Moan, moan, moan - 2013

[Roma]

I was surprised when I went out the the back door a week past Tuesday and saw this roe deer sitting beside the old caravan wher my husband stores some of his beekeeping equipment.  When I went closer she got to her feet with great difficulty.  I could see she had a broken back leg and patches of fur missing off her side.  She must have been hit by a car.  I phoned the SSPCA and a young woman came in about half an hour.  She managed to catch the deer with a net.  A front leg was also damaged and her body filled with fluid from internal injuries.  A deer with only one broken leg can usually disappear too fast to be able to do anything to help it.  She was put to sleep with an injection and taken away for incineration.
On Monday this week there was another deer, dead this time across the road from our front gate.  My daughter helped me put it on a barrow and we dumped it in the wood where it will be recycled by foxes, crows, magpies.
They were both female and I hope they were the ones eating my garden.  Though I do not like to see them suffer I do think they need reducing in numbers. 

[Anthony Darby]

Went into our local Whitcoulls book shop and while Vivienne was choosing a birthday card I happened to glance at the DK Eyewitness Travel New Zealand books. They had two editions: the 2010 edition @ NZ$54.99 and the 2012 edition @ NZ$44.99. UK price £15.99. How does that work? The contents pages (and presumably most of the contents) of both were identical, and my copy, bought in 2011, still has the same UK price of £15.99 inside the cover and NZ$54.99 sticker on the back. Needless to say, it was better value two years ago by about 20%. I can only assume the older edition has been kicking around for two years, and that the new edition reflects the strength of the NZ$? Petrol is 16c/litre cheaper than two years ago at as little as NZ$182.99/litre. I could get the new edition of the DK guide on line for NZ$37.99, or US$9.23 plus shipping on Amazon.com. I have friends coming to visit and was going to send them a copy. Cheaper to get Amazon to deliver.

[Graham Catlow]

Disaster

When I came home from work yesterday it was clear that a rabbit had been feasting on my prize possessions. In particular the Weldenia that had buds waiting for improved weather.
Later that evening I spotted a young bunny but it disappeared and I couldn't find it.

During the night however it seems that a fox located it under a set of five troughs. It must then have set about a frenzied attempt to get at the bunny and completely destroyed two of the troughs and damaged plants in others.

I have salvaged some plants and there is cutting material. The trough has mainly Penstemons and Lewisias but also Primulas and Dodecathon.

Investigating this morning I have no idea how the bunny managed to get under the troughs as the gaps between were so small.

I will now have to riddle the gravel path to get the compost out and then wash it

Did the fox get the rabbit or did it get away. I suppose I will find out if plants continue to be eaten or if another part of the garden is destroyed.

[angie]

Graham I hope the rabbit is gone. What a mess and those troughs were really lovely. I have seen them close up and you put so much effort into them.

Hope you don't have anymore visitors.

Angie 

[Maggi Young]

Oh dear, Graham, what a mess.
You'd be amazed how small a space a little rabbit can squeeze into - confounds belief, for sure. My money though, is on the fox so I hope this chaos is over for your lovely garden.
At least you will enjoy the rebuilding of the troughs- a new challenge.

[Graham Catlow]

Hi Angie and Maggie,
Thanks for your responses.
There has been no apparent activity overnight so I am hoping that the fox got rid of the rabbit in some way.

As you say Maggie I can look forward to a rebuild at the weekend.

[Anthony Darby]

So sad to see such devastation.

[Roma]

Spotted my first lily beetle today .  I didn't know they were this far north.

[WimB]

GRRRR  Had some big clumps of Narcissus hybrids in our chicken coop, they were leftovers from clumps which I had divided in the garden. Anyone who asked some, got some bulbs from them, this morning someone had dug up two whole clumps....HOW RUDE!!

[Graham Catlow]

From Disaster to redesigned.

Have spent several hours over a couple of days to completely redesign these troughs that were destroyed by a fox trying to get to a rabbit - see earlier post.
I took the opportunity to change the design rather than just rebuild. I have put fine mesh at all points that a rabbit might get under the troughs so I shouldn't have that problem again.
Many plants were destroyed so had to relocate some from elsewhere and some purchases from Gardening Scotland on Sunday.

You were correct Maggi - a very enjoyable task.

[Maggi Young]

A revamp to be proud of, Graham. 

[Graham Catlow]

Thanks Maggi 

[Rogan]

Seeing Graham's trough / crevice garden combination gives me a wonderful idea - I would like to do a similar thing, not with alpines (they don't do here) but with some of our local succulents; Conophytum species in particular, are small and very nearly 'mossy' and in some cases prefer to grow in association with moss and lichen species, i.e. they enjoy frequent misting. Certainly worth trying - thanks Graham... 

[Graham Catlow]

Seeing Graham's trough / crevice garden combination gives me a wonderful idea - I would like to do a similar thing, not with alpines (they don't do here) but with some of our local succulents; Conophytum species in particular, are small and very nearly 'mossy' and in some cases prefer to grow in association with moss and lichen species, i.e. they enjoy frequent misting. Certainly worth trying - thanks Graham... 

Please show us the results Rogan and hopefully you will be able to start your post in a better thread than the reason I posted here.

[Anthony Darby]

Got up early to watch Andy play his semi at Wimbledon, only to find it's not on the TV here. Six or more sports channels showing repeats of various sports and not one showing tennis! 

Edit:Apparently it was on channel "U" or Sky channel 16, but this wasn't obvious when I flicked through the channels. It just says "U"! I'll know next year.