The garden is a weird and wonderful place at times, and this list of things you can find in your garden shows just how much. Whether it is taking on a landscaping project or you have just moved into a new home and are renovating the garden, here are some of the things that have been found in the past to encourage you (or not in some cases!) to get to work.
1. Time Capsule
A man found a 25-year-old time capsule which contained 1980’s baseball cards from the NY Yankees. Sadly the condition of the cards meant he could not fetch a monetary reward for his findings.
2. Ww2 Bomb
In Orlando, Florida developers built new houses over a 12k acre bombing range. This meant that in the years after the build homeowners were finding live (yes, live!) bombs in their back gardens. Fortunately the military launched an £8 million operation to clean up all remaining bombs, however, there is always the chance some may be left behind.
3. An Old Stove
When undertaking a landscaping project, a women in the UK found an old stove that someone had buried and used to landfill. It is unconfirmed whether or not the oven was still working but we like to think so for the sake of a good story.
4. A Genuine Dinosaur Bone
A 250 million-year-old Pliosaur bone was discovered whilst a man was building a fence in his back garden in 1997. The man in question actually stored the bone in his shed for 16 years before only recently getting it examined in 2013.
5. Treasure Chest
In 2007 a man in Austria came across a chest full of ancient treasures that included over 200 rings, belt buckles, ornaments, plates and pearl-encrusted objects. At first, he was completely unaware of the value until he posted pictures online and collectors made him aware of the astonishing value. They are now in an Austrian museum as the man had no interest in cashing in on his find.
6. Bag Of Cash
This one is what most people dream of. A man in Illinois was just picking vegetables in his garden when he noticed the corner of a nylon bag sticking out of the ground. A bit of further investigation led to him discovering an astonishing £113k in cash stored in the bag. The man was concerned it was from a robbery so turned it into the authorities under the premise he would be able to keep it if no one claimed it in two weeks. What would you do!?
7. A Cannon Ball
When digging a new fish pond in an urban back garden a man dug up a cannonball. After researching the area he discovered that his house was on top of a defensive line from the Battle of New Orleans. So it turns out it was a cannonball from a war in 1812.
8. £8 Million Worth Of 19th Century Coins
Recently, in 2013 a couple in Nevada were just walking their dog on their property when they noticed a rusty canister poking out of the ground. After taking them home and realising they were £15 gold coins from the 1890s they rushed back to unearth 7 more canisters which all totalled a face value of £21166. Today that same coin collection is valued at £8 million and is the largest hoard of coins unearthed on record.
9. A Ferrari
Two kids stumbled upon a Dino 246 GTS Ferrari in an LA back garden in 1978. The car was supposedly buried there by thieves four years previous as part of an insurance scam. The car is now fully reconditioned with the private number plate ‘dug up’.
10. 1000 Year Old Human Remains
Earlier last year (in 2014) a man was undertaking a landscaping project when he discovered what appeared to be human bones, but it was unclear due to the state of them. After a medical examination, they were determined to be from a Native American dating back 1000 years.
11. An Ancient Stone
An amateur historian was researching his own home in the UK when he discovered that there was supposedly an ancient monument that was marked as a burial plot dating back to 2500 BC. The man began searching for the stone, worried he would never find it, to his surprise it was in his back garden buried in layers of ivy.
12. A Cemetery From The 1700s
When renovating a garden and digging the hole for a swimming pool, a man discovered 13 caskets containing the human remains that belonged to a historic cemetery that dated back to the 1700s. I don’t know about you but that is enough to make me move house!
13. False Teeth
An upper plate of some false teeth was dug up in a very old vegetable plot in Buffalo. It is likely that they were thrown on the garden from a waste bucket which people used to do with compost.
14. A Bomb Shelter
After buying a house in California, a couple discovered a fallout shelter in their back garden. To their amazement, the shelter that was constructed in 1961 during the cold war was still fully stocked! This was almost like a giant time capsule full of nostalgic products from the 60s.
15. 175k Of Marijuana
Whilst a man was installing solar panels on his property in LA in 2012, he made a startling discovery. Upon opening an underground access vault for a routine inspection he found a bag full of jars and packages filled with marijuana. The street value of the drugs was tallied up by authorities and was reportedly worth £132382.
16. A Machine Gun
Early last year (2014) a Canadian was clearing the gap between his garage and fence line when he discovered a pillowcase buried amongst the rubble. Inside the pillowcase was a fully loaded, ready to fire machine gun accompanied with a mobile phone. One can only imagine the back story to how that got there!
17. A Cash Register
A man in the US was renovating his garden when he found a cash register from the 1940s and several car batteries. Perhaps they were using those to power the register during the WW2.
18. A 450kg Whale Fossil
In 1978 a schoolboy discovered something sticking out of the ground with markings on it and was curious to see what it was. With the help of some friends using logs as levers, they were able to unearth the huge fossil. It was initially determined as insignificant but over 30 years later it was judged by an expert to be a jaw and skull bone of a 14-16 million-year-old baleen whale.
19. A Mastodon Skeleton
In Hyde Park, New York a man found an obscure bone whilst renovating his pond. After having it looked at by a specialist who immediately identified it as an ancient fossil bone, a full excavation was arranged. The excavation yielded over 90 mastodon bones including a skull which has begun to form a skeleton which will the focal point of a new museum.
20. Church Bells
A man in the Czech Republic was laying some pipe in his back garden in 2013 when he noticed some obscure metal objects in the ground. After some excavation work, he managed to unearth two 400-year-old church bells that had been previously stolen from a nearby church.
And that's it! Is there anything that you have found buried in your garden that is weird or even just a little strange? If yes then let us know! Get in touch with us @LoveTheGarden.
