Fighting Nature and Letting Go......

It seems like I am fighting a battle with my favourite friends, the wildlife who enjoy our patch of land.

Last week, I hit a new low, with disasters happening all around.

The glorious Crimson Rosellas I feed during winter on my studio deck decided to polish off all the blossoms on my small apricot tree. Gone! In a day.........

Next, they hooked into all my collection of geranium cuttings I struck before winter. The plants were sitting, fat and healthy, in their pots ready to go into the garden...... all nipped off to dirt level and eaten. I have discovered that hanging shiny things on the plants makes no difference at all, maybe it even attracts them!

Lime green leaved geraniums were planted out behind the studio to catch the hot summer sun have all gone.

I have a third year almond tree that produced a small crop last season. This is about to come into full bloom and they will eat that as well. I got all my old tinsel out and strung it up on the tree hoping to dissuade them. That was last week and I haven't plucked up the courage to look there. Next will be the two cherry trees.

Early Christmas

The rabbits ate the tops off all last years petunias I had clipped back and were budding up big time. Gone! The rabbits usually eat all the rose shoots, but I have beaten them this year by spreading dog poo around them, so I still have them. Fuschias and self seeded tiny plants, all gone. For once I want my dogs to pump out more poop, because I need it for a change. It makes the garden look a bit rough, but one the spring spurt is over they leave it alone.

The dogs have found and killed a nest full of baby birds, Zara swallowing one down in front of me like an oyster. They are confined to the house yard and I hope each year that our hunters won't find low lying nests, but they always get one. The bereaved parents might get smart enough to put their next nest either higher or outside the yard.

The swallows have been banned from the dog kennel rooms, because they build a nest over the bedding and poop on the dogs while they sleep. We have hung curtains at the door ways, so they can't fly in and out. They are now building one above the door under the veranda. I'll have to keep scrubbing the concrete of the run, but that's OK, I can live with that.

Lily surveying her territory

I spent a panic stricken day worrying about it all, and had to do some serious self talk to arrive at just letting go. If we don't succeed with our fruit tress, so be it. I won't plant geraniums or petunias, and will stick to pelargoniums (if they leave them alone!). I suppose I could net the trees and may do next year.

Fighting nature is the past time of losers; it wins all the time.

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But, it's not all bad! Spring has sprung...............