BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves

Subject: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Janie
Date: 28 Apr 07 - 11:53 PM

Today my first Papaver somniferum of the season bloomed - a breath-taking red. when I got home this afternoon from my son's lacrosse game, some jerk helped themselves to the bloom. The stem was nice and cleanly cut. There will soon be more, but the first bloom of anything is special. It wasn't right by the road, they had to walk half the distance from the street to the house to take it.

A few years ago I was home during the week, ill with something. I heard a noise out in the yard. When I looked, a late-model car was pulled over on the street, and a well-dressed woman was in the yard digging up the blooming tulips, bulbs and all. She cursed me for being unfriendly when I confronted her.

I've had two laughing buddha statues stolen.

But it is the people walking dogs that irritate me most of all. A few of them are acquaintances. (I have a dog also - but I try to respect other people's yards and plantings when I walk her.)
My house sits about 40' back from the street.    The entire front is in large flower beds with grass paths running between them. I am often out in the garden in the evening and on weekends, and even if I weren't, it is clear that it represents an extensive labor of love.

Even without sidewalks, there is a lot of pedestrian traffic in the evenings. Many people walking by have stopped to say they walk this way in order to see what is blooming in my garden. Most people walking dogs rein them to keep them out of the garden when they walk by, but a significant minority don't think twice about their dog urinating on the plants or defecating in the flowerbeds that are nearest the street. The one's that get me the most are the people holding retractable leashes who let them out another 4 feet so the dog can be sure to get up into the pansies or the yarrow. Once or twice, as I have walked out onto the porch to ask people to curb their dog, they have actually complimented the garden while letting the dog urinate on the plantings.

Arrrrrrrgh!

I'm having a sign made that will read "I didn't plant this here so your dog would have a place to pee."

OK. Got that off my chest.

Janie

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 28 Apr 07 - 11:58 PM

Janie - if you make your cards from photos from your garden, then it must be truly beautiful. I get comments all the time when I give the cards to customers. Doesn't help with the dogs peeing but at least you know people appreciate the garden......

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: katlaughing
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 12:02 AM

I know what you mean, Janie. Fortunately we have a picket fence out front BUT it doesn't keep the neighbour cats from coming in and defecating where my dog can find their "tootsie rolls" for later munching! I love cats but I don't want my yard being their litter box!

Many years ago we lived in a house with a small front porch without railings or any kind of screen. My brother had his house plants out there for the summer until one day...we came home to find someone had taken his 4 foot gardenia which was in full bloom! That was the same neighbourhood with an old man who trapped cats to sell to the pharmaceutical testers. I rescued my brother's cat from one of his traps.

I think if someone were digging up my bulbs, I'd want to meet them at the door with my dad's old rifle, but would more likely call the cops, then follow the digger until I knew where they lived.

Any chance you can put up a fence? Your yard sounds lovely!

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 12:10 AM

Kat - you should see the cards Janie sells -- they are photos of (I am assuming) her plants and they are gorgeous..........I should love to see this garden.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Janie
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 12:25 AM

Thanks Deborah--yes, all the cards are photographs of my garden. It is a glory to behold during its various prime seasons. Not my doing, really, I just try to give nature a helping hand and feed my own heart and soul in the process.

In another direction--I just came in from a late night stroll around the front garden. It is good rabbit habitat because it is dense cover. I watched a pair of cotton-tails do their courting dance and then copulate in the middle of the street. What came to mind was the Beatles "Why Don't We do It in the Road":>)

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: katlaughing
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 01:04 AM

LMAO! I love that image WITH the song, Janie. Thanks for that!

TRUEBRIT, I was the lucky recipient of some of her photographic cards. They are lovely, aren't they? (I didn't see your earlier post until I'd already submitted my first one.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: TRUBRIT
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 01:41 AM

The woman is an artist!!!! I need gazillions of cards as I send anniverary cards out to all my clients and give gifts at closing.......I hate some of the rubbish that is available in the shops. Janie's shine!

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: bubblyrat
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 01:49 AM

Put a small electric fence around the plants nearest the sidewalk and your front gate. It won"t really harm the dogs, but they won"t want to pee there ever again !! And try taking photos of the dogs and their owners, when these incidents occur-----if anyone asks, just say you"ve been advised to by your lawyer !! Neither of these actions need be too drastic, or hurtful, BUT it might set some dog-owners to worrying about the consequences of their actions !! If it was me, I would point a garden hose-pipe right at the dog-owner and say " Excuse me, but you are standing where I am about to irrigate ! ".

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 08:11 AM

I know exactly what you mean... I made a Christmas wreath a few years ago, with sage green velvet leaves and burgundy pearlised 'berries'. It was bloody good, if I say so myself.

I put it up on Saturday morning - wired to a hook on the front door. I got home from work on the Monday and some bar steward had stolen it!

Then there was the old broken washing machine we put out in the front garden one Sunday afternoon(there's about 4ft of concrete and a brick wall between the house wall and the pavement) and watched from the window about 2ft away, with incredulity as someone walked up the path, picked up the washing machine and walked off with it! Manitas, on his way to work the following morning saw it for sale at a local 'second hand white goods' sale... complete with the stickers we'd left on it!


People have no respect for property boundaries, if it's not nailed down, it's theirs. Try doing it to THEIR property and see what you get for your troubles!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: katlaughing
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 10:45 AM

bubblyrat, good suggestions!!

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Mickey191
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 10:48 AM

A pox on these thieves who steal our lovelies! Bought my Mom a stunning pink tuberous begonia in a hanging pot. It was stolen in a flash - I replaced it. I secured it with mucho wires. You guessed it-another visitor in the night came with wire cutters & made off with it.

I cannot imagine the sense of entitlement one must have to steal blooming tulip bulbs from the ground!

This shocked me: went to the hospital for a few days and my neighbor took my 8 ft. umbrella from the patio. When I was feeling better I drove around & spied it. He said "I heard you were not long for this world." He didn't have the good grace to be ashamed. BLIMEY!

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Mickey191
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 11:29 AM

Forgot to add this: I made a wreath of Blue Spruce & holly. I had a very tall friend hang it on the tree which my late husband's car hit. (He was driven off the road by a drunk driver.) I also had a framed note, with my phone #, to ask if anyone had info. on the accident.   

The very next day I went back to the scene and the wreath was gone. The note was still there. What kind of person would even want this? The same kind of creep who steals from cemetery plantings.

There is no SHAME anymore. Anything goes.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 11:48 AM

Someone backed up to my next-door neighbor's front porch a couple of years ago and loaded up all of her ceramic pots and the gorgeous plants she had cultivated.

My potted plants are mostly beside the house. The dogs can see that area through the gate. I hope their barks are enough to protect my collection.

I wonder, if you set up a bogus camera and a little note "Smile, You're on camera!" would they steal the camera?

I trade plants with neighbors. A woman up the street has some purple Louisiana iris, and I have the yellow variety. We're going to exchange later on when its time to thin them.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: katlaughing
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 12:25 PM

I like my front yard fence.**bg**

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 01:02 PM

Always a problem. No perfect solutions.

Can't shoot, because bylaws prohibit discharge of firearms in the city. Surveillance cameras infringe on privacy bylaws. Bylaws prohibit cats and dogs from leaving the owner's property without restraints, but wandering animals are long gone by the time bylaw-enforcement people arrive. Poison candy in the flower beds would eliminate stray animals and children, but solutions of that sort are frowned on. Fencing limited to 3-4 feet here; easily vaulted. If water restrictions are on, hosing someone could get you fined.
Poison ivy and nettles could be added to plantings, but weed bylaws would result in fines. Keeping a junkyard dog is against bylaws unless there is a secure fence (which hides your plantings).

I remember a woman in Texas who had a sign in her front yard- Grass infested with chiggers! Won't work here because we don't have them.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 02:20 PM

I'm afraid that putting in poison ivy would backfire--the stuff gets me bad. Chiggars are unpleasant, but the grass isn't tall enough for them to provide much threat.

Maybe a hedge of berberus along the front and walkway. People will only push through that stuff once. But it also will block the view of the flowers once it gets very big.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: katlaughing
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 04:46 PM

Perhaps a long, low bed of cacti in front? Add a few rattlesnake holes with sound effects and...

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: bubblyrat
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 04:57 PM

Try the old British solution from the time of Queen Victoria. Put up a sign that says " Trespassers will be shot first, and, if practicable, questioned afterwards " ------at least , it might make someone laugh !! Also, you could put lots of pepper on the ground, like in the movie " Cool Hand Luke "------It won"t really hurt the dogs, but it would sure be amusing !! ( and the owners would be really pissed off !! ).

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 05:42 PM

bubblyrat, ranchers here in Alberta like that sign (and in New Mexico and the southwest U. S. as well), but nowadays it just brings laughs.
Pepper works to some extent, but gets expensive if the area is large. There are little fake chili pepins sold by plant sellers here, but reviews are mixed and they also aren't cheap.
Don't do what a neighbor up the street tried. He scattered mothballs in his plant beds to keep out cats. I found out about it when a child came to me with a handful and asked if she could eat them. When I told him, he spent almost a day making sure he had recovered them all.

Outside of doing your best to keep neighbors friendly, there is little that one can do if the area is open.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: GUEST,Peter Woodruff
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 06:06 PM

We have an expandinding deer herd because people around here plant everything that deer like to consume. Maggie and I use black plastic netting to cover all the deer food at night. This seems to work unless we forget.

Peter

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Sorcha
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 06:28 PM

To keep dogs and cats from messing in your yard:
Get a bag or two of bentonite/clay cat litter, a couple large bottles of thyme leaf and peppermint leaves. Layer it all in a five gallon (plastic, a la deli) bucket, stirring it all up. Sprinkle on the lawn, flowers, etc. Eco friendly, safe and for some reason dogs don't like the smell of it. Lasts at least 3 mos, even with rain. I use it and it works!

I get the thyme from the Dollar Store, and the peppermint grows in my yard.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: folk1e
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 06:34 PM

The best solution for your Dog problem is a couple of blocks of Tallow.
The Dogs will LOVE them, eating the whole block! A short time later they will feel "unwell" and go to their favourite place where they will "decorate the surroundings"
Neather Dog or owner will wish to try again...... but you will not harm the Dog!

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Mickey191
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 10:35 PM

Suppose the doggie's favorite place is your posies?

Anyway--I wouldn't want to make a dog sick! Cruel.

Sorcha's fix evidently works & you've not harmed man's best friend.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Bert
Date: 29 Apr 07 - 11:06 PM

When I lived in England I caught a guy letting his dog go in the front yard.

I said "Are you sure that YOU wouldn't like to 'go' as well" He took off real quick and I never saw him or his dog again.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 12:12 AM

Quick thinking, Bert!

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 12:26 AM

The tallow- or any other trap of that sort that might cause illness- would get one prosecuted here. And the dog-owner might caltrop the joker's driveway.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: folk1e
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 06:13 PM

You have got hold of the wrong end of the stick (so to speak)
The Dog won't be sick. It will .....(how do I phrase this) speed up the digestive process after some time!
The Dog will be home by then and will "decorate" his owners abode.
Apparently the dog will be non the worse for ware, but will be unlikely to re-visit the scene again!
Tallow is just a type of fat! Is there a law about leaving pet food in your own garden?

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 07:05 PM

I can confirm that the tallow is harmless to animals, it just makes them poop a lot more than normal. Refer to the thread 'Pussy, tits and fat balls' for further information on how I know.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 08:41 PM

Do you think the dog is going to associate all of the extra pooping with the place in which it picked up something to eat? I don't think so. My dogs keep revisiting places where they found something to eat. (My dogs aren't allowed in people's yards, and I carry several plastic bags for scooping if we're not out in the middle of the prairie somewhere). They are allowed on one curb edge to eat acorns under a friend's tree. Tastiest red oak acorns in the village, according to my dogs. Jene thinks it's pretty funny, their marked preference for her tree.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: folk1e
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 10:01 PM

Even if the Dog doesn't associate the place with the event it's owner might!
What goes round... comes round!

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: kendall
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 10:14 PM

Somewhere, I saw a sign that read, ANYONE FOUND HERE AT NIGHT WILL BE FOUND HERE IN THE MORNING.

I would never shoot a dog or a cat with a firearm, but a pellet gun is legal, and quite effective. Just make sure you don't hit a person.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Sorcha
Date: 01 May 07 - 02:10 AM

Yea, that's the hard part sometimes, Cap'n, telling them apart.
Bumper Sticker--Gun Control=Using Both Hands

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: kendall
Date: 01 May 07 - 07:50 AM

Just for the record, I have never shot a dog or a cat with any kind of weapon just because they wandered into my garden. It's the idiots who own them that I have it in for.

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Bobert
Date: 01 May 07 - 08:01 AM

Well, seems that I've always lived in the sticks so I don't have people problems but, grrrrrrr....

....I hates deer, moles n' voles, and a little white catapiller that thinks that azaelea buds are yummy...

BTW, I have found a new place back in the holler where the Hawksbill Creek originates and it is loaded with every concievable wild flower known to the mid Atlantic region... Last evenin' I found (and brough home) a rare pink trillium... Got some points for that one from the P-Vine as she has tried to order this trillium on a couple of occasions and it came up white???

Gotta go to work now...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Gardens-Pet and People Peeves
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 May 07 - 03:05 PM

Bobert, sounds like a great spot! The only justification for digging up wildflowers is if you leave some behind and if you can propagate more of them in another spot. Good luck!

Get some BT for the caterpillars. Does them in every time (it's on my shopping list--I have a few chomping my chard and dahlias).

SRS