This morning upon rising I opened the curtains to the sliding glass door that leads out to our deck and noticed something just wasn’t right. Two container plants were missing, pots and all. I proceeded to put my garden shoes on (that I now have to keep indoors overnight thanks to my unwelcomed guest) and go outside to see what had become of those plants. One pot was lying on its side behind an herb that is planted by the deck. This particular pot contained some hens and chicks and they were completely torn apart.
The other pot contained a pretty pink flowering rosemary that I have been completely in love with. I had rescued it from my 14 year old’s garden plot where it was not doing so good. Upon placing it in that pot a few months back it started to take off and look very nice. In fact I had been considering taking some cutting off of it and shaping it into a standard.
The picture below shows the rosemary and the pot of hens and chicks. It was taken just three days ago.
I found the terra cotta pot the rosemary was in upside down and completely empty in the yard a few feet from the deck. There was not a trace of soil left in the pot. I searched all over the back yard for the missing rosemary all the while trying to figure out why this night visitor would run off with a rosemary. I had given up finding it and turned my attention to the vegetable garden to make sure no damage was done in there. It was then that I almost stepped on my poor little rosemary. It was lying right at the entry way to the vegetable garden and was completely unrecognizable. It was totally mauled and contained not a lick of soil around what was left of its roots.
I picked it up and placed it in a bucket of water thinking I would transplant it later on today all the while trying to fool myself that it still had a chance. I do not think there is much hope in it surviving but I will at least try.
I am very confused as to why this animal is doing these things. My finished compost that contains many worms was raided again as well. The unfinished compost however was left untouched. Not once has our trash can ever been messed with so if it is indeed a raccoon then why is it destroying things like my potted plants. I am so baffled and ready to give up. Why did it go after a plant I am very attached to right now? Why couldn’t it have gone after a pot that is not doing so well. I would not be quite so upset to see some other potted plants go. It seems to gravitate towards whatever I focus my attention on.
I told my sons this morning that I think I need to give up gardening and just focus on knitting because at least with knitting nothing comes along in the night and wrecks utter havoc on all your hard work.
How do other gardeners out there cope with situations like this? Do you ever just want to throw in the trowel as well? What sort of gardening mishaps test your will to continue? This particular one has pushed me to the limits. I do not know how to keep this intruder out of my yard and gardens.
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