Garden under siege

Warragul Community Garden volunteers have had enough of thefts and mindless vandalism at its Eastern Park facility.
In the latest incident, David Baylis said offenders had slashed the garden's hothouse last week to steal a privately-owned backpack spray unit.
He said this was just one of multiple thefts and acts of vandalism at the "under siege" garden.
"It's terrible," added fellow volunteer Marg Stammers. "We'll need to recover the whole thing (hothouse) or start again."
"We're a volunteer group, we can't afford to replace items," they added.
Open day and night, brass taps, timber, pallets, door frames with pots and even a whole worm farm had been stolen in the past year. They said many of these items were not worth anything.
Even a whole row of garlic bulbs had been ripped out as well as individual plants.
"It's here for people to take the food, not the plant," Mr Baylis noted.
Ms Stammers said these acts were making volunteers despondent.
"It's disappointing," she said. "There is security here and we will be increasing it."
However, the community garden hasn't been the only target in the vicinity of Eastern Park.
Mr Baylis said more than 20 plants at the nearby playground - only planted by the shire about six weeks ago - had recently been ripped out.
He said a lot of people loved visiting or volunteering at the Warragul Community Garden and warned fundraising was underway to increase security.
To assist in improving the garden, a plant sale will run on Melbourne Cup Day - Tuesday, November 7 - from 10am to noon.