It was one of those days that tested my patience with humanity. I woke up on Thursday to this scene. Yup...someone had ripped up an Echinacea from my garden overnight.
Going around the corner of the house, however, I realized they didn't just rip up 1 plant...they tore out THREE of them. Someone in our neighborhood apparently HATES Echinacea.
There were a few stems scattered here and there...
One of them, they just tossed onto the ground right next to where it had been planted.
The worst loss was this 3-year-old plant, which was a huge component in the North Border. It was completely uprooted (taking quite a few stems of its fellow Echinacea bed-mates). It was discarded a few feet away, near our neighbor's house.
While the loss in the hell-strip out front isn't terribly noticeable (and actually will create some breathing room for the plants which are probably too close together anyway), the hole on the Northwest corner of the garden is pretty bad.
Amazingly, I found a few Echinacea seedlings where that plant had been...I guess now is their time. After our current heat-wave passes, I'll re-position them to give them a bit more room and and baby them for the next few weeks until the rain returns.
At least I got a bouquet out of the ordeal...and, believe it or not, this is probably only 1/3 of all the stems...most of them were smashed.
And now, let's take a moment to remember how pretty the garden looked for a little while.
To whoever tore up my garden on Wednesday night...I have a shovel on my porch that would love to give you a kiss.
10 to 1 it's some teenage boys. Bored. Keep an eye out. Maybe that shovel will get it's wish!
ReplyDelete:D
I'm pretty sure you're right, Sue...it does happen, sadly.
DeleteSad. It could have been a lot worse though.
ReplyDeleteIf rootballs were pulled up, those can be replanted, right?
Definitely, Alan...I was thanking my lucky stars they didn't choose some of the harder-to-replace plants...makes me shudder to think of it! It's hard to tell how much they pulled up...I think at least 2 of them have a good chance of re-sprouting from the roots, though :-)
DeleteIf its some teenage spoiled brats, they should be given a good spanking. So goes the saying "Spare the rod, spoil the child" :(
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more!
DeleteIt was probably Billy Goodnick (http://gardenrant.com/2012/08/keep-your-garden-out-of-my-face.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=keep-your-garden-out-of-my-face).
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha...and I thought I was a curmudgeon!
DeleteThat's too funny. I'm always complaining about people who insist on planting spruces 5' from the sidewalk. Don't they know those cute 5'x2' xmas trees are going to be 50'x30' some day?! It seems no matter where I go I'm walking through eye-level, needle-filled, branches of doom!
DeleteI'm still checking in on Bloom Day posts (and yours was amazing, as usual) expecting to get blissed out, not pissed off! Varmints of the human kind can certainly be the peskiest of all.
ReplyDeleteOMG, Denise...I'm STILL working through them as well...I got so totally sidetracked from all blogging-related activity this past week!
DeleteAssholes. I'm still so mad about this. When I lived on a busy street I had people pull whole plants from my flower pots. I'll never understand it.
ReplyDeleteSeriously...what's wrong with some people...it would never even cross my mind to do something like that...makes me so sad to see it anywhere.
DeleteWow, that stinks! Have you had vandalism before? I live at the end of a dead end street with a small cul-de-sac. The street gets very little foot or vehicle traffic and I've had small pieces of statuary snatched out of the front garden. So far no plant damage though.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I've had a few plants cut snapped off, or flowers cut...but nothing like this. It really is inevitable, unfortunately :-(
DeleteHi Scott,
ReplyDeleteNo doubt it was some stupid kids doing it purely 'because they can'. I can also bet they're the one that's got the mind of a child in the body of a teen i.e. not yet mature enough to tell their brain they're being total asses (arseholes in the UK ;))
I get them pulling off branches of my honeysuckle on the front wall, but they probably also get annoyed with it poking their eyes! hahaha. Can't blame em really.
So very true...and I'm pretty sure that's what happened. At least your plants get a little revenge, eh ;-)
DeleteThat sucks big time! People can be really stupid. Maybe you should plant some Stinging nettle in between Echinaceas...?
ReplyDeleteHahahahahahaha...I had actually considered doing something like that!
DeleteThat is just mindless stupidity. It would nice if Karma gave them some sort of really sore and itch rash!
ReplyDeleteHahaha..I agree!
DeleteThis is so infuriating! I'm so sorry, Scott. What I don't understand is, why would they only go for the plant that has somewhat-prickly stems? And well-established Echinacea are not easy to pull up in one try. Wouldn't the pain and frustration take the "fun" out of their vandalism? But then again, I use common sense, which apparently they don't have.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the stinging nettle suggested by Geranium, I'd like to add some cactus.
I know...that's really the part I find most confusing...why they only chose that one type of plant. Then again, if vandalism made sense, that would be a moot point!
DeleteBored stupid teenagers or someone's sick in the head. Either way, don't let it anger you too much.
ReplyDeleteAgreed...those both seem very likely.
DeleteI had a neighbor do the same thing to my yard recently... long story but I do understand your frustration! I don't understand some people. The picture of the cat and the "bouquet" is really cute. I am a new follower. Thank you for sharing your beautiful garden with the world.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Stacy...I guarantee most of my posts are quite such downers ;-)
DeleteThe only way I can get into the mind set of the vandals is to think it was on a dare. As in: I dare you to go pull up some flowers from the big guy with the shovel.
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha...exactly...they're lucky I wasn't there with my shovel at the time ;-)
DeleteThat is so sad. It is the sense of violation and amazement that someone would do such a thing that is worst. I know you will make thing beautiful again but one has to wonder what is wrong with people.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly it...that sense of feeling violated is the worst part...it's so unsettling.
DeleteThis is so maddening! It's a good thing there are lots of other plants still providing beauty in your garden.
ReplyDeleteIt's true...and I'm just grateful that the damage wasn't worse.
DeleteDomestic terrorism.
ReplyDeleteHahaha..yes it is!
DeleteMy friend has a motion sensor sprinkler to scare the deer, perhaps that and a motion sensor light could get them.
ReplyDeleteI had thought of that, actually!
DeleteNot sure whether this kind of thing makes me mostly angry or mostly sad.
ReplyDeleteExactly...it's a little of both, for sure.
DeleteWhat a shame and so frustrating too.
ReplyDeleteTotally...deep sigh
DeleteIt's not the plant, is it? It's the insensitivity to the painstaking labor of gardening, the disregard of a beautiful living thing now destroyed, the disrespect to your home, which should always be a place of peace and refuge. For every jerk that does that--just know there is a person who carefully moves one of your flowers out of the way so it is not crushed, a person who plucks a weed, a person who walks by your home just to appreciate the beauty, a sad person who is made happy by what you have done in your garden. There is evil in the world, but so much good also!
ReplyDeleteThat's it exactly...it's so unsettling to think people can be so cruel and disrespectful...but you're right, the good outnumber the bad, vastly!
DeleteI'm so sorry about the uprooted plants. I'd be heartbroken. The flowering patch in your garden was lovely.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Autumn Belle...at least they can be easily replaced :-)
DeleteOh Scott that is so aggravating. I know how you must feel. What makes kids or people act like that I will never understand. I hope it will fill back in for you and that some of it was salvageable.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lona...I do think there's a chance they might re-sprout from the roots that (might) be left...we'll see :-)
DeleteOnce in front of my shop in Texas - I came to work and someone had pulled my Coreopsis Daisies right out of the ground - the whole plants - also the huge bluebonnets - both I had grown from seeds. I thought your situation looked like kids maybe??? I love your blog - please come link to my "Open House".
ReplyDeleteUgh....so sorry about that...it's so frustrating...especially since you took the time to grow them from seed! I'll head over to check it out!
DeleteSo sorry to hear. Your shovel idea sounds good...including sentencing them to replant. Too bad you don't have my soil, replanting in granite bedrock not so fun, as they would have to swing picks. Had a couple plants done that to years ago, as well as a teepee years ago and and egging 2 weeks ago...both both times, I was not the only one. No excuse.
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha...can you imagine their faces! Ugh...sounds like you've had more than your fair share of hardships...kids...whatcha gonna do?
DeleteI think I'd call the police.
ReplyDeleteThey won't do anything except file a report, but... vandalism is a crime.
I wonder whether this kind of incident is related to the gardens that are being taken to court in an ill-conceived attempt to force people to grow useless turf?
What are the poor butterflies saying about the loss of the nectar source?
Do you think there's a possibility that someone was attempting to collect a bouquet, and got interrupted? It's not like those flowers pick easily...
I think that you should put up one of those deer cameras that the hunters use.
You know, I've actually seriously considered putting in surveilance cameras...if nothing else, I can show the parents what their kids are up to...and it would deter people in the future...hopefully!
DeleteGode billeder.
ReplyDeleteSmuk buket.
Hvor har du dog et smukt blomsterbed med så mange dejlige blomster.
Tak for kigget.
Ha´ en god aften.
For sure
DeleteCrappy. I did some foolish things in my adolescence but it usually involved toilet paper, and no demolition.
ReplyDeleteHow sad.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you will at least get to enjoy the bouquet for awhile longer.
Exactly...and they do last quite a while in a vase :-)
DeleteI think the movie Clueless said it best, "I have a shovel and a shotgun and no one will miss you." I'll never tell.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA...I love it!
DeleteI'm with Jason--I don't know if I'm more mad or sad about this. Both, I guess. It just makes you ask "Why?" Sorry, Scott. Hopefully the seedlings will fill back in next spring.
ReplyDeleteI agree...and I do think the seedlings will fill the vacant spot well.
DeleteHate that this happened. Just replant and move on. that's your best revenge.
ReplyDeleteThat's so true :-)
DeleteOh Scott, I'm so sorry this happened to you. Razor wire/concertina wire makes a lovely ornamental flower bed edging. It makes weeding a bitch though. My niece has a sign hanging on her fence with a graphic of the cross hairs of a scope and the words, "You are now in range." However, I agree with the Redneck.
ReplyDeleteHahahahahahaha...I love that...and I actually thought for a moment "I'm gonna tape razor blades to all my plants!" Sigh.
DeleteThat is too bad about the Echinacea. People can be such animals sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThey really can...and they should know better!
DeleteOh, how mean! Sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kimberly :-)
DeleteScott, I feel your pain. I have had a bit of experience with vandalism over the years in the public gardens I work in. It is very disheartening. My advice is clean it up quickly and make it look as if it never happened. Hang in there and don't let it take the wind out of your sail for too long.
ReplyDeleteThat's such good advice...and I do think I've pretty much moved on...even if I had to wallow in a little self-pity for a day or so ;-)
DeleteThis is a near weekly occurance for me. Like you, I garden right up to the edge of the sidewalk and things tend to hangover. Several years ago I had a plant thief and was able to catch her and call the police. She was not right in the head, but I believe her meds are being taken now and no more theft. However, I often find my blooms crushed on the sidewalk. I blame careless kids.
ReplyDeleteA weekly occurance...that's awful! It really is a hazard we just have to live with, I guess :-(
DeleteWow. That really is shocking. :(
ReplyDeleteI know, right!
DeleteI love Hoover Boo's comment, but I couldn't help cracking a smile over Danger Garden's. Scott, I'm sorry that someone messed with your garden. Someone drove over my curbside garden once (previous house). That was a shock, but the plants were tough and eventually recovered. Your baby coneflowers will look beautiful next summer too. As always, your photos are divine, especially the bouquet image.
ReplyDeleteOuch...that's pretty extreme...I'm crossing my fingers that never happens here! You're right, of course, as long as there is some root intact, they'll grow back and look fine next year :-)
DeleteGRRRRR! I had to stop putting anything beautiful in my front yard in San Francisco, because someone was digging out plants at night after I planted them and then SELLING them! (I found this out from another gardner in the neighborhood. What a crappy feeling to wake up and see destruction like that, and then wonder if someone really doesn't like me... and why?? Your echinacea was beautiful, and it'll be back. I'm sure we'll both find a good solution, it's just usually more work. And really, WHO HATES ECHINACEA??
ReplyDeleteI just read this after reading your latest post, and holy cow! This is just bizarre. Echinacea is the one plant I have had stolen out of my beach house garden on the Jersey Shore, also huge 4 year old clumps, but at least someone took them and likely planted it elsewhere... I can't imagine why they destroyed it. What exactly is the point? I am a horrible jerk, hear me roar?
ReplyDeleteThey were obviously jealous of your beautiful garden! A night vision camera could help you identify them .... but they would probably steal it.
ReplyDeleteScott, how disturbing, but I suspect a bulldozer driving crazy couldn't damper your passion for gardening. So here's to your army of admirers, supporters and fans, to the hundreds of folks who relish the beauty you bestow on your corner in Portland and your parking strip on the Web.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your garden, i hate it when people do dastardly things like that, it's happened to me a few times.
ReplyDelete