not stoned enough!

What's doing the damage?

I've been blaming squirrels, but it might be blackbirds. I tend to think squirrels, they're in the garden more than I am! and plants in small pots have been knocked over, so doubt a black bird would have that much muscle. Of course, the two events might not be related.

I lost five troughs of pansies last year, and also five troughs of the pentunias I bough to replace them. I'd tried putting bark chips over, but they just got shoved aside; someone suggested sliced chili, and that seemed to work for a while. someone else suggested pebbles, and then i rememebred that i had these beach stones, dug 'em out, scrubbed them and put them round the plants, tyring to leave room for the plants to grow.

last year the soil was rather dry; when it was wet, it didn't seem to happen so much. but the soil is definitely not dry at the moment!

Saw something recently, can't remember where - it said that grey squirrels pretend to bury nuts to fool anything watching that they actually are burying nuts. Might be that. Or not, of ocurse - not the right time of year to be burying nuts!

Difficult one Fran, are you using any bonemeal type root food? I gave up using it after badgers started digging up my baby conifers for lollipops. What interest is there for a squirrel, just trying to fathom this out a bit.

no, i'm just using standard (ie cheap!) general purpose compost, no additives - though I did add some water-retaining gel crystals in some of the troughs, no idea which of the five if not all of them.

one of my larger conifers also had burrows round it - I only noticed this by seeing a heap of bark chips on the table, where they'd been shoved aside.

None of the plants has bulbs that might be edible - in fact, the plants don't seem to have been touched, other than being shoved out of the way.

Don't think there's any insect presence, at least I hope not! so don't think that would attract hungry animals.

I've got lots of gravel from the aquarium shop round the corner; the prob with that is that eventually it gets mixed up with the soil and my sieve is exactly the right size mesh for the gravel to get stuck in the gaps and have to be prised out one at a time!

I did think of "tea-bagging" it - make some bags from old net curtain, put some gravel in and seal it; the bags should be small enough to arrange round the plant, and [hope!] heavy enough not to be shunted aside. But someone raised the problem of having stones too close to the plants, it might press the soil down too much and hinder their growth - no point keeping the pests off if I kill the plants in the process!

Squirrels are pests arent they? I have covered up my tulip pots this year with heavy lids and i am just taking them off now but only during the day, so far so good!

Yep, I think the way to go is flat and heavy enough. That spreads the weight on the soil.

Sure are, Grandmage! when I first moved here, about 18 months ago, they were constantly in the garden: for the first few days it was "ooh, aren't they cute?" but as soon as I'd put a couple of plants out, they started investigaging, and it was "gerroff, ya **@@!!!"

Beyond our gardens there's a locked-off green, and several trees that seem to be home to a grey squirrel colony. Nothing that can be done about it - if this lot were removed anotehr lot would move in. I don't mind them at all - while they stay on their side of the fence. And from what I've seen, I'm the only person using their garden to grow more than weeds, so it must stand out like an oasis in a desert.

lol of course I could just buy a ton of chicken wire and make a cage that encloses that half of the garden!

Agreed, Severnside: it's just waiting for me to get round to it: I've got enough net curtain, and I've got enough gravel, it's just putting the two together - heck, I could cut squares and tie 'em by opposite corners for now!

Actually, I first thought of "gravel bags" for the bottoms of pots; loose gravel in the bottom for drainage just falls through the holes, so I thought of bagging 'em for that. It was only much later that I realised that I could top as well as tail 'em

You'll get there Fran :)))

smiles, maybe I should grow a border of piky plants ... if htey can't get in, they can'd mug my planters

A shotgun works well!! Only kidding. They are a pest....

lol I did think of a super-water-pistol ... there's something sold on Amazon US, motion detector, sprays water at whatever it detects - according to the review, most often the owner, their dogs, or even trees in a wind, but rarely squirrels!

Good idea and fun!

might work on burglars, too ...

There is a very, dangerously sharp spiky plant that no burgler can get through, can't remember it's name though!

there was a Gardeners' Question Time devoted to Defensive Planting, aided by a copper to give a police-eye-view.

Sure if you Googled "defensive planting" you'd find all the spiky plants you could wish for

Luckily, our gardens back on to the green, which is securely locked off from the general public; no way I'd want a gate in my fence otherwise!

you seem like you have been going through a lot....phew!

lol Jane, I complain a lot, but when I lived on the 7th floor and had no garden at alll ... this tiny patch of paving was a great chance for me. Wouldn't mind sharing it wiht the squirrels if only they acted like guests instead of burglars!

:-))))