Nothing quite saps one's passion for gardening like a neighbor…

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07:36 am July 7th, 2010

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			Nothing quite saps one's passion for gardening like a neighbor… - A little less than a happy high

komos


	Nothing quite saps one's passion for gardening like a neighbor liberally spraying Roundup (or some other equally noxious herbicide) on the decorative ferns immediately behind your plot and slowly watching all of your previously healthy plants struggle to make chlorophyll. The good news is that we have virtually no pests. The bad news is that it's probably because our garden is POISONOUS. However careless and inconsiderate their actions, technically our neighbors did nothing wrong. They were landscaping and made use of the tools that gave them the best results - dead ferns, no digging. It is exactly the sort of thing that makes me want to flee the city for greener pastures.

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	Comments

	From: oceanic	Date: July 7th, 2010 09:04 am (UTC)		(Link)

Graaaah. Chemicals = Bad. Hulk Gardening Smash.

That's one of the reasons I can't handle living in Newton anymore. Chemical lawns + nonstop sprinklers = environmental science editor horror.

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	From: komos	Date: July 7th, 2010 07:35 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Get away from the small timers, and you might end up having to deal with some farmer spraying his entire back forty with the stuff.

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	From: _meej_	Date: July 7th, 2010 10:09 am (UTC)		(Link)

Considered asking them to cover the replacement cost for your plants they're killing? Grr.
(Ironic default LJ icon for this reply, I suppose.)

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	From: komos	Date: July 7th, 2010 07:32 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I haven't, and probably won't. This morning I had a bit of a fit and tossed dead plants into the trash in hopes of avoiding further contamination to the compost pile. Just have the strangely gimpy beans and the landlords' roses and blueberries left as the smoking gun.

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	From: tarotchan	Date: July 7th, 2010 11:53 am (UTC)		(Link)

Yeah I was done with the city when the guys who were supposed to be repairing my roof decided to help me by cleaning up the 'weeds' and my containers for my container garden.

I go out for a handful of basil and check the eggplant and it was all gone.

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	From: komos	Date: July 7th, 2010 07:27 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Repair guys of this type aren't limited to urban areas.

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	From: cook_ting	Date: July 7th, 2010 03:26 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Trouble is, you'll have to go a long way out to be rid of problems like this. The 'burbs are filled with folks using chemlawn to keep those trophy lawns greener than the neighbors.

I think you're well within your rights to complain that they killed your garden with their spraying. Hell, if you're feeling nasty you could even take them to small claims court over it. They ARE allowed to spray on their property, but they've done damage to your garden in the process and that makes them liable. How much time and money did you invest in an organic garden that's now toxic?

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	From: komos	Date: July 7th, 2010 07:26 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I consider the 'burbs as part of the city. Any place where I'm measuring land in fractions of an acre is probably suboptimal.

It's really not worth it. Maybe if I was a homeowner and this was an ongoing problem I'd feel differently, but for the time being, it's not my way.

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	From: cook_ting	Date: July 8th, 2010 09:47 am (UTC)		(Link)

You're much nicer than me. I would also consider burning a picture of a giant dong onto their lawn at night or shitting in their mailbox. I'm a bad neighbor.

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	From: komos	Date: July 8th, 2010 10:06 am (UTC)		(Link)

I've mellowed a great deal in my old age, and have enough experience with the courts not to repeat it again real soon.

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