Can redoing a garden release diseases?

My neighbours dug up all of their garden in May and they removed everything apart from half of our adjoining hedge

Since this first soil disturbance my apple tree and pear tree leaves ended up going brown and a few other plants leaves started to go a bit weird

The rest of the hedge was removed last week and a fence put up and now my honeysuckles leaves have started to go brown and its not looking good at all

Could all these issues with the plants which I never had last year could be because of all the major soil disturbance going on next door?

Also what can i do about it?

 

Oh i forgot to add should i worry that they buried loads of asbestos in the garden as well and will this affect plants?

 

They did what? For real?

If you believe they've buried asbestos, I would be talking to the council or possibly even the police.

But as for your plants getting sick after they've blitzed their garden, I can't see the soil disturbance causing any problem, unless they disturbed the roots of your plants. It does seem a bit suspect though, so I'd be wondering if they sprayed everything before digging it all over, and if that spray might have been glyphosate, and may have drifted.

 

Thank you for the reply.

They sprayed something the other week to kill a chocolate vine that has been growing out of control for years because no one could get to it before

I dont know if they sprayed anything else any other time

He told me he was burying the asbestos in the garden cause it cost too much for someone else to dispose of and his workman said it was fine

It is starting to worry me but the lawn is now down and i would feel bad reporting it and causing a problem

Thats silly isnt it

 

It will cause a problem years later when he's sold the house and some young family has bought it, and they decide to dig over some of the garden to make a new veggy patch or to sink a sand pit for the kids, and the spade goes straight through the asbestos and all the dust gets flicked up into the air while the kids are gathered round, obliviously inhaling it, as they hunt for wiggle worms.

 

They said they buried it really deep they did have a digger to do it so i dont think standard digging would hit it. I dunno tho

Is it legal or illegal to do it tho and will it contaminate water at all


I googled and got so many different answers that all contradicted each other so if someone knows for definite that would be great

 

My trees havent been planted out yet thankfully they are in big pots and have dwarf root stock

The asbestos that got buried was from the garage roof and other outbuildings but there was loads of just random strips of it in the garden anyway that were surrounding where there greenhouse was and edging bedding. Was very weird

 

Are we certain it is asbestos? There is a material that looks a lot like it, and is still used in the form as corrugated sheets on roofs sometimes.

 

I doubt they got it tested as that would alert people too it. The sheets found in the garden were straight and cant remember what the shed roof was like

Work man in my garden would tell me that was asbestos and they seem pretty certain it was

 

Very. Sod their lawn, if you're sure then it's time to snitch!

 

Hi Dips, I'm really sorry you have found yourself in this situation, thanks to the complete irresponsibility of your neighbour.

Let me give you a scenario - You have decided to create a garden pond so, on a sunny fine day you get to work. Just as you think you have dug deep enough, you strike some debris which could puncture your pond lining. So, you put a bit more effort in and dig away at the "stuff" with your shovel, kicking up dust and muck as you go.....

There are very good reasons that legislation is in place and your neighbour is a complete **** to allow this to happen and to damage your own plants in the process.

 

Hi Dips,

You obviously have some conversations with your neighbour. Have you pointed out what's happened to your garden? You could mention that you're going to get someone in to see if they can give you advice about your garden and what has caused your loss of plants, what/how to replace etc. he won't be surprised then if someone comes asking questions and you've only looked after your own.

He might tell you what, if any, chemicals he's used.