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Gardening

Find tips and tricks to make your garden or allotment flourish on our Gardening forum.

Who, or what, is removing my twine?

16 replies

JamMakingWannaBe · 09/05/2024 19:45

I have a climbing rose, that four times now, on separate different branches and stems, I have tied against my fence. Each time, overnight (or certainly within 48 hours) the twine is removed. Gone. It's not on the ground around the plant. It's nowhere. I've doubled the twine over, tied different knots, twisted it into a thin rope but each time I check on the rose, the twine is not there and the branches are free.
Who or what is removing the twine? Squirrel, magpie, garden fairy or something else...?

OP posts:
CRbear · 09/05/2024 19:46

If it’s tied to the fence is it visible to a neighbour on their side? If yes, it’s them!

yodaforpresident · 09/05/2024 19:46

Birds do this - very useful for nest building!

EatCrow · 09/05/2024 19:48

Definitely a fairy.

I would have to get a trail cam!

CassandraProphesying · 09/05/2024 19:48

Fox cubs. We’ve had them for a few years running now and they’ve gradually destroyed and removed lots of things from the garden (solar lights, ornaments, whole plants!). We’ve woken in the middle of night on a few occasions to watch them playing, they play just like puppies, adorable and gorgeous but slightly irritating.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 09/05/2024 19:49

That'll be the Twine Goblin.
They're a bugger aren't they?

TomeTome · 09/05/2024 19:49

Human

EatCrow · 09/05/2024 19:50

CassandraProphesying · 09/05/2024 19:48

Fox cubs. We’ve had them for a few years running now and they’ve gradually destroyed and removed lots of things from the garden (solar lights, ornaments, whole plants!). We’ve woken in the middle of night on a few occasions to watch them playing, they play just like puppies, adorable and gorgeous but slightly irritating.

They do sound adorable! But undoing twine, tied in different ways all the time? Wouldn’t the rose branches get broken?

GrumpyPanda · 09/05/2024 19:51

Try cable ties?

JamMakingWannaBe · 09/05/2024 20:09

I'd prefer to think it was birds rather than a human. My neighbour has a thick bush on the other side. There's no way it could have been cut by her.
Whoever it is has left the twine hanging from my sweet pea teepee. That's been on for a year so maybe it's a bit old and dried and not what they are after.
We did have fox cubs and hedgehogs but I've not seen them this year but some of the knots have been 1.5m high.
I will be resorting to cable ties next!

OP posts:
longtompot · 09/05/2024 20:20

Sparrows! They love the jute twine I used for tying up my sweet peas and creating frames over my veg patch to drape netting on. They manage to get through a lot of it

JustPleachy · 09/05/2024 21:09

longtompot · 09/05/2024 20:20

Sparrows! They love the jute twine I used for tying up my sweet peas and creating frames over my veg patch to drape netting on. They manage to get through a lot of it

But how do they undo the knots?

longtompot · 09/05/2024 21:27

@JustPleachy they just pull at the fibres and eventually they come undone. I've watched them do it

JustPleachy · 09/05/2024 21:40

that's pretty amazing!

TheSpottedZebra · 10/05/2024 12:27

Is it definitely your fence, and not a neighbour annoyed that you're tying stuff to her fence?

romdowa · 10/05/2024 12:29

Could you use cable ties and see do they go missing ?

DrJonesIpresume · 10/05/2024 14:58

TheSpottedZebra · 10/05/2024 12:27

Is it definitely your fence, and not a neighbour annoyed that you're tying stuff to her fence?

Most people are fairly obliging and aren't bothered if people tie things to each other's fences.

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