My sympathies @Allotment Boy, I share your pain. The squirrels here (I've seen at least 3 babies so far) have eaten tulip flowers, climbed to the top of the pear tree and nibbled the blossom, had a go at my clematis buds and are now eyeing up the fat wisteria buds on the terrace not 3 ft from the door!
I'm just experimenting with chilli powder in layers in the bird feeders and underneath in the hope that if they don't like the taste, they might at least leave the birdseed alone. Other than that, has anyone called in a professional pest controller for them? My blood pressure won't stand much more.
Oh well.... the consequences of a bad service. Apparently I wasn't in yesterday when Evri tried to deliver my order . So now have cancelled my order with Wilco and requested return of money.
Sorry about your plants @Allotment Boy, it must feel soul destroying. Wish I could come up with a solution for you.
I don't want to jinx it... but the squirrels have not yet bitten the tops off any of my tulips, for the first time ever! I do still have a lot of squirrels - there's more than one running around the garden at all times - so they haven't just gone to the other side of London. However, the foxes are leaving a lot of very disgusting deposits around, more than usual. Including (though this might have been a cat) a vomited-up unrecognisable something or other that had entrails. So I'm still quite curmudgeonly, and will be even more so if the squirrels read this and get to work.
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
Some fat Jersey potato skin-coloured caterpillars have eaten the petals out of every bud on a clump of irises leaving nothing behind but the calyx (? I'm not a botanist). They've drilled in from the top or bored a hole through the middle😡. I've left the caterpillars in situ on the off chance that they might turn into something pretty. Probably a vermicious knid knowing my luck lately with that-might-turn -into-something-nice finds in the garden.😡
The brambles behind my greenhouse are really taking the thorn thing a bit seriously. I know this used to be a sheep farm and they probably got sick of being eaten but they need to calm down a bit now.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
My green waste collection has been moved from Friday weekly to Tuesday fortnightly. No word from the council about this, I only found out when they failed to turn up last week and suddenly turned up today which made me check the website. The website hasn't really been updated since the days of dial-up internet so it's rarely worth checking. They also only took four of my bags and left massive plastic tags on the others explaining that they only take four bags now. I could have easily fit the contents of all six into three bags if I'd known but my garden is on the first floor so I pack light to bring them down the stairs
My other complaint is very mild. I bought a small succulent from a private seller on eBay and it turned up today. In the box was an unexpected gift, wrapped in kitchen roll and just labeled 'Baby tarantula'. I unwrapped it very carefully but it turned out to be a tiny plant. Echiveria 'tarantula' maybe but it's only a tiny rosette of hairy leaves with a bit of root at the moment so could be anything. I'd got my hopes up for a real tarantula though
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
We've got the health visitor here to evaluate our three year old ready to start school in September. She told him she's going to see if he knows his colours but now he's running through his insect book telling her about leaf cutter bees, stag beetles and snails. She better hope he doesn't start on the dinosaurs
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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Squirrels don't know which ones you want to keep. Or where! Have they been educated?
There was a time when I didn't know what my parents considered flowers, weeds, or just something in the wrong place.
I LEARNED THE HARD WAY!!
I'm just experimenting with chilli powder in layers in the bird feeders and underneath in the hope that if they don't like the taste, they might at least leave the birdseed alone.
Other than that, has anyone called in a professional pest controller for them? My blood pressure won't stand much more.
Sorry about your plants @Allotment Boy, it must feel soul destroying. Wish I could come up with a solution for you.
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.