on dirt

My landlords can't be terribly happy about the hole our Captain is digging in the front flowerbed.  It's getting deep, and wide, and a number of intentional plants have turned into casualties.





I have tried, and threatened, and forbade, but I seem to come up powerless against the attraction between a boy and his dirt.



As often as not, our Captain looks an awful lot like this:

Imagine the ill-fated Matthew Gerber's Michael Banks as he tries to sneak past his father, culminating in a "hello gov'nor".  Couldn't find a still of it, but that dirty.

What to do with such a boy of a boy?