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My garden has been ruined by ????

(55 Posts)
chicken Mon 20-Jul-26 21:11:25

I went out into my beautiful courtyard garden this morning only to be greeted by devastation. Ten large troughs and tubs had their flowering plants smashed, uprooted and scattered, and great holes dug in the compost with most of it spilled in the gravel. I’ve spent the morning salvaging what I could, but feel very sad because it had been looking glorious,in full bloom.
This is the second time it’s happened, 2 tubs having been dug out when newly planted, but that was quickly remedied. What I would love to know is what is doing it. It’s not vandalism as we’re tucked away and very secluded in countryside . I know there are deer nearby, also foxes. Maybe someone’s dog was loose. Have any of you had anything similar happen and did you ever solve the mystery of whodunnit?

If it happened again I’m afraid that will have to be the end of the garden.I’m too old and lame to start again.

Nannynoodles Tue 21-Jul-26 07:31:20

Some of what you say is true BlueBelle but you also say you have never seen a fox so never had one destroy your garden!
Also they do not slink around at night, they are as bold as brass in the daytime.
Actually foxes seem to survive rather well here - there are far more than there ever used to be, and so becoming a problem.

knspol Tue 21-Jul-26 13:47:42

In my garden the most damage, similar to your description, is caused by deer particularly muntjacks. Then again the rabbits and squirrels do their fair share too. Soul destroying at times but I look on it as the penalty I pay for living in a rural location. never had badgers causing trouble - yet!

BlueBelle Tue 21-Jul-26 14:20:25

You re absolutely right Nannynoodles I just have cats, seagulls and pigeons which defo don’t turn the tubs over 🤣the cats do poo in unlikely places though. Yuk
ButI still stick to what I believe, the animals belong in the rural areas, and we ve ( well you not me) have encroached on their territory and their food larders, so we need to be mindful and make out gardens as indestructible as possible it’s our responsibility not theirs

Tooyoungytobeagrandma Tue 21-Jul-26 14:28:36

Do you have squirrels nearby. I once spent a whole day planting up around 15 large pots with plants and bulbs. Went in in the eatly evening to sort dinner. After dinner and s cuppa went out to water them to find everything pulled up and scattered all over the lawn and path. The culprits were sat in the apple trees with some of the plants !!! I phoned my mum to tell her how mad I was and she laughed and said they must have been watching you prepare their dinner 🤨

Jojo1950 Tue 21-Jul-26 14:51:26

I am so sorry about your garden.
I’m the same my garden is nothing as lovely as my previous one. I had to move and became unwell and just couldn’t manage a garden as big again! 😞

Oreo Tue 21-Jul-26 14:51:47

MissAdventure

The foxes used to dig holes and hide their ill gotten gains in my mums pots.

She found a couple of pork pies, almost all of a chinese takeaway, a few used condoms, and countless soiled nappies.

Eugggghhh! How horrible for her.

Oreo Tue 21-Jul-26 14:54:10

What a shame for you Chicken after all your hard work.💐

4allweknow Tue 21-Jul-26 15:08:55

Badgers perhaps. Seems a bit much for squirrels. Also have you considered a camera for the area. At least you'd find out the culprit/s and perhaps be able to safeguard from further damage.

Madwoman11 Tue 21-Jul-26 15:13:02

Get a Ring doorbell or digital camera to record what is happening

chicken Tue 21-Jul-26 16:19:29

Thanks for all your comments and sympathy. Squirrels? No, haven’t seen any for a long time. Rabbits? No, the cats chase them off.
Unfortunately I can’t put up any more fencing as the garden leads out to the driveway and we need constant free access. As for raising the height of all the containers, that would look horrible in this site…..and foxes can jump! I think I’ll ask my SiL about putting up a camera when he gets back from holiday.

Sadly, another three tubs were dug out last night…. a beautiful collection of trailing geraniums.

pen50 Tue 21-Jul-26 16:43:35

Foxes are definitely a problem in our inner suburb garden. I wish they'd learn from the cat and bury their droppings. However, I do leave water out for them at the moment, it's too dark hot.

Juicylucy Tue 21-Jul-26 17:27:11

I had that, and mine was squirrels saw them on the camera. They made huge mess digging all the plants up.

Ktsmum Tue 21-Jul-26 17:40:43

Foxes most likely

Cath9 Tue 21-Jul-26 17:59:03

That must be depressing for you.
Thankfully this hasn’t happened to me but some of the leaves from my plants get a bit burnt which I believe is due to a chicken farm at night which is not far from the house

Camry1952 Tue 21-Jul-26 19:27:48

I caught a squirrel sitting in one of my pots just digging away. I knocked on the window and it scampered away before any damage was done. What happened to your garden is such a shame. The deer usually destroy my hostas but they grow back.

POW1 Tue 21-Jul-26 19:43:44

Could it be squirrels? I struggled with a tub of seedlings that were dug up over and over. Finally saw a fat squirrel digging up the plants to hide nuts I think.

Puss Tue 21-Jul-26 19:48:48

I too think it's badgers we have them here too. So far they have kept to our banks looking
for wasps/bees nests they dig them out and leave great big holes.
They seem to roll around and flatten everything.
Look out for their waste!!!!! It's black and flat.
Little ones come up to our patio doors when it's getting dark have a look then run to mum.
They say mens urine keeps them away.
Feeling for you all that work .

WithNobsOnIt Tue 21-Jul-26 19:56:15

I understand why this is such an upsetting incident for you

Plants, shrubs and flowers look lovely in tubs in gardens. So beautiful.

First of all do get a CCTV camera in your garden.

Then see if you can identify the perpetrator. It sounds like Badgers to me. People think they are such cute little creatures. But they can also be very destructive and vicious.

In the interim l am sending you an icon bunch of flowers.💐.
Hope this helpsm

Best Wishes
😻
X

Bluesmum Wed 22-Jul-26 15:57:56

Have you used a blood, fish and bonemeal feed supplement in your planting? I used this one year in my garden beds and suffered similar carnage as the local wildlife are so attracted to it as an indication of a food source !! They wreak havoc in their search for the origin of the scent!

MT62 Wed 22-Jul-26 16:12:54

I put out a black bin bag as we had eaten chicken. Went to get to key to unlock the side gate, only seconds, bag was absolutely shredded, rubbish was everywhere.
Would that have been a fox? Wasn’t many cats around here at the time.

MT62 Wed 22-Jul-26 16:15:00

What about a camera with an alarm! Would that scare them off?

MiniMoon Wed 22-Jul-26 16:29:15

Something, not someone has taken every single gooseberry on our bush. I looked at them a couple of days ago and they were a beautiful red, just ripe for picking. I'm blaming a squirrel.

MiniMoon Wed 22-Jul-26 16:31:45

That being said, we won't have any crab apple jelly this year. When the trees came into bud a visiting pair of bullfinch ate every one. No blossom, no fruit.

Grammaretto Thu 23-Jul-26 01:47:17

Squirrels eat holes in the wheelie bin and the plastic compost bins. Tree rats!

nanna8 Thu 23-Jul-26 03:45:53

I’d love to see a badger but we don’t have them here. The only one I have ever seen was in a zoo. I’d swap one for a brushtail.