To be livid she's destroyed my plant

[Allyoli]

I had a comfrey plant growing on my allotment plot in the corner. It was about a metre tall, maybe 30cm wide? Totally within the bounds of my plot. And flowering. I like the flowers and the bees love it, so I left it to do it's thing.

Woman on the plot next to mine has the most perfect (albeit sterile) looking vegetable plot - everything in perfect squares, not a leaf out of place, only vegetables, no flowers. She's there for several hours every morning. She doesn't talk to or respond to anyone on the plot, which is obviously fine.

Anyway, in the past day or so she decided to take it upon herself to come over to my plot and completely flatten my comfrey plant. I could see footprints that aren't mine in the soil. I asked if she had done it and she admitted she had because the flowers will soon turn to seed and spread on her plot.

I'm livid. Surely anyone's plants/flowers/weeds in the entire allotment site could spread seeds to yout plot at any time? Whats she going to do next, destroy all my crops before they're ready in case they spread to her plot? Aibu? How can I get her to stay off my plot without things escalating?

meal worms fly quite well and make birds happy…that’s all I’m saying. I have a friend who recommended hammering frozen sausages vertically into ground to attract badgers, but that does seem like a nuclear option.

Sorry you're going through this and have no redress in the matter with the site management. I'd be soooo-ooo upset if this happened to me. What your neighbour did was damn right rude and entitled. Yes, go ahead and seek revenge, as I would if this happened to me.

I know this doesn't compare, but when I had a lottie, one of the neighbour's constantly burnt his rubbish leaving plumes of toxic smoke in my direction at least 5 times a week. The committee didn't give a flying fxxk for his lack of cultivation (he grew nothing, and allowed it to grow naturally) and him bringing lots of crap onto his plot (think bikes, scrap metal etc.) as well as sleeping in his shed on a regular basis.

If you don't have Bocking 14, I can send some over to you for free. (Just postage will be fine). I have some spare (they grow big rooty clumps, and you only need a couple to start off, before they establish themselves after a season.) Or else stick with your existing comfrey as it'll soon bounce back in no time.

Oh behalf of the Committee of Revenge Seeding I can only apologise most profusely for the lack of sowing seeds in a giant penis shape suggestions earlier in this thread.

glad to have that rectified.

PS if you use a climbing variety, you could create a giant erection for the Penis Seeds to climb😉

That's what I thought. If it was "inherited" from a previous plot holder it's probably this, and won't set seed. People often had some on their plot to use as fertiliser.
This woman is absolutely out of order coming onto someone else's plot trampling things.

🤣🤣
The suggestion of a giant erection more than makes up for the earlier lack of penis shaped sowing. Very well played 😁

Ooooh I’d go kick her carrots the cow bag.

I would of actually gone over and trampled on hers better still I would of ripped them up and told her that whenever she touches yours that’s what she should expect in return. I’m sure she would think twice after that the nasty woman

Garlic mustard. But first line your plot. That stuff can’t be killed. I tried round up 3 different times and it just scoffed at me. Finally solved it by rehoming all the beautiful plants in my small garden area and paving over with garden pavers. I bet money that if I pulled the garden pavers up that bastard plant will pop up a week later.

@MontyPyth0n haha! Love it.

Yes though OP, she had no right to touch anything on your plot.

Valerian spreads far and wide... Let me know if you would like some. Lovely tall plants, lots of little seeds, and the roots stink. Bide your time, nurture some real bastards of plants that spread easily, then blow them her way.

Personally I would stamp on her shoots.

Lots of Bocking 14 on Ebay... buy loads, plant it in a line all the way round your plot and then in sections in the middle. And put indelible ink on it when it grows. Call the Police when she destroys it and catch her purple handed.

Awful woman!! She sounds the type who uses pesticides with no regard to beneficial insects or birds. I’d suggest baking her a nice rhubarb leaf pie to ‘apologize’, but then you might end up as a ‘Midsomer Murders’ plot. 🤭

I will be doing this! Thank you.

I dunno, without bees, we’re gonners? 🤣

If there's no committee I think it's time you created one. Fresh blood to shake those old fuckers up a bit.

Let's hope that several handfuls of salt don't randomly fly over into her plot during the night.

I’d be tempted to gift some comfrey plants to the people that occupy the other plots surrounding her. She can’t go trampling on everyone’s plot surely? After all, it seems to be a handy plant for gardeners to have.

Seed bomb her plot, the nasty cow.

I’m afraid this is your only option

Shove a load of dandelion seeds in a card, place it open side up, in an envelope. Write her name on it and place it gently on her plot. Then when she opens the envelope, she'll pull the card out and open it ✨🌾 ✨

Ooooh thank you for the tip! My mum is in a very similar situation! 💡

Why aren't you more upset about this? I'm very non-confrontational but even I would react more strongly to this. How dare she?

A bit of a tangent, but I'm slightly concerned by what you said about using comfrey as food and medicine, in the context of recent scientific concerns about comfrey and liver toxicity.

From what I can make out, it's currently considered potentially dangerous to eat for humans and possibly also livestock, with concerns about a risk of serious liver damage. Applied topically, it seems there's a possibility that the toxic components could enter the body through any broken skin, and even through intact skin, and potentially harm the liver that way. IIRC the Americans recommended it not be sold as a herbal medicine at all, and I think the European Medicines Agency recommended strict limits on strength of preparations a while ago.

I know people have fed comfrey to livestock for a long time, but for me the questions over toxicity are worrying enough that I wouldn't risk my own liver — I'm hoping to keep mine going another fifty years yet 🤣 There must be less questionable things to eat and use as skin balms?

If you only have one plant it's pretty certainly Bocking 14, otherwise you'd already have hundreds of others. I cut mine back to ground level 3 or 4 times a season, it loves it.

Plenty of uses for the wilted leaves and stems, as is as a mulch is easiest.

Steeping in water does indeed give excellent feed, albeit horribly smelly. I now make mine in an old Bokashi composter that has a cracked lid and therefore isn't fit for its original purpose. It's ideal though for filling with comfrey leaves and weighting down, it releases the same brilliant liquid feed but with no smell. You can do the same thing with 2 pots that fit inside each other, weighting the inner one, but the Bokashi bin is much easier as they are designed to squash the contents and allow the resulting liquid to be easily drained off.

https://www.google.com/search?q=bokashi+bucket&rlz=1C1CHBF_enGB1054GB1054&sxsrf=APwXEdex8HnDPnLudXEb5MdemZUnkuQJEQ:1684837246219&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwih_sHsm4v_AhVHecAKHRx-AHQQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1920&bih=931&dpr=1

I shall enjoy my next tea break in the garden choosing my favourite revenge from the many creative ideas already given.

I would get rabbits and put them on her plot. Cow.