Catastrophe

[poppysocks]

Hi can anyone offer any advice please. I asked my husband to take some branches out of a tree in my garden to allow more light into my veg patch, instead he felled the tree, most of which fell into my veg patch on top of my carrots and onions which had been doing well. It also caught some of my potatoes. He then damaged my broad beans by dragging the branches away.

I think the carrots and potatoes will be fine but am worried about the onions and broad beans. The onions have been flattened and the foliage snapped, bent or completely broken off. The broad beans have been bent and/snapped, mainly the top third.

Have I lost these crops or is there anything I can do to help them?

[rustylady]

Clear away the broken off bits, and give a day or so to see what looks as if it might be recovering. Is your OH still alive?

[taff]

the beans might recover from a bending but not from snapping, but anything that's in flower/growing underneath the bend/snap is fine.
the onions might well be fine, they can recover from some amount of damage.
It'll be a wait and see thing, or stick some pics up for more experienced people to tell you

[poppysocks]

Yes my OH is still alive but only because he was really sorry! He thought he was doing me a favour as the tree cut out so much light, it's amazing how much more light I have now. I don't think he realised how much foliage was on the tree and he thought he could handle it. He was really quiet after it happened and I could see he felt so bad about it that I didn't have the heart to lay into him, it took a great deal of self-control though!

I have cleared all the debris and gave them all a good watering. I will try and post pics but am not very good at it but suppose it's time to learn!

Thanks for your advice

[mrbadexample]

On the plus side, the light problem's sorted. Might ultimately be worth the loss of a few onions, however frustrating.

[Glutton4...]

Give a man a Chainsaw....

[Jelliebabe]

Give a man a Chainsaw....

LOL - I daren't give mine a chainsaw! He's dangerous enough with a strimmer!

[Florence Fennel]

Hope they make a good recovery Poppysocks and if they don't, pull them up and put something else in.

[Two_Sheds]

Was your husband hurt when you whacked him with those branches?

[Germinater]

I cut back our apple tree in the winter .almost took out the neighbours shed .good job they went in at the time .

[Sylvan]

Last time my husband cut down a tree he tied a rope to it and told us to pull it towards us, so it wouldn't damage any of the others. I was wondering why the boys suddenly let go and ran away...














...till it landed on my head.

(You've made his day, by the way. He says he feels a lot better about his overwatering mistake after hearing about your husband's attempt to help )

[baldrick]

God save and preserve us from the unsolicited help of kids and husbands...................

[poppysocks]

Give a man a Chainsaw....

Would you believe he only had a handsaw, can you imagine the damage he could do with a chainsaw We have a huge weeping willow at the bottom of our garden and I just know he was thinking of having a go at that, hopefully he will think better of it now and get a pro in

[poppysocks]

I can laugh about it now and am relieved no one was hurt (well not initially ) and I do have a lot more light so yes it the long run it will be worth it and I am overstocked with caulis which could go in place of the onions if they don't make it. Will be a little disappointed if they don't as they seemed to be coming on so well. Last year was my first year and my onions were no bigger at the end of the season than when they went in! This year they have at tripled in size so far. Anyway, as hubby is feeling guilty he may be able to make it up to me by buying supplies for the garden

[Maccabee]

If you want a job doing right...

Hope there isn't too much damage