Wednesday Vignette: Intruders

It's Halloween but I'm not in a proper mood to celebrate.  Added to that, my pumpkin monster, created more than 2 weeks ago, developed a bad case of mold and had to be tossed in the compost bin a couple of days ago, when my husband declared that it wasn't even a suitable gift for the squirrels.

Instead, the sight of a trespasser sneaking through a fence, captured on camera, set the theme for this week's Wednesday Vignette.

This ornamental banana leaf managed to squeeze through the fence undetected.  I've been lopping stems like this off at periodic intervals for a year or more now so I guess it's time to ask the neighbor to cut it back on her side of the fence.

Another form of trespass was detected in the backyard garden.

The scrub jay is once again chasing away the smaller birds to steal seed from the feeders.  His weight on the feeder's perch closes the seed portal but that doesn't stop him (or the resident squirrels) from trying.

However, the most disconcerting intrusion in my garden of late was this one.

I walked into the house and saw this thing flying around outside.  It took me a moment to realize what it was.

Can you make it out?  Here's a closer view.

I'm trusting that last intrusion was an isolated event and probably utterly innocent.  The drone's operator, a visitor next door, may have been intent on capturing photos of his children.  In any case, it was shut down shortly after I charged outside and began stalking it with my own camera.  Ugh!  While I might enjoy employing a drone to photograph my own garden from above, I think any user needs to be hyper-sensitive to other people's privacy concerns and diligently avoid unsanctioned incursions.

Preventing a drone from flying over our property is difficult but last weekend I took some low-tech steps in the hope of preventing the local critters from ravaging the raised planters in my newly planted cutting garden.

After noting that the local botanic garden uses empty plastic flats to cover seedlings, I began saving these last year.  I used every one I had plus various cloches I purchased last year after rabbits made their first invasion to cover the soil in these raised beds in order to protect the seeds, tubers and plugs there.

I used metal pins to anchor the flats and cloches but I've no illusions that will be sufficient to hold off a determined raccoon.  If birds become an issue, I may need to add netting.  Rabbits aren't currently an issue as the coyotes appear to have eliminated that problem for the time being.

I hope your only intruders are trick-or-treaters.  Happy Halloween!  For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.


All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party