Gertrude Jekyll never worried about this
So, the husband is washing dishes (we have that kind of modern, non-gender-role-determined household) and suddenly says 'I'm going to go find out what that guy in the Impala is up to.' (When he's washing dishes, he can see out the window into the alley--I can't see as much, mostly sky--it's sad to be short.) I ask a few questions, and conclude that he thinks the guy is probably a drug dealer, stashing drugs or cash somewhere in the alley by our house. He heads out the door with me shouting after: 'If you find something, don't touch it--leave it there, and we'll call the police.' Because we live in that kind of hood. The husband tosses back over a shoulder: 'I wasn't going to smoke it,' and heads out to poke around the hibiscus bush by the wall.
Nothing was found. But, on further reflection, we think it was/is a stash spot for drugs/cash and we caught it between uses (yay).
So, I said to myself, this would be a good time to drastically prune that hibiscus to open that area up a lot, and it might also be a smart thing to move a big potted plant into the area to show that someone is over here regularly and this area is a focus of attention.
Oddly, gardening books don't point out the defensive messages that can be sent by gardening in urban areas and how pruning may be affected by other factors than plant size and season.
Nothing was found. But, on further reflection, we think it was/is a stash spot for drugs/cash and we caught it between uses (yay).
So, I said to myself, this would be a good time to drastically prune that hibiscus to open that area up a lot, and it might also be a smart thing to move a big potted plant into the area to show that someone is over here regularly and this area is a focus of attention.
Oddly, gardening books don't point out the defensive messages that can be sent by gardening in urban areas and how pruning may be affected by other factors than plant size and season.