ivy

[Barbara]

i had my ofsted inspection to-day.
the GIRL who came said i have to take the ivy out of my garden,
as it is now classed as a poisenous plant.
i thought poison ivy was something different
any ideas any-one PLEASE.
BARBARA

[oldmoleskins]

Well, you're right - 'poison ivy' is not the same as our normal 'up the wall/tree ivy, and in extremis has been fed to cattle... so no, it's not poisonous, but the berries may be.

I think - and you may care to do some research on this - it's a bit like yew berries, the flesh isn't, but the seed within, if chewed and swallowed, is.

So, birds can eat them 'cos they don't chew them, and in fact 'pass' the seeds intact and handily spread around the place.

This is the first time I've ever come across officialdom getting heavy re ivy. If you mean a school garden I guess you (or the governing body - don't see why it has to be you) have to comply... if this was casual chat about your garden at home, then forget it - but don't eat the berries!.

OM.

[Barbara]

it's my garden OM i'm a childminder, have been for 7 years,
and ivy's never been mentioned before. oh officialdom

[andy]

On a slightly different.....but similar topic, we have the most gorgeous shrubs growing round the playground in the park at work. They are called Spartium Juncium and have the most gorgeous yellow pea like flowers all summer and they smell devine. They've been there for 20+ years and i love em.

Well, two children "allegedly" ate a seed pod a few weeks ago and both had bad tummies the next day.

Well you guessed it....out came every single spartium throughout Brighton and Hove parks department.

Mustn't forget that daffodils, fuchsias, laburnams, yews, privet, delphiniums, foxgloves, aconites and a lot lot more that i have growing in my garden at work will do a lot more damage.

It'll get to the point where our health and safety laws are so strict that they will ban the sale of plants that are poisonous or even an irritant even at garden centres.....makes my bloody blood boil

[andy]

Sorry to go on but again today....i heard a school had banned their primary school kids from growing their own veg and eating it at dinner time........because it didn't have the nutritional values that you get with supermarket food (ie calories, fat content, sugar content etc).

Pretty sure it was on talksport this morning....anyone else hear that !!!!

[MamIDdau]

Well Andy, they can't tell you whether it's had nuts near it or not can they or what it might contain. Yes, I'm being facetious.

Bloody crazy.

[Chuckles]

Gets sillier doesn't it. It really is a crazy world these days, all this get rid of this get rid of that, we never had this sort of thing when I was a girl.

Sign of the times I'm afraid, sad times too. All boils down to common sense and education imo gardenworld.proboards103.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1190805520

[Ruthie]

I think it's really sad that we just can't teach our kids about what is dangerous/nasty/bad for them. Instead we have to remove all the dangerous nasty bad things so they never have to take a risk or learn to be responsible for their own safety. Instead we kill them with kindness and fatty food..........

[Spruance]

I distinctly remember as a child of around four years old, munching away happily on the leaves of a bush growing in the grounds of the bingo hall across the road from our house. I also seem to remember about the same time having strawberries and cream for tea following which I was violently sick.

No-one made the connection at the time, least of all me, and it was just assumed that I was allergic to strawberries, which I subsequently shunned for several years afterwards.

With hindsight, it was clear that the problem wasn't the strawberries, but the Prunus lusitanica leaves I had eaten! ;D

[beanie]

I just wonder sometimes if a lot of the health and safety rules is a little person trying to justify the job that they're in so that they feel that they are nessessary to the rest of us. A health and safety memo went round work not long ago . when we put millet in the birds cage can we ensure that the ends of the stalks are either broken off or placed inside the cage so that if a client went to talk to the birds said client they wouldn't catch their eye on the stalks GET A LIFE !!!!!

[Weeterrier]

All this just makes my heart sink I was going to ask 'WHY' all this ridiculous nannying, but it's litigation, isn't it? It's the rise in claims against the authorities?
Barbara..........I don't envy you. You must have to be so careful in ways I can never imagine nowadays. How much better it would be for the children if you were left to TEACH the wee ones about safety.

[Shrubrose]

I was pondering on this and it seems to me there's far more plants than just poison ivy that can cause harm if eaten. And that being the case, I'm wondering Barbara if it's just this inspector's ignorance that resulted in the comment. See's ivy, therefore it must be 'poison ivy', or might be, so 'it'll have to come out' mentality! Someone erring on the side of caution? Is there any way you can enquire as to what the OFSTED policy is on gardens and plants therein?

I agree with others' comments here. Far better that children have the richness of experience brought by exposure to plants and the opportunity to learn about them than ban them from their lives! Ridiculous, IMHO.

[Deleted]

Barbara, this is mind-boggling - so sorry you've got this hassle . I understand the whole issue of being sued, but it's ridiculous .... surely it's up to parents to tell kids not to go around sticking things in their mouths (well, apart from dinner). It's amazing we've all survived, when you consider the ivies, fuchsias, foxgloves etc. in the gardens I remember as a kid ;D ... cheers ....

[Deleted]

I agree about the ignorance, but we don't have poison ivy in Britain do we, still some people seem to be reared on T V . What a shame not to grow such a wildlife friendly plant, feeding insects in winter, birds on the berries, giving good space for nests & warm hidey holes for all sorts, what a poor life we are supposed to lead. Why is it we can't say," look this is something you enjoy looking at but don't touch" these days

[Pip]

This is frankly awful Barbara and it must be a mess for you.

When my grandchildren arrived on the scene my DIL said that I should take everything that was poisonous out of the garden. Well I refused and it cause a few problems at the time. Instead I taught them the word No combined with an explanation and my DIL is now happy that I refused as they know a large amount about plants already.

As WT says Barbara it would be far better if you were allowed to teach them about what is dangerous and what not.

Pip

[Barbara]

the problem is, today, they dont want common sense,
or people thinking for themselves.
it seems to undermine their authority.

[oldmoleskins]

Just looking round my place this afternoon, it struck me there are no berries within reach of a child anyway.

Given the accepted wildlife benefits of ivy (single most importand food source for bees and birds) and current sensitivity towards the environment, why not play the wildlife card and at the same time undertake/ensure there are no berries below say 6 feet, demonstrating Health & Safety awareness... Call it a Risk Assessment. 'They' like that.

OM.

[Deleted]

barbara said:

the problem is, today, they dont want common sense,
or people thinking for themselves.
it seems to undermine their authority.

Oh how right you are on that point.
I grew up playing in muck, kids nowadays are wrapped up in cotton wool. People learn from mistakes and experiences, unforatunately somepeople prefer to take the whole "experiance" away.
I heard a school banned skipping as the rope was deemed as a potentially offensive weapon

[Barbara]

my ivy has been reprieved,
as long as i make sure the children can't touch it,
but they never could ,
its at the back of a 3 ft wide border, and i'm not going to let them trample over that am i

[oldmoleskins]

Well, there you go. There is occasional hope for sanity.

OM.

[Shrubrose]

Good result Barbara. Common sense has prevailed.

[thecleaninglady]

Glad to hear that your ivy has won a reprieve

[Pip]

Very good Barbara, finally some good news.

Pip