Could you perhaps involve the little ones in your garden plans. Let them
have a square or two to plant their own flowers/radishes/etc. Then teach
them how important it is to "tread lightly" in the garden... Assign them as
garden guards and let them know it's their responsibility to make sure
nobody walks on the garden soil or hurts the plants. With a feeling of
ownership/responsibility (added to the fact that this is fun, no something
they HAVE to do) they may be garden angels rather than garden imps :*)
We did this with a little neighbor girl and now she loves helping us weed
and sow and harvest, and she's got her mom growing vegetables as well.
--Natalie
*******************************
Natalie McNair-Huff, organic gardener
"as a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era or
corruption in high places will follow...until all wealth is aggregated in a
few hands, and the Republic is destroyed." Abraham Lincoln.
Moira said:
> Elephants in the garden are perhaps not quite as bad as hippos. If you
> garden near any river they inhabit, they seem to think you have planted
> your veges just for them and not only eat them all up, but well and
> truely flatten your soil with their ENORMOUSE feet.
Bob said:
> And we think deer are nasty! :-) I've had the neighbor's cows in my
> garden a couple of times ... that wasn't pretty.
My neighbor who lives right above us has little ones that continously
trample on my little plot. I don't mind so much the scattered chive
blossoms and volunteer bachelor's buttons, but last year summer, they
plusked quite a few of my green tomatoes--right under their mother's nose!
this spring when one of them asked me what I was doing as I dug around for
grubs (most satisfying , cutting them in half with my trowel and leaving
them for the birds), I explained to her that soon pretty flowers will come
up , and her and her siblings will no longer be able to walk there. The
mother actually groaned and said, "Oh, no! Not again!" To her, it was just
something else she had to say "no" to and not very often, either.
Well, had to get out my frustration. Not many gardeners here where I live.
On the bright side, I have a second-season rose with lots of big buds. My
only gardening friend here had shared some of her perennials with me last
fall. I am out there every day eagerly waiting for new growth.
Spring is wonderful!
Alice
Can you put up a small fence? Normally I'd suggest trying to work
with the children, even quite young children can be trained to be
careful in the garden if someone takes time to explain to them what's
going on, but I suspect the mother's attitude would undo anything you
tried to do with the children.
sph
Sandra P. Hoffman
ghidra@igs.net
http://www.flora.org/sandra/
Alice,
Don't give up on those kids. Lay down the law and talk to hte mother.
As a mom of 3 little ones, 6, 4, and 2 Iknow that they can be taught to
stay out of wehre they don't belong. I've never had problems with my
little ones going through the garden. the mom jsut doesn't want toput
in the effort or she's inconsistent sot he kdis know they can get wawy
with stuff when they try hard enough. If you tell them to stay out and
then pull them out when they don't listen to you, they'll start
listening to you , even if they igmore their parents.
Deborah turton
PS the only one who has problems with the kids in the garden is my
husband because my kids eat all the peas before he can get tot hem
himself :-)
(Sigh!) My garden plot is a strip of lawn I dug out two years ago because
I was sick of looking at the weeds. I have those little white plastic
fences around my seedlings and emerging bulbs. These kids insist on
picking anyway. It's true--they know their mother's discipline is
inconsistent and test her any way they can. she often finds one in the
middle of our frequently busy street or making eye contact with one of us
before jumping into a puddle. My kids ask before they reach for a
dandelion. But the problem lies in the parents view of gardening--they
just can't care less inless I'm giving away free tomatoes. While waiting
for the bus in front of a neighbor who had sunflower plants out (the oldest
is in kindergarten and mine is in first grade at the same school) I was the
one who reminded them that they should not pull the plants out nor step
onto someone else's garden. These people think I'm crazy to feel sorry for
a little deceased earthworm being covered by ants. I won't even mention to
them that I'm trying to get my potty-training son to aim in the compost
pile! :0
Alice
Alice,
Don't give up on those kids. Lay down the law and talk to hte mother.
As a mom of 3 little ones, 6, 4, and 2 Iknow that they can be taught to
stay out of wehre they don't belong. I've never had problems with my
little ones going through the garden. the mom jsut doesn't want toput
in the effort or she's inconsistent sot he kdis know they can get wawy
with stuff when they try hard enough. If you tell them to stay out and
then pull them out when they don't listen to you, they'll start
listening to you , even if they igmore their parents.
Deborah turton
PS the only one who has problems with the kids in the garden is my
husband because my kids eat all the peas before he can get tot hem
himself :-)
I have a slightly different problem with kids (I think, though it could be
teens or adults) in my garden, I have a small sloping area (say 5 feet X 25
feet) outside the fence in my front yard. It's planted in still small
native shrubs and bursting with not so native wildflowers. It's rather
lush. The sidewalk it borders gets a lot of foot traffic. Adding another
fence in front of it would look pretty silly.
This will be my third summer here and for the last two years, someone has
pulled up the plants closest to the sidewalk, the person also does this to
my two neighbors who also have plantings (besides grass) along the
sidewalk. They do this while we are away at work. They leave the poor
plants or flower stems to bake on the sidewalk. This year I made sure that
nothing tall was near the front, hoping that the shorter plants (California
poppies, homestead verbena, a particularly vigorous hardy geranium, Oregon
grape, kinnikinnik) might be less tempting. So far this year I haven't had
damage, though my neighbors have (stomped tulips, sedum flowers yanked,
blooming irises snapped off). I keep hoping this mean spirited or uncaring
person has moved on (maturity wise or geographically), or at least that
they start to take the flowers home with them to brighten their ugly lives.
Tom
Portland, Oregon Zone 8
http://www.teleport.com/~scut/garden.htm
Date: Sunday, May 31, 1998 12:19 PM
Subject: Re: mammal pests in the garden
> I have a slightly different problem with kids (I think, though it could be
> teens or adults)
(snip)
> blooming irises snapped off). I keep hoping this mean spirited or uncaring
> person has moved on (maturity wise or geographically), or at least that
> they start to take the flowers home with them to brighten their ugly
lives.
> Tom
> May I suggest blackberries ;)
pyracantha, gooseberries, rugosa roses .....
Got a video Camera to catch the culprit?
catch them in the act and the neighbors get together and confront
the bozo.
bsk
Tom Scut wrote:
Start a neighborhood plant watch. Then, if possible, get a group of people
to confront and educate the person.
I'd also make sure whatever you plant doesn't actually extend onto the
sidewalk. There have been times I've been sorely tempted to take the
pruners to plants that start to block the sidewalk -- especially the bane
of my existence -- tam junipers.
*******************************
Natalie McNair-Huff, organic gardener
"as a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era or
corruption in high places will follow...until all wealth is aggregated in a
few hands, and the Republic is destroyed." Abraham Lincoln.
May I suggest blackberries ;)
> I'd also make sure whatever you plant doesn't actually extend onto the
> sidewalk. There have been times I've been sorely tempted to take the
> pruners to plants that start to block the sidewalk -- especially the > bane of my existence -- tam junipers.
Some years ago, I took some photos of a tree hanging low branches down
at face level across the footpath near us, which were published in an
article Moira wrote on this problem. We were amused to notice that the
offending trees got trimmed very shortly after the article was
published!
Tony
--
Tony & Moira Ryan
Both Retired. Careers were: Moira - botanist/horticulturist;
Tony - Various jobs, then computer programmer.
Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
