Some probably remember my story, others might not....we moved to TN July of 03. Lived there till Dec 04. In that time, I did about 20 yrs worth of landscaping. All for the wildlife..and for us of course. Selling the house didn't matter (I was coming home), but leaving the acre I'd worked so hard on was really really hard. I left a note on who to contact for info and id on all the plants, told them how much the yard meant to me, told them if we weren't moving, I was going to apply for backyard certification. I was sooo proud of all that I'd done, and sad to not be able to see it "grow up". They assured me they loved the yard.....I told them if they didn't want the plants, let me know, I'll drive back down and retrieve them. I was told they wanted it just like it is. Earlier, in the summer, a friend I have down there went by. He said the weeds were taller than the plants. He used very colorful language to describe how he felt when he saw it. I'll clean it up...shocked, disgusted, outraged, people are morons....now let me say, I know that not everyone loves to garden. I get that. I gave them a way out if they didn't want it. No, they did. Fast forward to ealier last week, I was going thru a file drawer in my desk looking for the book on my stove. I came across some papers, not really important papers, but papers none the less that belonged with the house in TN. I bought an envelope big enough and wrote them a note. I told them I hoped they were enjoying the house, but mostly I hoped they were enjoying the yard. I hoped it gave them as much pleasure as it did us. My husband mailed it out last Wed. Wed night I decided to call one of the neighbors...just to chat. Hadn't talked to her in almost a year. She tells me that they ripped it all out. It's all gone. Everything. Even the path I made from the street to the sidewalk. Gone. My brain says she's just exaggerating, surely they didn't rip out trees and shrubs? I can see if they don't want to mess with the perennials, but the trees and shrubs? No, they wanted the plants, they said they wanted the plants. Last night, this is bugging the crap out of me, I called the neighbor right beside us. We're talking away....he always complimented me on the yard....and it, meaning the yard, comes up. I tell him I heard it's all gone. He's a sweetheart of a guy, but after hemming and hawing for awhile, yes, it's all gone. Did they ask him if he wanted any of the plants? Any thing? No. They rented a skid steer (same one I rented to spread 160 yards of topsoil/compost?) and just ripped it all out and threw it down at the bottom of the land. All those native plants and a few non native plants for the wildlife...it's all gone. Nothing left but weeds.

I cannot get my brain wrapped around this. Why would they rip it all out? Do they not realize what a treasure they had? I knew it, I just knew in my heart and gut that they wouldn't appreciate it. Hell, those plants weren't even 2 yrs old. I could of dug them all up, instead of just the half dozen I took. Some wouldn't of survived here, but I'm sure I could have given them to a neighbor down there that would have appreciated them.

Why do people do this? Why?

Thanks for letting me vent......

Terry

My BIL moved into my MIL's house after she died. Actually my husband and his sister each own 1/3 of the house. Anyhow.....my MIL had the greatest yard, with all these perennials. It was a magical place. Well, BIL needed to do work on the foundation, and he bulldozed the entire yard!! Fortunately DH and I ran over there and dug up buckets of dirt, hoping to get a few plants (it was late fall), and fortunately, we got some of her flowers. But what was he thinking??????
What's funny is that his wife is the same way. We had a graduation open house for my daughter this past June, and they were taking a walk in our backyard. They saw the poppies that we had rescued from HER yard, and she said "Oh, I wish I had some of mother's flowers". DUH!! People just aren't thinking.
Anyhow....sorry to go on that tangent. I know you feel just awful, and I'm sorry. (((((((((hugs)))))))))

Just remember what joy your garden gave you-the thrills and all-think of it as a gift that was meant just for you :)

Many people don't appreciate things out of plain ignorance.

Loris, after talking to 2 of the neighbors, the opinion has already dropped off the charts. I don't get it either.

Catherine, no, both are still living there. It just seems like pure laziness on their parts. Not even mowing the weeds down, waiting till they thought it was so bad it was easiest to just rip it all out. I gave them an out if they weren't really interested. I even called our realtor a couple months after moving to find out if they still felt like they wanted everything. Yet another out, but they wanted everything...yet they rip it out. My jaw is hanging at your story of your BIL and your SIL...especially her saying she wished she had Mother's flowers? Makes one want to aim a bulldozer at them...:) thank you for the hug! It was much appreciated.

Bookbaglady....they rented YOUR house and destroyed property that wasn't even their own? Another one of those that I just cannot fathom...I'm so sorry :(

Putzer, I've heard the same. Landscape adds a certain %, green grass is supposed to add 15% (last I read anyway) onto the value. I wouldn't argue either....not on taxes! It did give me thrills and was just too cool. I was 1 of 2 houses that were landscaped on the whole street. So I got alot of "we don't have to do anything here. We just look at your yard and ooh and ahhh." I agree with the ignorance part. The thing is though, they didn't have to be ingnorant. I gave them all the info needed to id the plants, the warranty on the plants...all of it. All they had to do was get off their butts and go find Craig.

Both neighbors I spoke with, said it doesn't really look like someone lives there. They're never outside. Curtains always drawn..these aren't an elderly couple. I'd say in their late 20's, early 30's. I don't remember why now, but instead of taking "final" pictures with my digital camera, I had 4 of the throw away ones, and I took pics with those. I've yet to get them developed. On my list of do things now. I did take some with my digital camera.....taken in the spring of 04 (hadn't decided to move yet) and we were busy spreading mulch. My screen saver is that house with all the landscaping. It was just plain fun to do that yard. It was new construction and basically a clean slate. All that was left were some trees, because it had been timber. Something I'd always wanted to do, a house on land in timber...It was different....I was used to using a shovel to dig, not a pick ax. That was alot of "work", but the rewards...man the rewards! And all the rocks we used to line some of the beds, all dug up while I was trying to plant.

I really do thank you all for commiserating with me. For understanding the pain I feel. I was talking to someone yesterday and was telling how I know, I know you aren't supposed to get attached to "things". But I do. I can't help it. Hearing that they ripped out all that I had done, was like ripping out my heart. It's times like this I really wish I drank! :)

You know what it feels like (other than ripping out my heart)? Like I put my mark somewhere, maybe they wouldn't remember my name, but the plants would be there and it was because of me. They've destroyed my mark, my legacy. Does that make sense to anyone?

Again, thanks to all.......((((hugs)))) back to you all!

Terry

i hope i remember to ask to take my plants if i am ever in taht situation. thanks for helping me learn from this.

Catherine, my head understands all that, but my heart. My heart wonders about all those animals. I hope they have found other places and are continuing on. I will do my best to do even better in this old house. I have an argument going on in my head....yes, I can do better...but I'm not in the country anymore, I won't have as many animals....but I will do what I can. That's all I can do.

Thank you all for your kind words, you have no idea how much I appreciate it.

Terry

NJTea, I don't have enough land for that. I'm on a small city lot now. I'm helping my dad to clear 3 acres of invasive stuff and I want to plant alot of natives in there. Getting my dad to go along with my idea's are going to be challenging, but hopefully with the few books I've gotten him (and my mom) for Christmas, that will help. They have an abudance of wildlife out there, so it will be fun. Not my land, but if I can help them to help the wildlife.....

Maybe you can push to get the invasives replaced with native trees and shrubs. (if savanna is more under siege in your area, maybe that's why it's being pushed for). I don't know much about savanna plantings, but I'm hoping that over time they'll develop into something you can appreciate. There are sections of that park near work that I really enjoy now because they attract so many butterflies and bees. Years ago, I probably wouldn't have liked how they looked nearly as much.

The people who bought the house checked the OPTIONAL box on the contract so that we were required to leave all exisiting vegetation for them, i.e. no digging up of favorite plants allowed. Guess what, immediately upon moving in they mowed the front flower beds to the ground, although the lilies were blooming at the time! Over time they killed everything possible, even ripped out the evergreen foundation shrubs. Of all the fruit and vegies and flowers, all that remains is 1 fruit tree and one row of lilacs. Clematis, lilacs, bird house, berries, flowers, they ripped out everything. They had guys with heavy equipment come in to rip out many of the trees. They also ripped out small oak trees, a large multi-trunked white birch that birds fed on in winter, the hubiscus and rose bushes, a basswood tree, the 10 year old maple I planted for Earth Day once, you name it, they killed it.

Evil evil people. Then of course, after killing everything possible, they had some marital problem (violence towards plants leds to violence against people) and got divorced and sold the house less than 2 years after buying it. Ack!

In the spring when the bulbs and hosta came up the next year, they mowed them to the ground. When flowers kept trying to come up in the flower beds in front, they put sod over them. The neighbors and friends told me, so many people were sad. The woman who lived behind us said she cried when they were cutting my trees down. I wish so much I could go back in time and sell the house to someone else, I have spent so much time agonizing about it. They gave no indication that they were going to kill everything, and I had a very common sort of house for that area, what made it special was the plantings. The only thing they left that I planted are the 3 redbud trees and 1 pear tree.

I try not to think about it, but when I go back and visit my old neighbors, it is impossible not to stare and feel awful. The amount of planting, the years of growth. Each original daffodil bulb had become a huge cluster of blooms. It is just sickening. How can people hate plants so much?!?

Marcia

htown, they clear cut an area where bald eagles were known to have been spotted? How is that even legal? I always have to shake my head in wonder at the people who get "annoyed" by the wildlife.

Marcia, The house we lived in previously to moving to TN, we'd spent 21 yrs there. 20 of them, I to did extensive gardening. I wasn't into mostly native things, but I did have lots of trees, shrubs, perennials, and lots and lots of bulbs. With those people, I feel extremly lucky that they have kept it. Some things they didn't know were plants....an older couple who really hadn't done much in the way of working with plants, so some things got inadvertently dug up. And some things...I don't like "pruned" shrubs....but they do. For the most part, it's still as I left it. For me, I guess it's better they left it since I do go visit old neighbors, where I won't be visiting anyone in that neighborhood in TN. But my mind knows exactly what it looked like before I started, since I'm the one who put every plant there, so I can see it again, back to barren. Why check a box to keep all the plants, only to turn around and rip them all out? I went to your link....all that is now gone? Boggles the mind!!

Terry

Maybe we have to look at it this way - it sounds like everyone here convinced a lot of the neigbors in your old neigborhood how lovely gardening for nature can be - you have spread the word! Maybe our role is to move from place to place, converting one or two people every time.

But it's like hunters that only hunt for the sport...what in the world is sporting about shooting a beautiful deer...different things for different folks I guess, of course like everyone else my language would normally be a bit more colorful, lol.

I'm real sorry that happened...are you re-building in your new location?

Keilamarie

Terry

The more and more I see in life, the more I am convince that not only are there a good number of stupid people out there, but that people will intetionally destroy things just to "leave a mark" on an area or to "make a point" or something. Mowing down the existing flowers "proves" that the place is not yours anymore... of course, then it turns into weeds, but they are too dumb to care.

I live in an apartment and I see this all the time (I wish I could get out of here, but housing in Maryland is completely unaffordable).

People leave trash everywhere. Idiot neighbors who broke the new patio doors on their apartment the week they moved in and then toss cigarette butts all over the place from their balcony. People damaging the mailboxes in the lobby. Other morons destroying the children's swings in the play area, and so on. At least the local apes haven't started destroying the trees in the area, but they'll probably get to that point.

Laziness is one thing, but people who intentionally destroy the works of another and leave nothing but trash and wasteland behind are the ones that really anger me.

Realtor friends of mine have told me that if I were to sell the house, I would have to rip out a majority of the plantings and put in grass. Thanks to plant swaps, I know enough people who are just as nuts as I am about all things garden. I'll just throw a 'Dig your own plant' party, and invite them all to it. That way, I will at least have some peace of mind, knowing that the plants have good homes.

Suja

My situation was a bit different. I moved across the street from a home that I lived in for 18 years. The gardens were "low maintenance" and complete. The home was on a postage sized lot and as our family grew, we needed more bedrooms etc. and while we looked, and looked, the home across the street became available. And that 1/2 acre lot was just what I dreamed of.

Well, John & Wendy (both college educated and local) bought our home. And while we DID NOT have anything within the contract regarding plants, I took some of my prize beauties (acer 'red dragon', a bunch of native azaleas & rhodies, etc). Some of those plants never made it into the garden and were in the pots that I had purchased them.

Told them that if they needed help with id'ing anything or should they want to replace, I'd be happy to dig any of it up for them.

Well, here's a brief litany of their "WORK".

Ripped up the astilbe bed (John told me that Wendy was working in the garden, got an itch, and thought that the just unfurling astilbe was POISON OAK)

Tore up all of the sweet woodruff that carpeted the bed at street edge (never had to pull a weed out of that bed). I LMAO watching her weed that bed every summer thereafter. While she tossed all of that to the curbside, I managed to save some of it (in 90* heat no less) and I now have the woodruff growing in some of my beds.

Tore out a beautiful koi pond (so that Wendy could sunbathe) in the back. We used to do same, even with the pond. Torn out of planting pockets were: a beautiful prostrate Ankora Spruce, Chamacyprius 'Gold Spray', Weeping Procumbens, dw. Irish Yew, among others. The pond would attract well over a dozen warbler species each spring.

Re-sited the pond rock haphazardly all over the front yard.

Cut down 2 native azaleas (fragrant) that were growing in "their own space" in 2 of the front yard gardens. Replaced them with that conical Spruce which I can't verbalize at this moment.

Trimmed up and bastardized mature weeping Norway Spruce and weeping White Pine like they were about to join the army. Totally "did in" the natural beauty of those two specimens as she also butchered the weeping Larch which I had trellised and was "walking" nearly 12' from the main trunk.

Lollipopped (pruning) a series of shrubs that was a living fence along one of the boundaries (including viburnum carlesii, burkwoodii, and totally ripped out a witch hazel 'goldcrest').

The horror eventually dissipated (stupid is stupid) as I focused on the development of my own gardens. 7 years later, I have over 300 different trees, shrubs and perrenials (with well over 100 different rhodies/azaleas)

When I do sell, the caveat will be, that the plants will be given away to the ARS and friends. NO IF'S, ANDS OR BUTS. I don't trust people, especially when it comes to the outside environment.

I'll leave you with this little ditty: the brillinat Frank Zappa once commented: "Wherever you go, There's always bound to be more stupid people around (you) than smart ones" or something to that effect.

And so it goes.

I left my rental house 2 years ago, after planting many many sturdy native flowers. I guess I am lucky that the current tenants are rather lazy: The wildflowers have taken over. Golden alexander, Bee balm, wild columbine all over the place! If she had pulled them I would have cried.

To everyone who understands, I just want to say thank you.

Terry

If anyone else heard this, please explain to me further what he was talking about.

Even with it being compromised and bastardized (the old place across the street), it's still better than the rest of the homes on my street, since it still has many of the elements that were installed by me.

After all, anything's better than the prototypical front yard in my neighborhood: proverbial lawn taking up the majority of the front yard with cursory foundation plantings of yews, threadleaf cedars, etc. <To all, a Happy New Year. I'm sure glad that the Editor "edited the trash" and deleted the incindeary posts by the non gardener. This Forum is a "shelter from the storm" out there in cyberspace. Don't need non gardeners proseltyzing about what "they know not".

Water is the big dilemma in my opinion, especially here in NJ. Lawn is KING with the misguided gestalt of suburban homeowners. And most of the projections relative to water needs and a real crisis (here in NJ) are based on population figures which have already been exceeded.

Salt water intrusion in local shore wells, the inability to build more reservoirs, and a general wasteful approach to what is believed to be bottomless resource tells me that my kids will be paying thru the nose for desalinized water down the road.

Keep the faith. Turning one yard and homeowner "around" at a time. That's all we can do. It would help if there were some monetawry "incentives" (tax incentives) if homeowners converted their properties to more environmentaly friendly sites. That typically get's John Q's attention: if you can save a buck on taxes.

Too bad the elected officials (from locals to the the state capital) don't see it.

Peace.

Birdsong, your street sounds like my street. I wonder what the neighbors thought when this spring I started ripping out the sod? And invasive type plants? Barberry, burning bush, privet is going.....do they care? I have gotten compliments, so hopefully, the bug that attacked me years ago will be affecting them in the near future. And thank you, Happy New Year to you also!

Terry

I'm wondering if "Noah's Garden" by Sara Stein might get through to your father. I think it's entertaining reading also. On the other hand, I'd lent my copy to my SIL, and about a year later heard from her that the intro to some other book had really gotten the point across to her. At some point I’ll have to ask her if she remembers which book it was, because unfortunately I don’t. Of course if your father has no interest in reading books on the topic they won’t be much use.

Maybe getting your father interested in alternatives to burning bush such as blueberry or Aronia would help. I think most people would find Aronia arbutifolia 'Brilliantissima' as attractive as burning bush. Below I’ve posted the first page of herbaceous perennials for sale at a site that specializes in erosion control. It looks like they only sell to people in Massachusetts, but somebody had suggested them as a place to do research for plants that could work in my yard's moist soil. I don’t know enough about these plants to know if all are native or any are invasives. Maybe you’ll find a good alternative to ribbon grass there.

Of course all you can do is try. I wish I could say I’ve influenced friends and family to plant more natives and never invasives, but that just wouldn’t be the truth. If your parents end up planting mostly non-invasive exotics, I think that’s still a large step forward. Most plants have some wildlife value--shelter if nothing else.

dirtgirl, I wanted to thank you for trying to keep things civil here (even if I think civility was more than was being offered to us. Sometimes on the internet things come across harsher than they’re meant, but don't think that was true in this case)

Lori

Terry

The unfortunate thing is, some day the development will be all around my little 5 acres, I just hope I am not around to see it!

I have 3 of them (6'ers) still ladened with berry clusters; if they're planted in full sun, the leaves turn a fiery orange in Sept/Oct. Flowers beautifully in the spring.

Good luck convincing him. It takes time, patience (finding these plants) and a willingness to try soemthing different. For many gardeners, they go to the local retail nursery who many times have stock that is cheap and quick to market (like burning bush, yews, flowering pear, etc). And the aronia can be had for basically the same price in many cases.

Terry

Birdsong, I like the autumn color on the Aronia 'brilliantissima' I have in partial shade. It's orange leaning toward red and brown. I think it's different than the brilliant orange you're describing, but is one of my favorite autumn colors in my yard.

Lori

Terry

I didn't mention this in my previous post, but the description of the nightmare you had, definitely struck a nerve here. I was so happy when we started getting chipmunks in my yard--until I started seeing articles about animals needing to go to more and more developed areas as they were losing their habitat.

Terry,

I have my Aronia in moist soil, but both the UConn Plant DB and William Cullina's book list it as being able to deal with soil ranging from dry to wet. In your place, I’d probably try at least one. On the other hand, plants can get expensive, and seeing something not thrive isn’t fun, so of course you and your parents need to make the decisions that seem best to you. Maybe we’ll hear from people who have grown Aronia in drier environments than mine. Most of my yard is moist side, so those are the plants that I tend to think of.

You can always try a search on UConn. I just took a quick look, and you can specify what color fall foliage you’re looking for along with the other traits. My curiosity got the best of me. I used it now for red foliage, dry soil, US native, large shrub and got back 2 viburnum, 2 sumacs, a chokecherry and American Filbert.

-- Lori

Terry

As I do this, I figure the trees I plant will be too large for someone to rip out, or I'll just keep the house forever and leave it to my kids...all optimistic in a world where things can change. Some thoughts though....1) for each that moved and had a garden ruined, many others were left in some degree of intactness. Also, most of you started new ones, so hopefully, nature is at least equal....thirdly, an idea. For those of you who do this and are then forced to move, and an easement isn't possible, how about taking as much as you can and selling/giving it to fellow gardeners in the area (the ultimate "yard" sale), taking other stuff with you, and putting in something lower maintenace before putting it on the market. I hate to say it, but there are too many people who just epitimoze what my late father called "The great American pig"...i.e. you go to the wilderness and find beer cans/garbage at some wonderful nature site. The same goes for those yards. The 'pig" sees the beauty, but has no clue what it really is...Gardening as we do, is love, therapy, and the hope we can add a bit to the natural world, as the by product of our very prosperity is destruction of habitat. Teach your children what this means....and always always always grow something!

msrpaul, Unfortunately, we moved from zone 7 to zone 5 in Dec...so it wasn't really possible for me to bring many plants (those I did bring, I had to plant at my parents house on Dec. 17th). If I'd had an idea, even an inkling (not just my gut), I would have dug up more, I would have given some away, I would have had it written in the contract that I would be back in spring and dig it all up. I am happily planting again..well not right now, it's too cold! I love the last part of your post:

"The great American pig"...i.e. you go to the wilderness and find beer cans/garbage at some wonderful nature site. The same goes for those yards. The 'pig" sees the beauty, but has no clue what it really is...Gardening as we do, is love, therapy, and the hope we can add a bit to the natural world, as the by product of our very prosperity is destruction of habitat.

Very wise words!

Terry

The minute I stepped outside and saw the little strip of garden, I just instantly knew that I had to have that house, and that the garden was my new love. I remember telling my husband, "We're buying this house, and I'm going to become a gardener." (Which surprised him to no end!)

My new next-door neighbors very kindly taught me what all the plants were, when to cut things back, what to do in spring and fall, etc. (They had been pretty close with the original owner and had even worked with her to install a sort of "double bed" on each side of the fence, so it would look like one big garden bed between the two houses.) I've become really close with my neighbors since we are the only two houses in the whole neighborhood with gardens--I have learned a ton about gardening from them, and I'm sure they were relieved that the new owners (us) didn't want to rip out their half of the double bed.

In any case, I've since expanded the original garden beds to extend all the way around the property--I've kept that original garden bed as it was (well, except for the *@%# gooseneck loosestrife), and just added on. Every so often, my neighbors will tell me they've run into the previous owner at the store or something, and that they've told her about all the work I've put into the garden, what's new since the last time they talked, and how many new birds and rabbits have moved in. I kind of secretly hope that she drives by once in a while and is pleased with what I've done.

Anyway, just wanted to say that at least one gardener can rest assured that not only has her old garden remained intact, but that it also spurred a former non-gardener to become obsessed.

Oh--and if we ever have to move? I'm putting it into the contract that ALL my plants leave with me. Either that, or we're only showing the house in the dead of winter when everything's snow-covered, so I can run off with all the shrubs and the new buyers will never know they're missing.

So, I can imagine the anger and hurt you must have felt hearing about your yard (and may still feel).
People are just morons and idiots and don't know what they're doing nor do they care. As someone else with a yard for nature, I really do feel for you. Wow, I'm just speechless.

Sorry to hear about that.

Dan

Terry

Sorry to hear your pain. I didn't read all the threads, but thought i'd relate a better news story.

I sold my house two years ago, after spending almost 16 years of planting and making it a wildlife sanctuary. My father chastised me, saying "someday, someone will have to cut all that stuff down!"

Nothing could be further from the truth. I drove by recently, and the new owners didn't change a thing - all the fruiting shrubs, evergreen cover, etc was there and maintained. (When they bought the place, they said they liked the plantings. Ironically, I'm guessing the plantings were a deterrent to most buyers - many seem to prefer a sterile landscape.)

I'm starting over with a new yard, but I've learned some plants the birds like, and that i like as well. Its all an adventure.

chrsvic, it is an adventure! I agree. It's just...I don't know...a real bummer to learn all those plants made it into the trash heap. It's funny, isn't it? People would rather go out and spend all that time mowing than take care of some shrubs, trees and flowers. I'm not sure sterile only applies to new buyers. I see houses up and down my street that are sterile and I know the people have lived here for years. I'm really glad it turned out well for you! I take it your father isn't much into gardening? My old house up here hasn't changed much. They're still trying to figure out what's a weed and what's a plant, so they tend to leave it all. And the man of the house pruned up some of my evergreens and my weeping tree out back. He said it's easier to mow. I can't have everything, so I'll take what he does.

I was known in our other house up here as the plant lady. People drove very slowly past our house. Even the mail lady wanted to see the whole backyard, not just what she could see from the street. Having garage sales, people always asked if they could see the inside of my house and my backyard. Down in TN, people again drove really slow. I saw a couple taking pictures once (before the house was up for sale). I don't do it for other people, but it sure makes one feel good to know that their house is the one people talk about...in a good way.

Terry

Paul

Anyway, the 2/3 acre we DO have is SOOOO precious to me that it's like a dream come true. I had "we've got to move away" nightmares for months after buying the place. I've gotten certified as a backyard habitat already, and am already trying to talk my neighbor out of that acre behind me, that he rents.

Anyway, I digress..Dirtgirl, I LIVED your nightmare long ago. My husband and I were graduate students at the University of Iowa, and rented a quaint old farmhouse about ten miles from town. We loved our first "nature experience" and thrilled at the lilacs, irises, old roses, woodlots and groves, and other "farmhouse plantings" that we discovered when Spring came. We made our very first vegetable garden on the site of the old chicken yard, just by luck!

Well, one glorious Spring day our second year there, we drove down the lane after a day at classes, only to find--to our utter horror--a smoking wreck of a scene that rivaled Dresden after the bombing: the retired farmer had, while we were out, gone totally insane and bulldozed EVERY TREE on the large property, scraped off all the shrubs, the rosebushes, smashed the charming old outbuildings, and shoved it all into a huge pile and set it aflame. Our beautiful haven was a black, smoking wreck: the trees were rootside up, the stumps were charred and a spiral of black smoke rose many feet into the sky.

It was simply appalling. And why did he do this? Greed, of course. His property was off an exit on an interstate that ran between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, and he (rightly, alas)figured that urban sprawl would soon connect the two cities. He wanted to sell his ancestral land--a farm that had been in his family for over a century--and turn it into a truckstop.:-(

We moved the hell out of there, and across the way into a veritable wildlife sanctuary (a huge wooded area surrounding a large reservoir) and had a few nice years on other people's property, before leaving the area.

That was in the early 80's. A few years ago, my husband and I took our daughters on a sentimental journey back to those two places, where we began our lives together. The farmer had gotten his wish...There was absolutely NO TRACE of the farmhouse, the smaller hired help house next door, the ancient barn..all gone! Smack on the site of our bountiful vegetable garden was a Quick Stop convenience store and gas station. Standing there, trying to envision the lovely place it had once been, I nearly fainted.

I am so sorry. I know how much blood, sweat and tears we put into our yards. Very few people, it seems, want landscaping, or even appreciates what it does for wildlife. Seems they don't want that, either.

My husband and I just sold to developers and are moving to Asheville, NC this summer. So I am fretting about my plants and am planning to bring what I can and give away others. Where I live now (western suburbs of Chicago), they are tearing everything down and putting up McMansions with all house and no yard. Very sad, which is part of the reason we are getting out.

I am hoping to do more wildlife landscaping in NC. There isn't much wildlife here, but I do have lots of natives in for the birds.

It will be hard to come back and see my house gone and my yard covered in sod, but I guess that's just how it goes these days. The land my house sits on it worth a lot more than my house.

I am hoping things will be better in NC. At least we will have space instead of being crowded out by neighbors in huge houses.

Jeanne

Terry

My heart goes out to you.

Terry, not sure if you are still lurking here, but I feel awful for what happened. I don't know how people can be so disrespectful to nature. If they didnt' want the plants, the least they could have done is called you, instead of just dumping them.

I don't know either how people can be the way they are. I did meet up with the young people at our old house there in TN that year we went. And I spoke with the builder also. I gave him a really hard time about the way he always said "we were sooo bad"....lol.

Late spring or early summer, I met the newest owners of our old house up here, in IL. They're missing a ton of different birds we had while living there for 21 yrs. The man recently hacked down and got rid of some of my shrubs, saying they were "old". They looked good, but to him, old. He also told me he's removing a viburnum or 2. They removed a tree, and hack or prune in the most bizarre way. Again, old to him. Go figure.

Terry

I find strange that in my farely new neighboorhood (3 years old) only few people have planted trees and plants at their backyards.

I told one of my neighbors that I was going to plant flowers on my backyard and she told me that she is afraid of bees. I just felt her comment was just plane weird.

What I see, is if I sell my house, all my backyard plants would be removed by the new owner.

People have changed a lot.

1) If renting, hire someone for yard work and do a walk through with them, make sure they understand which areas can be mowed, not to hit tree trunks with weed eaters, etc. I would explain to the renters that they do not have permission to alter or trample plantings. I would look for someone without kids and not allow any pets. That should protect the plants and animals.

2) Consider putting your land into some kind of land trust or conservation program if it is a larger property.

3) A new type of subdivision requires so much of each property to be covered with native plants. I know Madison, Wi has such a subdivision. Purchasing a property in such a subdivision will encourage other developers.

4) If none of the above is feasible, install native plants in the typical border around the house and windows fashion and plant fast growing natives and annuals if you won't be staying long. A lot of times people will leave hedge rows or yard trees, so those are still worth planting. You can get bareroot trees/shrubs for the shrub row from your state nursery for cheap. You don't need to spend a lot of money to plant "the bones" of the landscape.

As for installing native plants in the typical border around the house and windows fashion, those were all ripped up, with the exception of a magnolia. The trees in the yard were removed also. We also had no clue when we moved there that the president of the company would bankrupt it.

I was devestated. But it taught me a lesson. I garden for my own pleasure and nature's critters, primarily birds and butterflies. I have move many time since then. At each new home I have planted flower gardens and roses. I feel that I made my mark. But once I move on, I never look back. I realize that not everyone is as passionate and devoted to gardening as I am. The house and yard belong to the new owners for them to put their own idenity on. I would no more criticize their landscaping than I would the decorating on the inside.

It's hard not to look back. But it beats days and weeks of depression over something you cannot control.

Private property is just that, private, you have no control, that and buying natives supports poaching, and jerks who just go out and collect to make cash. there are lots of reasons why natives should like animal wildlife be left wild.

1. Many are Aggressive, large and invasive ( milkweeds,brown eyed susans,lilly of the valley, joepieweed)

2 Alot are quite rare or are getting to be rare, and really should be prohibbited from nursheries because of that status.

3 wild animals that can damage property are attracted to them

4- moral issues- Illegal Poaching, delopmant, jerks that don't give a S+++

5 the loss of vigor and plant health- Columbines for example are being bred away from the wild state, meaning they could one day, go extinct or just as bad, mix with others to create weakened plants.

6 libality and the fact we do not live in the wild anymore

Many cities have laws requiring plant height and growth, also neighbors may think lower of you or worry the yard isn't being controlled or kept up/ this could lead to fines, lawsuits,ect..

7 torturing the earth

Its bad and a waste of money and time IMHO to pour chemicals, and rip out plants that are invasive, only to plant natives, have land renew to the way it should have always been and then BAM! to have it go right back to the way it was before you did anything..

How to really help natives and save money

Volenteer at local parks, and restorations.

Educate people about native plant ecosystems

go out in nature walks

become part of a plant society/do restoration work

go polictial and write to your congressmen about why natives should be consittered in homeowner lots and wild places. Subjest they pass laws that protect gardens such as your own, from this awful fate.

I have good friends of mine who just bought a house and they want to rip out 4 shurbs from their foundation--a viburnum, a huge rhodie and 2 others I can ID b/c the "birds and bees are all over them". Really??? How ignorant!! And, to make matters worse, as a housewarming, I planted the wife an herb garden w/bee balm and agastache and when the husband found out, she said "if I see any bees on those things, I am gonna spray them. I don't want bees anywhere in my yard".

Ridiculous. So I told him I wiil GLADLY take the Viburnum and the Rhodie w/me and any creature that wants a free ride to my house is welcome to come along too. I am very concerned for any birds who have nested inside, but I must take the shrub NOW, as he is about to spray it w/roundup.

That is why I love gardeners..its hard to be a gardener and have no respect for nature. I love my earthworms, bees, etc. I haven't always felt like t his, but ever since spending time in my garden and seeing the critters up close, I realize they all have a place. I don't rip out plants anymore (and am now blessed w/my yard naturlizing back to normal w/jack in the pulpits, trillium and solomons seal everwhere).

This whole subject makes me so sad.

Beautiful gardens are a piece of heaven and I feel sorry for your friend. He doesn't know what serenity he is missing. You need to rescue the plants you gave them and provide them with a proper home where they will be appreciated.

Ya know, I can only feel sorry for some of these idiots out there. My own sister can't believe I'd have anything that blooms near our front porch. The bees! Oh my. I only think to myself that she need not sit out there then! My "new" plants I've planted everywhere here are growing like the weeds a lot of people claim them to be ;) I'm still waiting for the seeds to "blow" over and actually catch at the park behind/caddy corner from us..lol. Still waiting on a much of any other bird than a HOSP, but all in time, all in time. 'Good things come to those that wait'. I did see a Gray Catbird last year in one of my Viburnums. That was really neat!