Believe it or not, three months ago this yard was covered in grass (and weeds). We went to a lot of trouble to clear out anything that could be a danger to the horses -- not realizing they'd be a danger to anything left! They have seriously chewed the bark off those two poor Desert Willows to the point I doubt they'll survive (but we'll see). The bigger willow (mostly off the view to the right) still has a little grass below some branches but pretty much everything's stomped into the ground. The horses have tilled the place with their hooves and provided a fair amount of organic matter to the area (I'm putting what I can into compost heaps but a lot of it "gets away" and is mixing with the native soils.  That's okay I guess).  20 January 2004.