On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 22:03:25 +0100, "Rosie" wrote:

I have a toddler and a medium-sized laburnum tree at the back of my garden,
which seems to produce a lot of seeds.

How poisonous are these seeds? They do seem to get everywhere. Would I be
best off getting rid of the tree?

(Obviously she isn't left to wander around the garden by herself, but she
does like shoving things in her mouth.)

All parts of the laburnum are poisonous - though most cases of
poisoning come from children eating the unripened seed pods, which
resemble small pea pods.

Having said that, I've raised two toddlers so far with a laburnum in
the garden - in fact it's one of the trees the kids climb up - without
any incident. I've another toddler who'll be crawling round the garden
this summer - and to be honest I'm far more worried about the vicious
red ants we have in these parts, they pack one hell of a painful
sting.

There are many hazards in the garden - ranging from poisonous plants,
fungi, animal and bird droppings etc, but even toddlers will learn
quite quickly if you're on hand to administer a very stern and loud
NO!
Tends to result in a flood of tears, and breaks your heart, but
children will soon forget the pain - and remember the message, and
it's a message they'll take with them wherever they go.


I have tasted both the green pod and the ripe black seed as a child -
and I'm here to tell you that I really can't understand how anyone
could eat any sort of quantity of the things, they're both intensely
bitter.

It's a fine tree, with cool foliage and fantastic yellow blooms - so
it'd be a shame to lop it down.
Could you not perhaps prune it back hard this year? This would cut
down on the blooms, and with a suitable pair of long-handled shears
you might even be able to dead head the blooms ( if any ).

Ultimately though, it IS a poisonous plant - and I doubt many parents
would blame you if you preferred not to live with the risk.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk