I know it's silly but...

Very disheartening for you and the sparrows @Inkymink. The only plus side is that it could encourage you to grow more in your garden to screen the scene of destruction and attract the birds into your garden. It's always a fear when new neighbours move in. Mine removed a beautiful flowering cherry and plonked a shed-like home office right next to my fence . At least it wasn't a trampoline .

 

Some people just aren't interested in a natural landscape or preserving an area for their local wildlife. Concrete and fake grass is their limit.
@Inkymink I hope your new neighbours don't go down that route but if they do, all you can do is try to attract the evicted Sparrows to your garden - it may take a while but if it cheers you and the birds up, it'll be worth the effort and the wait. Very best of luck

 

Sometimes I do get it, as taking on someone else's garden is not what I would want, no matter how it may look to people who have seen it grow, to another person it's probably not to their liking.
I think if it gets a new design and new ideas it can be good but it obviously depends on the new people and what they want.

You cant control what someone else likes.

I mean nearly every house that gets sold around here gets a new kitchen and a new bathroom, regardless of how old the existing one is, you wouldn't keep another persons decoration if you moved.

Gardens and plants are taken as disposables in these days just like everything else.

 

Very good points, katecat 58. Some people do suffer from really debilitating allergies.

 

Thank you Plantminded. That made me laugh (though not the shed part). It almost sounds like a good excuse to go to the garden centre though I'd be hard pressed to get anything more in my garden.

 

Thank you Philippa. Yes, you're quite right, people like different things and my neighbours must do as they see fit with their own garden space. I'll continue providing as much as I can for the sparrows.

 

Thanks for your thoughts, Pete. There's a lot in what you say and, of course, we are all different in what we want to keep and want to get rid of.

 

I'd just like to thank all you lovely people who've taken the time and trouble to respond to my gloomy post this morning. I really appreciate your kindness and I will pull myself together. I'm not normally prone to gloom. Perhaps it's also about missing my former neighbour of twenty-plus years.

Thanks, all!