Has anyone got a way of making a know-all senior citizen (who I may have been arrested for murdering by the time you read this!) learn that weed-killer ultimately kills birds and, horror of horrors, slug-pellets kill hedgehogs? I had a happy family of hedgehogs last year, who I've carefully left a huge pile of protective rubbish for near where they were living, but this year I've only seen one.....flattened on a nearby road. Why? Jack bought slug pellets instead of waiting for them to have a feast. Even worse, he weed-killed my pile of rubbish (old bramble cuttings, bits of pruned tree and such) so the weeds wouldn't grow through the fence. Then he massaced a laburnum tree so that t'd have to be some wierd, deformed bird that perched on it, followed by the murder of the cherry tree, or should I say, now, stick! (This was due to be pruned next year, when it got to 5foot tall and, of course, it couldn't fruit this year so that was another bird food source killed). The neighbour, by the way, loves birds.......thank heavens, I hate to think what would happen if he didn;t like them. The cherry tree really makes my blood boil as it was only planted as a future food for birds, but after he killed the raspberry canes (yes, in my garden too!) I don;t suppose I should be surprised about the cherry! At least the birds have got the surviving snails and slugs, which I hate too and would have put a beer trap down for if I knew it wouldn't cause problems for anything else. I have printed off and given him every artical I can find about care of garden wildlife, but he, of course, knows better!
Help!!!
Sorry to hear about your problems.
Am I right in saying that he is cutting back and removing stuff that is growing on your property? From what I understand you have the right to remove branches from a neighbours tree where they overhang your boundary (but you have to pass them back) although good manners would be to ask you first. If this is the case then the comment in your first paragraph is quite undertandable.
Sounds like one of these people who like wildlife but still like a tidy, weed free, sterile garden. I'm glad my neighbour doesn't behave like this, I garden organically and although it would never win any awards at Chelsea I think it is attractive both to humans and wildlife, much more alive for having bird feeds suspended on poles in the border and hanging from the apple tree, nest boxes all over the place, hedgehog box, insect boxes, wood pile, etc, etc. Even the stinging nettles are know as the 'butterfly larvae development area'
I am having to replace a garden fence at the moment and as this involves cutting back a lot of climbers and replanting the borders I am really making an effort to find plants that are attractive to us and wildlife. (I'm one of these people who goes round garden centres looking at plants to see how many plants I can divide from one pot - (Geum £1.79 = 11 plants, Shasta Daisy £2.99 = 15 plants, you can do the sums yourself) :-)
Regarding the slug pellets, how's this for a radical idea? With Christmas approaching why don't you buy your neighbour a present, that will surprise them. Organic slug pellets are widely available, I only use these to protect seedlings, they work in a different way to the normal one so don't harm wildlife, so a tub of these wrapped up in a nice sheet of festive paper.
Good luck.
"Feed the birds, tuppence a bag" Mary Poppins
If he is placing weedkiller or anything of the like on your property I do believe it is against the law (I think it is considered an act of vandalism or something like that). I would have a kind word with him and ask him not to put any chemicals in your garden in future. I notice your name is cat'shousekeeper? Does this mean you are owned by a cat? Perhaps you could tell him that you are concerned that your cat could end up suffering as a result of those chemicals as they can also be dangerous to domestic pets. It may be an easier way to get him to stop by giving an easy example rather than going through the ecological impacts of what he is doing.
Millie & Fly the Border Collies
Sympathies from me too - some good suggestion from Norfolk Dipper & KatTai. I'm pretty sure that ND is right in saying that you can only cut back overhanging branches that encroach on your property - and if you do, you're supposed to give the cuttings back. From what you say it sounds like your neighbour is actually coming onto your property to do all this 'gardening'? I'm certain that he is not allowed to to this as KatTai said! Does he have a garden of his own you can encourage him to look after instead of using yours?
Also, don't know where you live but is there a local councillor (town, parish, whatever) that could perhaps arbritate for you?
Make the boy interested in natural history if you can; it is better than games [Robert Falcon Scott]