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westhighlandblue

That dreadful weed wacker!

westhighlandblue
16 years ago

DH went two weeks without mowing and decided the dreaded weed wacker would be his first tool of choice. I hovered as he wacked around the newly planted marigolds that I had begun from seed, in Feb. I left in despair when I saw him take out half of a peony that I have been babying since last october when I transplanted it. I noticed that I lost 1/2 of two blooming azaleas. I was so heartsick, at these loses, I did not even bother checking the trunks of my young trees for damage.

Comments (12)

  • caliloo
    16 years ago

    Sorry for your losses :-(

    Why don't you take over the weedwacking? I don't let my DH near it because he woldn't have a clue either.

    Alexa

  • Pipersville_Carol
    16 years ago

    Ouch, that sounds painful, westhighlandblue.

    Weedwacking is practically the only garden chore my DH does... because he enjoys it. I guess I'm fortunate he whacks carefully!

  • scrappyjack
    16 years ago

    WesthighlandBlue,
    I feel for you. I just lost my hostas to DH's weedwacking this afternoon. (but I did sigh a breath of relief when I saw the peonies still standing!)
    Jackie

  • westhighlandblue
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Jackie:

    I am sorry for the loss of your hostas. Marriage is such a balancing act. The loss of a few good plants in service to a good man's sincere efforts, is just one instance of that balancing act, isn't it? Sigh!

    Anne

  • scrappyjack
    16 years ago

    Like a good wife, I didn't say anything about it, I know that the hostas will come back. Now if it WAS the peonies, I don't know how patient I would've been! LOL When the man is happy, I'm happy.
    Jackie

  • lizelle
    16 years ago

    My SO was out fueling the dreadful weed whacker when i happened upon this thread. I carried the laptop out to him and read it as a gentle reminder to take out weeds only ...as he is a city boy i feel i should be out there with those orange hand thingies they use to guide planes with.....

  • westhighlandblue
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    In my gardens, I need wide, wide beds of mulch to protect my darlings. I was inspecting my poor butchered plants this morning. Do you think stringing those beds with "crime scene" tape, until I get them mulched, is a little over the top?

  • scrappyjack
    16 years ago

    OH! He did it again, only this time he only got one hosta instead of about 5 of them. They are recovering. They must be tough little guys! LOL.

    I think crime scene tape and a weed wacker impounding would be suitable.

    Jackie

  • westhighlandblue
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    I feel your pain Jackie. Though, one year my DH took out a Hydrangea with the lawn mower. Crime scene tape may be our only answer.

  • scrappyjack
    16 years ago

    I feel YOUR pain too. My wonderful thoughtful step-father in law once came over to mow my lawn (how sweet) and ran over a VOLUNTEER peony that I was letting grow until it was large enough to transplant.

    I can just imagine crime scene tape fluttering in the breeze from here in Zone 5, clean down to your Zone 6.

    It almost sounds like another episode of Law & Order. OR a scary Stephen King disaster novel. LOL

    Jackie

  • sweets98
    16 years ago

    Wow! My DH knows where the plants are! In fact sometimes I need to tell him it's okay to weed wack in areas because there aren't any plants! LOL If I'm afraid that he won't notice something is a plant, I usually do a circle of stones around the spot. I haven't lost anything yet and I've been with DH 9 years :)

    Now my father...he would mow over ANYTHING! I was a tad bit scared last year when I left him here with our kids and came home and saw that he had mowed. He was bored and figured he might as well help out. He didn't take out anything but he complained that I had too much in the yard too close together! DH has never complained...he just knows where he needs to push mow and where the riding mower will fit! LOL

  • westhighlandblue
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    My DH is an absent minded professor. I rather doubt a circle of stones would alert him to anything. Candidly, even crime scene tape might not do it. He was in his study last night when I walked home from the train station. I had left my keys in on my desk at the office. I rang the door bell for a good fifteen minutes, and he did not answer. I finally had to get the ladder out of the shed and climb into the house, through the dining room window. Just so you know that DH is not the only flawed person in my house, when he saw the ladder in front of the dining room window, and asked why it was there, he turned to me and said, why didn't you call me on your cell phone. "I never thought of it," I sheepishly replied.

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