Just found this thread. Two things...
Mary, you said something about not getting a good night's sleep, one not filled with waking to thoughts of what needs to be done. I never do any yard work in the Fall and I find there's never any problem with that. I am motivated in the Spring to do all the clean up, but never in the Fall. And since I started gardening (eight years ago) my yards are looking better and better each year, so I don't think they are suffering any from it. No worries!
About the comments regarding spraying... just a warning. I sprayed roundup on new raspberry shoots growing up around my lilac bush this spring. There was no wind and I was careful, but by lilac tree died as a result!
The only thing I can think of is it probably rained the next day and maybe washed the poison into the soil and the lilac tree's roots picked it up. We've had a very wet year.
