Council has sprayed my fruit bushes

[bigal123_123]

I work for a my local council as a gardener and every employee must decide if the weather is right for spraying so i would ask for your fruit bushes to be replaced be very forcefull as they are insured for this good luck.

[SimonCole]

I am not aware of residual weedkillers being legal. As I understand it, over 90% of the herbicides used in the 90s are now banned. Very few remain and they should degrade easily.

[queen of the cobs]

I feel I must comment on this one.........

What I don't agree with is the misguided assumption that all people, including council workers, who spray pesticides as one small part of there jobs are an inferior race and brainless!

I quite agree - come on guys, complain to the council of course, but let's not start being rude about these people just doing their job.

And as for the advice to basically ask for a much more expensive replacement set of plants, I think that's a bit cheeky actually. You should get a replacement with like for like. Just trying to rip the council off because you can? Where do you think the council's money comes from? From your neighbours' council tax.

...and now my rant is over.

[Snadger]

I am not aware of residual weedkillers being legal. As I understand it, over 90% of the herbicides used in the 90s are now banned. Very few remain and they should degrade easily.

I'm not up to speed with current legislation but I thought sodium chlorate was still availabe to amateur gardeners never mind professionals?

Room171 Roundup, Sodium Chlorate and Burgon and Ball offers.

[Lavenderblue]

Just a quick update - the council are coming out on Friday to inspect the damage. So far 8 bushes that we planted in March have died, 4 are looking decidedly poorly and one of the established current bushes is also on its way out. Luckily, the strawberry plants I planted a couple of weeks ago are thriving, so I think it happened before they went in the ground.

i didn't mean to imply that everyone from the council is thick - My Mr works for the City council and he certainly isn't, its just frustrating that basic precautions and common sense appear to have been someone lacking when it came to spraying the bit near our lottie.

[shirlthegirl43]

And as for the advice to basically ask for a much more expensive replacement set of plants, I think that's a bit cheeky actually. You should get a replacement with like for like. Just trying to rip the council off because you can? Where do you think the council's money comes from? From your neighbours' council tax.

I didn't actually say to ask for more expensive replacements, or suggest that anything other than like for like be claimed. The point was that while plants may have been bought at lower prices in a store offer, they will now have to be replaced from a nursery or specialist supplier. Therefore, a currant that cost a pound in Aldi for example, will not now be available for a pound in Aldi and may have to be replaced with a plant from Thompson and Morgan which will cost much more. Our council demolished a mature forsythia, I didn't plant it but it was a lovely (and huge) shrub and the replacement cost was quite high though I didn't manage to find nearly as big a specimen to replant. And my council gets its money from my council tax so I feel quite entitled to claim some back if they damage my property.

[The Doctor]

I'm not up to speed with current legislation but I thought sodium chlorate was still availabe to amateur gardeners never mind professionals?

Room171 Roundup, Sodium Chlorate and Burgon and Ball offers.

Yep, I'd agree. See it in Wilko's and everywhere else all the time.

To my knowledge the only thing that has changed about it is they now put an inhibitor in to stop unfriendly people making incendiaries with it!

[percy charlie]

asking for garden centre prices is fair as only place you will get them from now also request fuel costs or delivery charge for getting the replacements and compo for the lost fruit on the established bushes, tesco charge about �3 for 100grams of currents, established bushes dependant on age, size and variety give between 200 and 500grams and when over 5 or more years some give over 1kg my friends did last year. also they like to offer less compo than you ask for so ask higher and you may then get fair compo after they knock you down a bit if you just ask for the amount required it may not cover if they knock it down. and as you say your entitled to something for your council tax, our street lamps are rotting through and leaning, soon will snap and probably collapse on someone especially as the lane is used as route to school by the school who walk to school, council have been told very often and have yet to look at them been complaining for about 2 years now.

[Lavenderblue]

Mini-update:

the chap from the council has admitted that the contractors should never have sprayed near that fence- it makes it just a bit more frustrating.

[Herbie]

If they have admitted negligence, what are they going to do about it.

Have you had any news?

[keener]

Nightmare but good news that the council accept responsibility.

We've had the council putting paths in down our allotment and they have brought in top-soil (which is a joke as its actually orange subsoil) which contains Mares tail right next to our plot. Cheers guys.

Anways, I sincerely hope whoever sprayed so casually near your plot is sent for retraining and heavily supervised for a while.

[TPeers]

Is it 'fair' to complain when a worked has done a job wrong - well... yes!

Is it 'fair' to compare the worker in question to something unsalubrious - well... no. He may have had no choice. Despite what we can all agree was a 'poor' choice of day to spray - if his work sheet for the day said do that then that is what he has to do. I have seen our local parks and gardens staff spraying weedkiller in the gutters when they are running with rain. They *know* the application is a waste of time and effort but apparently their schedule is set over a year in advance with no thought to possible weather conditions!

It would seem to me it is not the poor person with the poison who needs to be bawled out it is the manager with an apparent IQ of a goldfish! (Sorry goldfsh!)

[greenlung]

I'd send all the people with the poison for retraining.

If you're ever in Bristol Lavenderblue, pop round for a cuppa & I'll give you some redcurrant bushes ; )

Idiots sprayed up our back alley (ooh missus) last week, destroying my attempts at brightening up this inner city tip : (

[Tracey]

Sorry Lavender Blue, that is so annoying. I hope you get recompenced.

Last year I saw the council spraying weed killer along all the gutters in our area. Unfortunately they sprayed our avenue which has grassed kerbs. The grass died along the edge a few days later, has not recovered and looks very unsightly. I didn't realise it was weedkiller at first and when I mowed the grass I unknowingly added the treated grass to the compost heap .