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Post by isabella on Oct 27, 2007 15:44:57 GMT
I am probably going to sound very mean ! Our neighbours have lived next door for about 3 years and are lovely but one thing is really starting to get to me.... I am always being bombarded with gardening questions - which I really don't mind but my neighbour has got into the habit of asking for cuttings of this and that which I freely give but the favour is never returned and that is what is starting to get to me  Earlier in the year I admired one of my neighbours fuchsia baskets and was hoping to be offered a cutting but no! I would feel awful asking for one - but I am starting to feel that I shouldn't be so generous in future - am I being petty? |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2007 15:55:14 GMT
i dont think you are being petty. most people would feel the same i'm sure. i really think you should pluck up the courage to ask for a cutting. i'm hope your neighbour isnt being mean. maybe they havent thought thay have anything that would interest you.do they even know you can take cuttings of fuchsias  i would just feel a bit cheeky and ask anyway.  you may find they offer you more after that and it becomes a two way street. eventually most people would feel annoyed at only ever giving and NEVER receiving xxxx  |
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Post by Ladygardener on Oct 27, 2007 16:05:24 GMT
It may be that they think your garden is so very lovely that they think they have nothing to offer you. I'd be inclined to say again that you like the fuchsia and let them know it can have a cutting taken, maybe they honestly don't know and have forgotten you said you liked Or,next time they ask for a cutting I'd ask them for one too if you have'nt already. It sounds like they know a little about gardening as they ask you for cuttings but i'd give the benifit of the doubt. Good luck. |
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Post by Chuckles on Oct 27, 2007 16:44:47 GMT
Oh dear Isabella, you know what they say "nowt as strange as folk"  I'm talking about your'e neighbour btw ;D Some people will not do things for themselves if they know someone will do it for them, get my drift and the more you do the more they expect, it's very sad  take, take, take. I'd catch them and say "Ooooh I nearly forgot, I've been doing some Fushia cuttings can I still have a cutting from yours to try" Chuckles |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2007 17:14:23 GMT
id say something similar chuckles.xxxx
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Post by Rosefriend on Oct 27, 2007 17:29:46 GMT
I must admit Isabella I know exactly how you feel. About three years ago I was in the garden with my head stuck down between plants when I heard two of my neighbours chatting. The upshot was that they liked some plants that I had in the garden and neighbour A said to neighbour B - well I love those, however I am not going to buy them - just wait until RF sorts her garden out in the autumn and then I will get some free.
Well she didn't - she gets really ordinary cuttings and the expensive stuff I pretend can't be propagated by cuttings or it has got some terrible disease and I can't remember the name of the plant anyway.
RF
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Post by Shrubrose on Oct 27, 2007 17:54:34 GMT
I'm with LNG on this one Isabella. If I was your neighbour, I'd be thinking, 'well, there's nothing in my garden she could possibly want as her's is so gorgeous'. Your neighbour might have thought you were being 'kind' in commenting on her fuschia, rather than being genuinely interested. I'd try the approach suggested by Chuckles and ask again for a cutting. If nothing is forthcoming then you can similarly reciprocate! Or when something is asked for in the future say that you'll do a swap rather than just hand over a freebie!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2007 17:59:15 GMT
Isabella, I do understand why you are annoyed but, as others have said, there really are some people who don't realise you can take cuttings, or who think it's some mysterious art known only to initiates ;D. Actually, I was one of those people not too long ago. A friend has a gorgeous garden which was planted and maintained by a firm of landscape gardeners. He was gobsmacked last year when I asked for a fuchsia cutting - I took four snippets, kept two for myself and gave him two rooted cuttings a few months later ... with the result that, whenever we visit now, he has clippers at the ready for me to take more cuttings! So I would offer to take some cuttings from your neighbour's fuchsia, promising them a couple of the resultant plants.
But as for your neighbours, RF - what stingy gits, I think I'd react the same as you ;D ... cheers ...
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Post by isabella on Oct 27, 2007 18:30:47 GMT
Thankyou so much for all your thoughts I taught said neighbour how to take and what to do with Fuchsia cuttings and have given her loads of cuttings from my Fuchsias ! I think maybe I will just have to be as cheeky as her and just ask - I would much rather she just offered though ! Regarding your neighbours RF I think I would have done the same - cheeky monkeys! Thanks again everyone |
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Post by jean on Oct 27, 2007 19:37:15 GMT
I'm with LNG & Shrub on this one Isabella. I think you will just have to ask for some cuttings and it will probably open a flood gate |
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Post by Weeterrier on Oct 27, 2007 20:09:33 GMT
Isabella, again, I know how you feel. I know I can be rather overgenerous with my plants, especially if I grow from seed or propagate something from cuttings which is particularly successful. But over the years, I have spotted (eventually) the people who have come to regard me as a free garden centre. Amazingly, it is the ones who could most afford to buy plants. Mmmmmmmm..............maybe that's why they have money. But perhaps your neighbour is the other sort, perhaps she would never dream that you would want anything she had. Like you, I am shy of asking but it would be worth plucking up the courage. It is only a cutting, nothing she could really object to. Then, at least you'd know if she was mean or merely feeling inadequate. Fortunately, a neighbour and I have a pact that we help ourselves to cuttings from each others gardens. It is great fun. Good luck RF Your neighbour is horrible!!!! |
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Post by 4pygmies on Oct 28, 2007 9:19:19 GMT
I don't see why you can't just come straight out with it and ask her! It's not cheeky at all considering the amount of stuff you've given her. The charitable view is that she just doesn't think she has anything to offer you but since you have told her you like the fuchsia and she wasn't forthcoming then I think she's probably thick or mean....or both ;D Just march round there and get the cutting...go on...you know you want too!
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Post by Plocket on Oct 28, 2007 9:54:48 GMT
I don't think you are being mean at all. From the photos we've seen of your garden it's pretty spectacular and I would have thought your neighbours want to try and emulate it just a little bit. I too would ask politely for cuttings, and if that falls on deaf ears I would start making excuses rather than giving them cuttings of my own: tell them that you've recently done some for a friend and don't want to take any more for the time being so the plant can recover - something like that. Or tell them that this year you are doing cuttings only for Charity - see how they respond to that |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2007 10:38:12 GMT
ooo plocket i like your thinking.
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Post by Cheerypeabrain on Oct 28, 2007 13:06:21 GMT
I agree with what's been said here RBJ. I have the same problem but with me it's people at work. I made a rod for my own back really by taking in 'leftovers' in the spring as I always sow too much seed and pot up spares just in case.
I've been doing it for years now, and one or two people have started to bring in stuff in exchange, I got all my chili plants that way...and a few v nice geraniums. I get a bit fed up with people grabbing everything on offer then moaning because the plant fails to thrive, usually because they haven't watered it or just haven't bothered to plant it on....but there you go. I'm OK about it on the whole because I've introduced a few people to the fun of gardening and that means I have something to talk about in the tea break!.
I usually hand over a few plants to the neighbours too. One side is very nice and always pleased as punch..the other side doesn't really talk to me much, but still takes the plants. It won't stop me doing it tho.
I reckon I've cut back a bit, but only because of the price of compost etc...it wouldn't hurt one of them to turn up with the odd bag of compost now would it?.....sigh...
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Post by Weeterrier on Oct 29, 2007 13:12:46 GMT
Well, Cheery, that is what I would really like. A bag of compost. Plocket, that is a damn fine idea. Say that you are now doing it for charity! Why didn't I think of that? Mmmmmmm maybe because I'm a mug |
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I'm talking about your'e neighbour btw ;D
take, take, take.
