watering! Ban or no ban, I will water until all Carwashes are forced to close for at least a couple days a week. No one is going to tell me I must give up the investment I have in plants so they can wash their friggn car. Your car won't die if it is dirty for a month.

People who throw out Potted Lillies and Amaryllis after they have bloomed. (although I do like getting them for free in the trash after Easter and Christmas)

People who have "all natural" mulched areas in front of their homes with no plants in them.

SQUIRRELS, Moles, SQUIRRELS, Voles, SQUIRRELS,Mice and Rats. The latter of which live at the local Chinese restaurant but like to play "see if the cats can catch you" in my yard.

Hey vroomp - your car won't die if it's dirty for a year. I proved it.
I'll second squirrels as a pet peeve - and the rascally rabbit living in my azaleas.

GGG, you may have some of those common plants, but I know you also have plenty of out-of-the-ordinary stuff. You are no common gardener, that's for sure!

Hallejah to Brad on those lovely stands of privet! Although my favorite is when they tear out chinese privet (yeah!) and then landscape the front of the subdivision with japanese privet/waxleaf ligustrum (oh no!). They just traded one beast for another.

And dirt on the car? Isn't that just a protective layer against bird poop and scratches?

esh, all my neighbors want to know why I planted cryptomeria instead of leyland cypress. I know the cryptos aren't native either, but they look better than leylands, at least to me.

In my subdivision we had two models that had very nice landscaping, if a bit boring. The families that moved into those homes did NOTHING. Barely even took care of the lawns. Now both are eyesores. Another house that was resold also had extensive professional landscaping and the new family or whatever they were ruined it. I should have went and dug out that Japanese Maple before they killed it.

So that's my pet peeve. I don't care if you just have the few shrubs that the house came with. Just take care of them!

"They planted hundreds of crepe myrtles several years ago and they take a chain saw right down the middle of them. "

If anyone wants to dry heave while they're driving, this is truly a sight to behold.
It is true.
Nevermind the crepe murder for a second...
You have to see how flippin many crepe myrtles they planted.
It's like how you start a pine plantation . Just rows and rows of them.

three more to add
-rabbits
-and more rabbits
-Bermudagrass in planting beds. Or anywhere in north ga for that matter.

CHIPMUNKS. My freaking yard is full of dang gum chipmunk holes and poor Boo Boo Kitty has cancer and can't go out and kick their patooties until she is over her chemo (which is like, 8 more months of frickin' holes!!).
Twisted my foot in another one today since they like to cover with leaves.

Esh, I need to pick your brain about good evergreen native shrubs. I had no idea Mountain Laurel would be OK in the city.

GGG

The guy at Hope Depot who convinced me that sevin was both organic and safe.

but three cheers for forums that could have set me straight if i'd bothered to look it up first. :)

You see, i am very new to this (I'd love to say very green, but that would be stretching a point considerably). I thought "organic" in the vegetable sense meant "not covered in poisons", although I've always used it differently in the biological sense.

And i have quite recently tried Ivy Glow for creekside wanderers. It does astonsihing things for my complexion.

Rats, anyhow. Thanks for the tips. :)

You're welcome catlaughing.

The etymology/definition of the word 'organic' is 'comes from an organism' and was first used in 1778.

The term 'organical' in a similar sense stems from about 1450.

The term 'organic' for 'not covered in poisons' only originates in 1942.

The term organic can also mean 'of or pertaining to an organ' (the instrument)

'Organic Chemistry', the chemistry of the compounds of carbon, is usually credited as starting in 1828 with the first synthesis of the chemical 'Urea' in a laboratory.

(Info from 'The Online Etymology Dictionary' and elsewhere)

(I know that's probably TMI, but enjoy)

People who let their pets run around unsupervised in other people's yards and the road. Pet owner's who don't scoop their dog's poop when it goes in someone else's yard.

meatball shrubs. I don't mind shaping a shrub, but does every single shrub have to be the exact same shape? crape murder. I live very close to Ronald Reagan Pkwy, and shake my head every time I see those prisoners out with their loppers.

My pet peeve: People who don't understand why there might be a reason to use no-brainer plants. My Mom is 74 and just got letters from her HOA to do something about the vast areas of lawn in her front yard that were burned out by the sun. Dad died last year and since then, as you might imagine, there have been problems with house maintenance. My Mom can neither mow nor fix sprinkler heads. She and Dad bought their house in 1980 back when lots were big so the problem areas were big. We agreed it needed to be fixed and got estimates for resodding the yard that came in between $3,500 and $5,000. My sweet Mom really stressed over that! My sister and I decided instead of new grass, we could make two huge beds for far less. For around $1,000 we made two huge beds: we planted camellias, crape myrtle, knock-out roses, indian hawthorne, aztec grass, sagos and lots of agapanthus (lily of the nile), and put down loads of pine-bark mulch. Mom is thrilled, the HOA is happy, my sister and I are sore and tired but happy. All of plant choices take little or no maintenance. Nothing is a show-stopper, but sometimes there are reasons to choose low-maintenance plants. She doesn't have to spray or pamper or prune anything. Sorry she can't let someone who would appreciate her yard "get" it. I wouldn't have the heart to ask move her at this point in her life. She tells me almost every day how she loves her house and how much she loves the landscaping.

Topping trees, (including crepes), bermuda grass, red mulch, visible drip lines, plastic and METAL edging, resin, volcano mulch, weeds, hiring a bunch of people to do all the work for you. (ok, that last one, I'm a bit jealous)

"-Bermudagrass in planting beds. Or anywhere in north ga for that matter."

My pet peeve too! Speaking of which....has anyone figured out how to successful kill the bermuda without harming the rest of the vegetation? Preen does nothing for me in this case.

Renee

"-Bermudagrass in planting beds. Or anywhere in north ga for that matter."

My pet peeve too! Speaking of which....has anyone figured out how to successful kill the bermuda without harming the rest of the vegetation? Preen does nothing for me in this case.

Renee

Chipmunks! There must be a million of them in my yard. Holes are everywhere and all of my pots are being dug in by them too.
Ivy! We battle the ivy constantly invading our yard from the neighbor behind us who has his entire back yard covered in ivy and climbing all of the huge trees.

Thanks, Scenter. Secretly, I love etymology, so that was fun.

Preen only works on weed seeds, it prevents them from germinating. Since bermuda spreads by rhizomes, not seeds, Preen does nothing.

Round up will get rid of Bermuda grass. If you edge and separate the grass in your flower bed from the lawn, you can use round up carefully and it will kill the grass in your bed.

Actually that's partially true.

Common bermuda is a major weed and spreads by seed just like Mimosas. While it doesn't seem to be as big of a problem here in N.GA as it is where other coastal areas I've lived, a pre-emergent will keep common bermuda out of your beds.

The sodded hybrid bermuda that the builders put in all the subdivisions now spreads aggressively and once this sod has been in place for a number of years it can be pretty much be immortal. I had to use *7* applications of roundup just to kill my 2 year old sod at a cost of $0.05 a square foot.

So in other words, you need to use roundup, and lots of it and probably go back and do it again and again. If you've got a bermuda lawn with planting areas this is going to be a regular part of your maintenance unless you get rid of it once and for all and plant something else.

The seeded common bermuda plants pull up pretty easily.

Pet peeves, Bermuda grass in any shape or form. The fact that it is such and invasive weed is secondary to it general ugliness.

My biggest pet peeve is the homes with landscapes that have been obviously professionally designed, installed and maintained but don't have a bit of soul in the garden. I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does. Kind of like the folks who buy a fancy sports car (around here it's the housewives who drive the Maseratis) but don't have a clue what it's for and would never take it to the track to really drive it.

Annette

Weeds! And people who don't/won't pull them. I just don't see how people can walk right past weeds day after day and not just bend down and yank a couple out. I mean don't get me wrong I have weeds, and I know some people may not be physically able to pull weeds, but I know plenty of healthy people who will stand there and talk to you when there are weeds 3 inches from them that could be easily yanked out. But they will leave them there until they get so big you have to douse the area with chemicals to get rid of them all.

People who come into my yard and say "oh your yard looks so pretty" but don't even take a second and walk around and look at anything.

Bartlett pear trees. Flat-top shrubs. Uncontrolled English ivy strangling other vegetation. Kudzu.

Feral domestices like mimosa trees, privet, and Magnolia colonizing natural areas. My parents planted Mimosa decades ago when I was a kid and I'm still finding seedlings growing in the nearby woods. I do love to stumble across old noninvasive ornamentals growing untended in abandoned house-sites that have gone back to their natural state. Those are historic artifacts of long gone days.

Overfertilized, oversprayed, overtended lawns. Its not natural, it wastes lots of water and gas, it pollutes our waterways with fertilizer.

Shrubs planted too close to the house blocking windows. I like to see out and have views of plantings.

Thanks Buford and Quirky! I second Bocron's comments about antiseptic yards....they have no personality at all! I like the fact that my gardens while they may never be featured in BH&G, it's designed with love and care by ME. lol

As far as weeding goes, occasionally, I take a 5 gallon bucket and screwdriver around with me and weed out beds for the day.

Kingturtle I believe you mean Bradford Pears which, suck as a tree, are overused by developers and builders, love to snap in the slightest wind, and have flowers which smell like dead fish. That Pear? 'Cause Bartletts are tastey.

Bumblebeez, you quit talkin' bad about my metal and plastic edging. Just for your enjoyment I have pictured just how well these products work.

Plastic edging>
{{gwi:817654}}
See how well this has contained my weed problem?

Metal Edging>
{{gwi:817655}}
While this one won't stop weeds either it sure helps to hold this patio in place and will eventually become unseen after the sedum takes over.

Both?
{{gwi:817656}}
For an extra thrill, here is a piece of plastic intersecting a piece of metal.

Thank you Vroomp!
As long as I don't know it's there, it's fine! Extra miracle grow for the sedum...
I will confess to a small resin statue outside but I don't like it much.

Contractors who plant the foundation planting too close to the house.

People who complain about treeless subdivisions but don't plant trees.

Yes, vroomp, that's right - Bradford. Didn't mean to slander Bartlett's.

Rabbits.

Six neighbours' cats, crapping all over the garden and killing all the birds.

Resin

I guess watering mid-day sets me off.
Also, photos of peoples' potted plants. If you can't grow it in the ground, it's not worth taking a picture.

fungi

1. people who don't garden or keep up their lawns (the same thing happened with the two model homes in my neighborhood, buford. The fact that they were both sold fully furnished should have been a clue to the buyers' lack of both imagination and ambition).

2. people who DO garden,, but think their way's the only right way. Everyone's garden should be to their own liking, not to mine, or my neighbor's or anyone else's.

What indicates that there is a bit of soul in the garden? Also, just kinda kidding, but how do you know if the sportscars get driven for a few laps around a track?