Colorful Garden Chat Picture Thread

It is always a matter of balance. Keeping dangers away from toddlers is certainly right. How much worry one really needs to have is a matter of opinion. A pond in the garden is considerably more dangerous than any poisonous plant. Even a bathtub or stairs pose more danger. In Germany, 1-3 people die each year from poisonings, and this number already includes mushrooms. 15-20 deaths are due to wasp stings. Fear goes hand in hand with imagination and is irrational. Wisteria seeds taste very bitter (based on experience) and are dangerous to toddlers when chewed in numbers of 10 or more. First, that would have to happen. Not having wisteria naturally reduces the risk, there is no doubt about that.

I consider raw beans more dangerous than leaves
There is ivy, skin contact alone is enough
One has to weigh it up.

I am allergic to ivy. I just didn’t know it. Until one sunny day (sunshine intensifies it) when I spent hours removing old ivy. Wearing gloves and a jacket. A few hours later, I had a swollen face and hands, all red and itchy, then countless small blisters mainly on my hands and 3 weeks of severe, sleep-depriving itching. After the skin peeled, it was finally over. In the meantime, I even received medical treatment because of it. Freaky stuff. And you can’t get rid of it.

Ivy I find beautiful! But in the garden, it is only used in pots, without ground contact, because I find this growth too risky (in combination with the possible damage to plaster).

It's not just the food! Our child eats almost no vegetables and fruit, they probably would never put any greens in their mouth. But: children "cook" soup and stuff like that. Constantly at kindergarten, she also did that in our old garden. And if you have greens where the plant juices are already disgusting when they get from the fingers into the mouth... well, everyone has to decide that for themselves. I am currently thinking about creating a swamp bed or a mini pond. Despite neighbors' children - the area will not be bigger than a balcony flower box.

Are you talking about my daughter? I would be careful with a bog garden, so you don’t end up breeding mosquitoes.