Saturday, May 2, 2015

On My Street This Morning

I went out front this morning to enjoy a quiet morning and to take a couple of pictures. The Plano Garden Club Garden Tour was last weekend and, now that that is behind, I am looking forward to a nice quiet weekend. I will share some information about the tour soon. 

The garden is more colorful every day. The flowers are blooming away. The birds are singing. The bees are buzzing. Then I notice a faint chemical smell. It is getting stronger. I look up and see the truck at the end of the street. I know what that means.

Beyond the yellow Hesperaloe, I can see some movement in the neighbor's yard. (This is how I get use of a photo that did not focus on the intended subject.)

My neighbor's are having their lawn sprayed with who knows what chemical concoction to make it greener and weed free, and maybe even bug free too. 

None of that chemical stuff for me and my garden. My garden is all natural. If I see a weed, I pluck it. If I see a bad bud, I squish it, squirt it with water, or just let it be. If the plants look like they need some nourishment, I give them an organic foliar feeding or I might throw out some organic fertilizer in late winter.

Even though that chemical application is three doors down, the smell is pretty strong in my garden. I don't want to breathe that stuff, so I am going inside to post this while the poison dissipates. And, thus, ends my quiet morning in the garden.

It is not the same as being outside, but I can still enjoy the garden through the windows.

19 comments:

  1. Oh, I feel your pain.... Our neighbors have their house and lawn sprayed with pesticides. I once witnessed the representative spray a lizard that fell off the side of the house, dead I'm sure, and a bird's nest with baby birds in it. BAD, BAD, BAD!!!! They also spray near our "organic" garden. Ugh! My only solution was to offer to chip in for a chemical free pesticide service to spray. I'm sorry you have to endure this, it is a shame more people are not concerned with the effects of these chemicals on their health and the environment.

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    1. Steph, that is too bad about your organic garden. I think I would be moving it away from the property line if it were possible. I get some overspray of pesticides and weed ‘n’ feed fertilizers from my nextdoor neighbors. That was the reason I added a wide pathway along the sides of the property in the front yard. It provides a bit of a buffer zone.

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  2. I couldn't even work yesterday morning at my office - the mow-blow-whack crew was here. The smells you describe, I can see why you went inside. Some people have no idea what they're missing out on by having lawn-chemical dependancy (LCD). Too bad it interferes with our own relaxing time, too.

    Amazing vertical forms in your blooms with the new cactus pads, too.

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    1. David, it is funny that the people that never go outside are the ones dumping chemicals on their landscape paying others to use noisy, polluting equipment to maintain it and those of us that do spend time outside are the ones that suffer.

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  3. I'm bummed, and hope the wind the chemical smell away.Sad this is still the norm in Plano.

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    1. Collagemama, it is sad. Later in the afternoon, we had a chorus of dueling leaf blowers.

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  4. Your chemical free zone looks so lush and inviting, while that lawn....boring is the nicest thing I can think of to say about that. We don't have any neighbors that spray chemicals currently, but the mow/blow/go crews in combination with neighbors "neatening up" with blowers is omnipresent, seven days a week, all day long. I can't remember the last time I was outside during the day (at least after 7:30 AM) with no mechanical noise present. The assaults are many, the objectors few...

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    1. TexasDeb, I don’t like it, but I have to admit that I use an electric leaf blower on occasion. My neighbor’s live oak is constantly dropping things on my pathways. I also use it in reverse to suck up leaves from winter to spring.

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  5. That is so gross. I just do not get why someone would spray poison all over their yard -- not even to get rid of mosquitoes, unless they have a problem with malaria or dengue fever. I once had a garden design client who was pumping out mosquito-killing mist over her garden while her baby played on the lawn. I was aghast.

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    1. Pam, I think people somehow believe that the chemicals are safe or the government would not allow them to be sold. I remember using chemical pesticides back to my teen years. When my plants had spider mites, I would hold the leaves with my bare hands and turn them so I could spray Kelthane (now banned) on them. I am sure I had a lot of nasty stuff (Diazanon and Malathion are also banned) absorbed into my skin and I never even thought about it.

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  6. Gorgeous! Too bad more yards don't look like yours!

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    1. Thanks Misti, but if more yards were like mine, the chemical guys that treat lawns would go out of business.

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  7. Your garden looks wonderful - so colourful

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    1. Thanks Allison. I have a couple more months of colorful before the garden goes dormant for the summer. Then I will have to wait until September for color again.

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  8. You have such a lovely natural garden. I just hope the chemicals from your neighbor don't wreak havoc on the bounty of wildlife that I'm sure your garden attracts.

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  9. Your garden is gorgeous!

    I can just imagine what a boon for pollinators and other wildlife is more people had yards like yours.

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  10. I have one new neighbor who mounts a container on his back and blows pesticide all over the neighborhood. The best I can do is ask him to warn me when he is going to do it and then spray down my yard with water afterward.

    Your garden is so pretty and lush.

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  11. The visitor from SwedenMay 13, 2015 at 6:54 AM

    Ah, your garden gets ever more beautiful, and your skills in capturing it on photo increase likewise! Right now it looks almost like a Cottage garden, so bursting with delicate flowers.

    What is the yellow composite there in the lower left corner of the first picture?

    Mandy

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    1. That is Engelmann Daisy aka Cutleaf Daisy, Engelmannia peristenia. It can get fairly large and is very happy to reseed. It requires some effort to remove because it has a thick deep tap root.

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