Mary Carson

Ok, you probably don't have a fire problem.....I'm in New Mexico, we do.
"Buffalo gourd" would probably be invasive.

I like your ideas, have a hard time imagining as much moisture as you undoubtedly get.

I don't know where you are, but you might want to consider fire protection..........3-4 ft sunflower border or buffalo gourd, resists fire.
Parsley around the edge maybe, for distracting the bunnies?

Paul, check ebay for a TENS unit.
Insurance paid for mine, but they are inexpensive; I have issues at the lower neck (they blame a slipped disk) but the other three slipped disks don't cause pain.
TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator - fancy way to say it stimulates the nerve that's causing the problem and you don't feel the pain any more.
Mine came from www.rehabilicare.com, there's a battery box that clips on my belt, wires that connect to soft pads that stick to your back and deliver the stimulation.
Uses three AAA batteries.
♥

We have issues with bears each fall......and with raccoons all year. I'm collecting materials for a "hoop house" - going to use fence pipe, cover with chain link fence. Locking door.
Hope to get to eat my grapes and plums and corn next season. I live in the mountains of New Mexico.

NAFEX has a free online grafting handbook with this kind of stuff in it, membership required, $19.99 annually.
Or watch for open meetings locally, local members will know someone with rootstock for most anything, and usually willing to show you how.
I caught up with them at a meeting sponsored by a local church (not mine) Latter-day-saints.

Carmine Jewel dwarf cherry? Developed in Canada, not grafted, bushy, developed for cold, dry locations.........Gurneys.com has them. Projected yields sound really good; tell you more when/if mine fruit.