Message Board - BigPumpkins.com

Imagine my horror when I stopped into the school today & found this:

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=22213

Now for those who know me well, try to imagine the lecture these yahoos got. Destroying several shrubs that were "in the way" is one thing. Mowing the Connecticut State Flower down to stubble got me pretty upset. But when I thought about the look on the kids faces & this pumpkin I just about lost control.

The time these yahoos saved by using a 48" mower was then spent talking loudly in the cool halls of the school. And thats what really made my blood boil.

Yesterday I had brought my own 21" Bobcat with a catcher so I could straighten up the courtyard safely & neatly. For some reason these guys showed up a week early.

I still can't decide if I should go off on someone down town or let this one go. The Town's school courtyard gardens pose a serious Labor Union dilema & I don't want to make life more difficult for the few teachers/administrators who actually want to promote plant science ciriculum.

The janitor's labor contract prevent their maintaining the courtyards even if they did have the required skills. The Parks guys either can't or won't take equipment through halls during the school year & judging from these pictures, that is likely for the best. Most parents are too darn lazy to make the time to help. The Scouts who meet here shouldn't handle power equipment for obvious reasons. The Principals would like to persuade teacher involvement but unions & professional atire make this more than difficult.

I could really use some advice both botanical & political before acting on this one.

TIA

IHOLU

Steve

7/2/2004 7:29:00 AM

Stormy

Southern WI

Is it possible to put a circle of chicken wire a couple feet out from the planter to catch the wanders in between visits ? Then trim when you are there? It took me 4 years to get the fellow here to respect my wines, and now he's a 1st year grower.

7/2/2004 8:11:44 AM

blkcloud

Pulaski Tn [email protected]

i say get lickered up...get to talking to your self and then go beat the snot out of them...it wont help the plant,or the kids but for a short time you will fell like you took matters into your own hands and handled it like a man would..and remember...you get one phone call...

7/2/2004 9:42:01 AM

Bushwacker

Central Connecticut

Sorry Buddy...I don't think any yelling or screeming will help your situation...these guys aren't in the business of listening. If you tweak them they will probably get even later...Stormy has the right idea...put up a fence around the vines...these guys are like water...looking for the path of least resistance...put an obstical in their way and if they can't mow over it; they'll just mow around it. I hope you can recover from this setback.

7/2/2004 9:57:22 AM

Brigitte

Definitely fencing it in is my suggestion. Just get some cheap chicken wire and sink some cheap metal posts. That's what I use around my patch. Maybe you could find a secondary that wasn't chopped and train it as a new main. Better late than never.

My mom is a local school teacher, and has for years been trying to maintain the butterfly garden that one class put in at the school's yard. She has all but given up. After hours of work in it, the neighbor kid rugrats just ride their bikes through it, and even stop and pull plants right out of the ground. She doesn't have problems with the lawn mowers, but her and I sure now how frustrating it is to have someone destroy everything you've been working on for weeks in a matter of minutes.

Dr. Brigitte's advice... If you're going to talk to them, I would suggest waiting a little bit to cool down your feelings, and write down what you want to say before you go, so you don't end up going off the handle and just making an ass of yourself. Try to keep the conversation based on ethics and not about the giant pumpkins (otherwise they'll just think you're nuts like all non-growers do!). Good luck.

7/2/2004 1:46:07 PM

quadguy

red bluff, california, usa

Put some rocks (about 20 lb) about 3 ft apart around the plants, it they have to move them they will more often than not just go around them

7/2/2004 2:04:44 PM

Green Rye

Brillion Wisconsin

Steve,

I would purchase a used 20 inch push mower at a garage sale. The amount of grass cutting should not take more than a few minutes, I would just take care of it myself.

When finished put the push mower under a bush and leave it there in the courtyard out of site.

Next week when your finished giving the plants their foliar feeding don't forget to cut the grass. Dean o

oh yah...I would do some yelling.

7/2/2004 2:32:12 PM

Tom B

Indiana

Forgive them Father,for they know not what they do!

Its just ignorance, they probably dont have the concept of what it was they mowed off, or how much work it takes to grow them.

Tom

7/2/2004 3:31:30 PM

Alexsdad

Garden State Pumpkins

Cutting the lawn by yourself would probably be a violation of labor laws.... Instructing people to avoid certain vegetation would be against basic moronic principles.."If it's green I cut it".....Throw a building block or two in there They'll go around it because it's the mason's union's problem....Yikes! Welcome to the Northeast between Boston and Washington it's impossible...Probably tell ya it's illegal to send pumpkin seeds to Australia or Canada.....

Poor Dog!
Chuck

7/2/2004 3:38:13 PM

Capt

White Plains, NY

STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES and our alleged greater society lacks MANNERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess I'm trying to say many people just don't give a S***!

7/2/2004 4:23:47 PM

hapdad

northern indiana

I personally would go with the fencing. Maybe a roll of the cheap construction fencing with plastic stakes to make moving it about as the plant grows easier. I would also write a letter to the editor of the local newpaper describing the callous disregard for school childrens project. If after sleeping on it for two days you are still totally fumed then include some comments from the children themselves. They are likely to be very dissapointed and upset at the wonaton disregard for thier hard work, feelings, and property. Having everyone in town know just how much of an a** they are is probly the best way to make sure that they don't do this again. They sure won't want a reprint showing up. Their employer will be fumed and very embarrassed if you letter is printed. Be professional in your wording. There is more than one way to flame someone. A simple description of the act and its effects on the children and their project should suffice.
Eric

7/2/2004 7:02:20 PM

hapdad

northern indiana

Re reading my post it is not clear as it could be. I mean that the people with the mower are the a**! I thought I had switched to a new paragraph but it didn't come up that way.
Eric

7/2/2004 8:03:19 PM

Thanks for all the supportive comments & creative ideas. The kid's 194 lb pumpkin last year did make the local papers. I doubt it would be difficult to get this in print. But I would rather use the opportunity in some positive way if I can figure out what that is.

Don't get me wrong. Part of me really wants to rattle cages. But in the long term, no good will likely come of it.

The Principal & I already decided to errect a barrier of some sort. He even offered to pay for it. I'll find something that is cheap, moveable, & still in good taste.

I may also use the Par-Aid golf signage we sell to make clear the area is closed to mowers. Golfers know the ones I mean.

But some long term solution must be found if this garden area is to remain free of asphalt after my son &/or his current Principal move on.

Like most parents, I will likely lose interest in this garden once my son is in middle school.

For this year though, the 194 lb mark is still a possibility.

7/2/2004 8:28:30 PM

Stormy

Southern WI

The lessons being.....
courtesy-it's obvious the plant was put there.
work ethics-doing your best, not carelessly going through the motions.
Even if it's just to teach someone to ask a question when in doubt, you've go a 50/50 chance of being right.

Manners are just not being taught OR praticed....sad to say.

7/2/2004 11:39:55 PM

Manners is why I never raised my voice but instead tried to get the cutters to visualize the looks on the kid's faces when they learned of the damage. Guilt & shame are best dealt with personally if they're to be productive teachers. When worn on the sleeve or tatooed on the forehead, the bearer has to try to rationalize their actions. Forced confrontation in a public forum has the greater chance to fail with this class of individual in my opinion.

7/3/2004 7:13:18 AM

Colorado Hail, CO. Elev. 5,900 FT

Since I do yard care services on residential and commercial properties, I can just tell you the things that jack me up the most. Since some "should not be mowing" idiot is a total DUMB ASS idiot, I'd think you could fix his ass good. This person obviously has the intelligence of a bag of rocks. The following post provides you with Madman's top 5 things to get a yard maintaince pissed off, fired, or both...

7/4/2004 12:08:23 PM

Colorado Hail, CO. Elev. 5,900 FT

1] String line weed wackers all work the same way. You want to really get the best revenge, buy some fishing line {the smaller line, the better- its invisible} then cut off seveal pieces and place them in areas you see which is being manicured by a string trimmer. The dumb ass will keep getting the line all tangled into the trimmer head {and gears eventually}, and never see it, or know whats going on till his trimmer doesn't trim.
2} Yard maintainance people depend on sprinklers to water the lawn so it can grow and they can cut it. Specific areas, preferably a highly visable area where administration people travel frequently, make it look like the yard care person is doing a bad job if the grass is in poor health. So, simply glue the tops of seveal heads with some strong clear glue capable of holding the glue bond for a few weeks. This will make the areas you want to look bad to look bad!
3}Lawn maintainace people hate mowing clover, and it is hard to kill. Any extra clover seed laying around you didn't use for a cover crop? Well, just throw some down in the areas of the lawn where it seems like the most moisture falls. Soon, the clover will grow and compete with the grass for room, and the two will grow taller to do that, making life hell for the person cutting it. Excellent way to clog up someones mower on a weekly basis.

7/4/2004 12:08:51 PM

Colorado Hail, CO. Elev. 5,900 FT

4} Most lawn care maintainance includes fertilizing. Also, a ton of lawn maintainace people are sloppy idiots and also too lazy to blow off extra fertilizer after applying it. This is always visible seveal days after application by all the pretty little round pellets all of the place and in cracks of everything {that helps feed the weeds that grow in them...LOL}, so when you see this, simply help them out. A free additional fertilizer in those highly visible areas with urea will provide the results YOU are seeking...LOL
5} If you know of any areas with nice noxious weeds, take time to gather up some pretty seeds from a few really bad ones, then when you go visit the patch, feel free to throw them around any place you desire.

7/4/2004 12:09:06 PM

Oh Marc....you have a deviant side don't you? The fishing line is classic! Since I too am "in the trades" ......tricks from the supply side that we'd sometimes like to try but never really do.

Access to equipment:

-Over grease spindles. Really really bad. The seals blow & the surplus grease kills the turf as it spews all over.
-Replace regular for 2-cycle.
-Roundup dry pack Scotch taped to a mower blade.
-Loosen all blade bolts.
-Reverse polarity of battery cables.

Access to truck:

-Replace Turf Type Perennial Ryegrass in buckets with Anual.
-Yellow Nutsedge tubers in the anual flowers.

Legal but annoying tricks I have played on people who irk me but can take a joke:

-Grease under the door handles of the truck.
-Dead fish under the front seat.
-Forklift back of truck & set it on a stack of pallets.
-Steal truck & park around the corner.
-Zip Tie all string trimmers, back packs, etc to truck/trailer.
-Dump gas cans into the ful tank & leave empty.

7/4/2004 12:50:05 PM

Dumb things real customers have done:

-Sprayed Roundup instead of other liquid chemical.
-Confused Lesco Threeway for Sevin & totaled most trees on 7 highend properties. (Bankrupt)
-Failure to winterize pumps then claim warranty.
-Blanket application of Treflan 5G instead of Team 2G to Blue sod.
-Landscaped entire property at wrong address.
-Hydroseeded DOT mix on a golf fairway.
-Deep Tine Aeration through every zone on the front 9.
-Fire employee who then spikes spray tank with herbicide
-Mechanic confused open drum of Hort Oil for waste oil. Dumped oil based paint into drum. Sued me even though lab analysis confirmed Titanium Oxide! I won.
-Refused additional sprayer repair advisory to replace rusted tank bolts. Signed work order acknowleging written advisory. Sued us when tank bolts broke dumping 200 gallons of Tempo onto New York thoroughfare. Lost suit. Jerk.
-Refused repair of operator presence switches. Laborer loses 3 fingers emptying catcher. No suit after reminded of signature.
-Major NYC Borough sprays a common insect flushing agent in tunnels under street....during a street festival...LOL
-Mowers, carts, & even a truck into various golf ponds. Even my own uncle did this.
-Regular fuel in 2-stroke equipment then lie to me. Easy test. Dumb idea to try me.
-Regular unleaded into all sorts of Diesel engines.

The list is endless. Family obligations call.

7/4/2004 12:50:15 PM

One more.

When running a power equipment shop, my favorite line fronm a stupid landscaper was always "It runs great, but won't start"....Uh huh.

7/4/2004 12:52:53 PM