Hi All,
Last week was a week of garden frustration and aggravation. It is unfortunate because those feelings really took away from the enjoyment I normally feel wandering around my garden.
A little background
To fully appreciate what happened one must know a little about our situation. We live in a typical neighborhood of about 1/2 acre lots with lots of yards for dogs and children to play. In fact, the reason I wanted a house with such a big yard is because I wanted a good place for a dog to play.
So we bought the house (and the yard) and the fence that came along with it. Win-win you might say. Well, more or less. Except, I got a dog whose brother lived next door and even without that added incentive would probably have found an excuse to climb (and eventually jump and clear) the 3.5" to 4" fence we had around our property.
All the while, we had a garden last spring, too. Granted it was close to shambles after it had been trampled and dug up by some wannabe helpful dogs. This neccessitated the investment of an electric fence to keep our (and our neighbor's) dog(s) out of our garden.
Some near running away and other escapades (like Dog Olympics in which Reese and Dodger would case each other along the back of our house, hop the fence, the run the front, hop the fence and repeat) facilitated the need to invest in a taller fence. Long story short, to keep everyone happy my husband and I paid for a 6 foot privacy fence to go all around our backyard which was quite expensive. But it created a barrier between us and the neighbor's destructive and somewhat aggressive dogs. So we thought.
Over the past near year we've had this fence the dogs have still managed to dig under it. Sometimes it was cute, like when Reese would "invite" Dixie over by digging just enough under the gate that she could slide through (but not Dodger which was a little rude of Reese). Sometimes it was not cute, like finding Dixie laying in our garden confused and unable to get out because of the electric fence.
The Damage
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| Our Villianness |
Last week though, it became downright horrible. She got into and dug up, trampled, broke off, and destroyed plants in my garden not once, twice, but four times in as many days.
Sunflowers and the the cucumbers that were climbing them - GONE!
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| Beans knocked over |
Squash and all the little squash fruits - SQUASHED!
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| This was actually from Round Three of Dixie v. Garden |
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| Digging holes |
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| I'd literally mulched all that the day before. |
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| The Fourth Adventure of Dixie and the Land of Plants |
Corn and the ears of corn forming on them - SNAPPED!
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| This is essentially when I snapped, too. |
Tomato stems torn, holes dug, compost scattered, and dog sh*t everywhere. Nothing like strawberries and dog sh*t.
I cannot tell you the frustration that comes from investing hours of mental and physical labor into a project only to have it leveled by mischievious dogs. Especially when one is relying on the goodness and responsibility of another to control said animals. Especially when you've already invested as much time, patience, and money that you possibly can to keep the dog out. Especially when you alone are the party responsible for the clean up.
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| Tied up and growing ears. |
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| Trellised and ready to grow ;) |
So, how do you deal?
Well, I am very fortunate to have a good husband, who on the occasions he discovered these disasters, filled in the holes and put the dog back. I have a good mother who came over on the mornings with stakes and patience and helped me removed the broken sunflowers and tie up my plants.
What advice would I give someone who is dealing with something like this?
- Treat others like you would want to be treated. As my husband put it, I have been too nice about this issue but I have been firm. I have let the neighbors know what a problem it has been and I feel heard by them.
- Create barriers. Pet and small animal safe electric fences work great. Also, a thin layer of cement and wire could be laid at the bottom of the fence. If this were our dog (and not the other way around) that is what we could do.
- Breathe in, breathe out, and move on. This is a part of life. It can't be undone, so move on.
Overall, the garden is doing really well. I have bought some new plants and my tomatoes are getting ripe. I still have things to harvest and I feel very fortunate to have people who care and are responsible.
Here's hoping your garden is free of pests both big and small!
Take care,
Rebecca
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