"Rosie" wrote in message
...
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.)

ROSIE

Seems a shame to get rid of the tree, children grow up quite quickly it
won't be long until warnings to not do things are effective. As to how
poisonous, when young my friend ate loads of them and there was mass panic
he was rushed off to hospital but on arrival sent home (having been sick)
and his mum told "not to worry" he would be fine we were around 3 at a guess
(and yes I just sat there and watched him do it! - I had been told not to
:~)
--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

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

] 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.)
]
] ROSIE
]
]

Rosie,

Read the replies with interest. Just worth noting that Laburnum seeds are also
a choking hazard. A friend's little girl ended in hospital with one lodged in her
throat. (She's fine now.)

We have kids 5 and 7, and Laburnum. They're pretty good about learning what
not to do, safety-wise, so we have (knock on wood) had no problems. That said
as has been pointed out no child is completely reliable! Seems to me life is full
of hazards, Laburnum is less serious than some...

HTH

-E
--
Emery Davis
You can reply to
by removing the well known companies

Rosie,like most have said it would be a shame to fell the tree.I am not
going to get on my high horse and tell you how to look after your own
children ,I have two and know what a handful & how unpredictable they can
be.Sometimes how many times do you find yourself saying no to a child they
drive you up the wall,and will do things anyway!Someone has said that you
should not allow small child to wander a garden alone,what do you call
small,I have a son he is just walking,I would not let him wander alone,but I
have a 3 1/2 year old daughter who I would allow.Why don`t you plant shrubs
& perennials around the tree making a border so the berries & tree can not
be accessed by kids.You can`t follow kids 24/7 and need piece of mind that
your kids can not do harm to themselves if you turn your back!After all the
garden is supposed to be a place for relaxation & you can`t do that if you
are constantly worrying & following them about.

Thanks Keith,UK.
"Emery Davis" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 22:03:25 +0100, "Rosie" said:

] 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.)
]
] ROSIE
]
]

Rosie,

Read the replies with interest. Just worth noting that Laburnum seeds are
also
a choking hazard. A friend's little girl ended in hospital with one
lodged in her
throat. (She's fine now.)

We have kids 5 and 7, and Laburnum. They're pretty good about learning
what
not to do, safety-wise, so we have (knock on wood) had no problems. That
said
as has been pointed out no child is completely reliable! Seems to me life
is full
of hazards, Laburnum is less serious than some...

HTH

-E
--
Emery Davis
You can reply to
by removing the well known companies

The message
from "Mike" contains these words:

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

No.

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

It's your job to make sure she doesn't!

I had an acquaintance once who gave very definite answers like yours when it
came to the subject of controlling/teaching children. Both he and his wife
were in their 50's so knew right from wrong and what children should do and
what they should not do.

He and his wife had no children :-))

Well, the difference there would be that I not only had a laburnum tree
in my garden, I also have five children and thirteen grandchildren!

None of them ever attempted to eat laburnum seeds or pods, because
I *made it my job* to educate them as to what was dangerous in the
garden, and what was not!

--
AnneJ
ICQ #:- 119531282

With very very few exceptions all poisonous plant material has a more than
terrible taste. More than enough to deter any child. Many years ago, as
students, we were encouraged to taste minute portions.To avoid having their
parts eaten, this has been part of plants' evolution. The fruit of the Yew
is an exception. Its red fleshy outside is very pleasant, and harmless, but
the encased seed is very poisonous and easily swallowed.
More lightly~~ Some years ago my wife was baby sitting the
grandchildren. The young g.daughter was playing on the lounge floor and her
[little older] brother lounging on the sofa.
He noticed that his sister had picked up a brown half eaten apple and was
about to eat it. " Don't put that in your mouth, you don't know where its
been" he bossily said. A few minutes later she looked up at her brother who
was reading while sucking his thumb. "Don't put your thumb in your mouth,
you Do know where it's been"!! she reproved.
At that age they were 'lovely enough to eat'. Now as teenagers I
sometimes wish we had done so!! Not really.
Best Wishes.

"Rosie" wrote in message
...
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.)

ROSIE

Well, the difference there would be that I not only had a laburnum tree
in my garden, I also have five children and thirteen grandchildren!

None of them ever attempted to eat laburnum seeds or pods, because
I *made it my job* to educate them as to what was dangerous in the
garden, and what was not!

--
AnneJ
ICQ #:- 119531282

In that case, as you are so experienced, possibly more than anyone on this
newsgroup and certainly more than me, I have only had four children and one
grandchild, then you could have been a little more helpful and constructive
in your posting. Your posting was very curt and on the lines of Baraclough
of past. Are you by any chance a Traffic Warden in your spare time?

Mike

Rosie17/4/04 10:19
Thanks for all the advice and wise words.

I think I will keep the tree. I agree that educating my daughter not to eat
anything in the garden is the best approach. So far her main gardening
activity is digging up worms and snails and 'cuddling' them.

(She is always supervised in the garden and whilst of course it is 'my job'
to do that, one does occasionally get distracted by the odd weed that needs
tending...)

Thanks for advice and thoughts!
ROSIE


I think keeping the tree is the better option, Rosie. You could, of course,
get rid of it but you really can't keep her from *everything* and learning
at home is much, much the best lesson. And to be honest, accidents with
children happen so fast that a moment's inattention can lead to anything in
or out of the home - all 3 of mine nearly drowned once when
the-person-in-charge turned away from the sea to drag their towels etc. up
the beach and out of swamping range.
Our grand daughter is the adventurous type and our house being Victorian,
the banisters aren't the regulation 'safety distance' apart. We have a
'gallery' staircase and twice within 30 minutes of her arriving to stay here
for a long period, I found her upstairs, with her body between the balusters
and one foot hanging over the edge - clinging on only by her two very small
hands. I must say that my nerve failed me at that point and we put clematis
trellis all the way up and round the stairs. It looked most peculiar but it
cut down on my Valium sandwiches. The kickback on this is that in her own
home she started playing about on the stairs a few weeks back, fell down
about 6 steps and had a greenstick fracture. In our house she'd have broken
her neck.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds to email me)

At that age they were 'lovely enough to eat'. Now as teenagers I
sometimes wish we had done so!! Not really.

My middle daughter is a career woman and as such has no interest in children
and really doesn't like them at all. Whenever she is asked 'Don't you like
children?' she always answers "Oh yes, but I could never eat a whole one"

Mike

A fairly recent advert in one of the Cornish papers advertised for sale an
'Alsatian, eats anything, very fond of children'! But then they also
advertised a 'Tractor with 5 ton wench' and mentioned a local retired
colonel as a 'Bottle scarred veteran' ~~ Later corrected as 'Battle scared
veteran'!!
And to think we were talking about Laburnums?!! As for children it does
depend on how they were cooked!!
Best Wishes
"Mike" wrote in message
...


At that age they were 'lovely enough to eat'. Now as teenagers I
sometimes wish we had done so!! Not really.

My middle daughter is a career woman and as such has no interest in
children
and really doesn't like them at all. Whenever she is asked 'Don't you like
children?' she always answers "Oh yes, but I could never eat a whole one"

Mike

As for children it does
depend on how they were cooked!!

Fried or Boiled?

Coddled!! Brian
"Mike" wrote in message
...
As for children it does
depend on how they were cooked!!

Fried or Boiled?

The message
from "Mike" contains these words:

Your posting was very curt and on the lines of Baraclough
of past. Are you by any chance a Traffic Warden in your spare time?

Well, thanks for the compliment, Mike! I may have been curt, but one
does tire of the same questions being asked year after year after year!
Does no-one use Google any more?

What I do in my spare time is none of your business........

--
AnneJ
ICQ #:- 119531282

Anne Jackson wrote:
one does tire of the same questions being asked year after year after
year!
Does no-one use Google any more?

I did look this up on Google - I couldn't find it asked since 2001 and I
thought there might be some new information or advice in that time.

Cheers,
ROSIE

but one
does tire of the same questions being asked year after year after year!

Is it beyond your thought that this person might even be a newbie and I
might never have posted here before?

Just because you are one of the 'Old Hands' full of experience and know all
the answers through years and years of experience, please remember, that
once upon a time, even YOU did not know all the answers. (When you had your
first baby, you knew just what to do? How to feed it and bathe it? And if
you are a driver, were you born with a driving licence and all the
experience of road craft?)

I think I had better advise you, because you are obviously not aware of the
fact, that at about this time next year, April 'ish' 2005, a complete set of
newbies will 'bombard' this newsgroup with exactly the same questions that
you tire of so much. Might I therefore respectfully suggest that you log out
now, so that these tiresome newbies, who do not know these things, do not
annoy you any more?

Or perhaps we will make a posting on the newsgroup every week as follows. In
the subject line "SORRY, BUT A QUESTION FROM A NEWBIE" Please note that this
is a newsgroup full of very experienced people, of which some do not have
the patience to keep on answering questions from newbies. If you want to ask
a simple question, just like the experienced ones on here did at the
beginning, and so they are not bored to tears, please make a prominent
posting such as the above in the subject.
Thank you.

Would that satisfy you?

I doubt it :-((

You can please some of the people some of the time
You can please most of the people most of the time
But you cannot please ALL of the people ALL of the time

Mike

--
H.M.S.Newfoundland Association Reunion Hayling Island April 23rd - 26th
Royal Naval Reunion Eastbourne May 7th - 10th
H.M.S.Collingwood Association Reunion Bracklesham Bay May 21st - 24th
Nat.Service (RAF) Assoc. Cosford Parade / Social Weekend 25th - 28th June

The message
from "Vicky" contains these words:

/prune/

I understand that apple leaves are poisonous to a degree and removed one of
those from my baby son's mouth once (that baby is now 9). But then he also
had a liking for woodlice.............

Woodlice used to be boiled for 'shrimp' stock by the impecunious, then
made into a sauce for serving with fish.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/