Devastated - can't believe my builder did this

Good point!

DH was at work wasn't he? And if he was there at the end, did he just meekly (pathetically) not say A WORD to them??

So sorry to hear this, OP. I would contact him immediately to ask where the plants are, in case you can recover any of them or at least take cuttings. What a nightmare the whole thing sounds.
If you can’t get anything back, would it be some comfort to buy plants identical to those that were gifts, in memory of the givers?

Edit needed as forgot to quote PP

This.

Just work out the cost of buying replacement trees and plants and inform the builder that he was not instructed to rip them out and so you will be deducting the cost from his final invoice.

Most people would interpret "clearing the garden" to mean "getting rid of the building crap", unless they are hiring someone specifically to clear the garden of trees and plants.

This is unbelievable. Why would they do that??? So sorry. I’m be devastated and furious in equal measure

I gutted and landscaped our entire garden over the last year and have started to replant it. I knew nothing to begin with so read loads!

I’d recommend

• First Time Gardener by Frances Tophill,
• How to Create Your Garden by Adam Frost,
• How to Plant a Garden by Matt James
• RHS Gardening School (if you literally don’t know how to garden like me!)

My biggest learning is I wouldn’t do the whole garden at once if I did it again. I wish I’d made a whole garden plan and then tackled it in sections over the next few years - I took up all our turf (basically a bog) to make beds and it’s really hard to grow enough plants to fill the space from seed/bare root and tend to all those new plants alongside everything else I need to do!

How do you know their nationality

No way.. that is a huge job and he’s expecting to be paid for it, surely?
That is definitely something you would discuss - pulling out trees?! The entire lawn!

You don’t ‘go mental’ but explain/be businesslike (take out the emotion completely) and explain it was not discussed and was completely different job, you’re not paying for it and it needs to be rectified - the lawn replanted and the trees replaced. I realise this is probably not going to happen but explain that they have now given you an extra big expense.

Anyway, contract or not, I’d work out the cost of replacement and deduct that from the money owed. Harsh as it may be, his wife’s (or any other family member’s condition)is not your concern. You paid for a job to be done and if he has operated outside the agreed terms then it needs to be rectified and it’s not on you to shoulder the cost.

YANBU

plain and simple

Gutted for you, OP. Haven’t read the whole thread but did you sign a contract?

Even a “team of men” will struggle to cut down multiple trees, dig out stumps, tear up the lawn.

OP very clearly says in her actual opening post that it wasn't just one man. She used a separate paragraph for the information and everything.

Clearly he needs to be in landscaping instead of building because if he takes a year over agreed time to finish an extension but can empty an entire garden - trees, turf and all in one morning, he’s missed his calling

If moving his wife (builder's mum) to a hospice isnt a good enough reason to stop builder's dad working, then why are you giving it as a reason to not ask the builder to re-instate the garden/ lower his final bill?🤔

It just doesn’t add up does it? Massive trees gone and dug up in a day, by one man?

We had a huge fir tree removed at the bottom of our garden and it took a tree surgeon and his two colleagues all day. And even then, they couldn’t dig up the stump.

This is going to sound mental but are you sure they got rid of everything rather than taking some of it somewhere else?

I cleared our average sized garden and it’s bloody hard work digging up trees/established bushes and lifting turf. It took me multiple weekends and I still have some tree stumps I need to deal with. He must have had a big team in and I can’t see why you’d do that for free unless there was some sort of financial incentive.

Also you can still tell the builder you’re unhappy, even if his mum is in a hospice. That’s not your responsibility and, given how long the job has overrun, could just be a convenient excuse.

I completely understand @INFJismyvibe i love my garden. What an awful thing to happen. It’s obviously a complete misunderstanding but that doesn’t make it any better. 💐

Okay usually I roll my eyes at the MN armchair detectives but I agree with the posters pointing out the inconsistencies here.

A building team so slow they are A YEAR behind suddenly manage to uproot an entire garden, including well established trees big enough to provide privacy and a whole lawn, which required "a team" of men (all of whom were, what, just sitting around chilling before getting the call and springing instantly into action?) in the space of one working day?

Where did they put everything? If the builders own stuff has been hanging round the garden for months where did they take all this AND multiple trees, bushes etc.? Presumably there's no skip or anything so did they also make multiple tip journeys in whatever car/small van they usually drive to work in, as well as actually doing all the digging over the space of those few hours? (Bearing in mind most tips now charge professionals per dump).

If they are builders how did they even have tools to be uprooting whole trees?

And, moat unlikely of all, they agreed to do this massive job not only without discussing any specs, to the point where "tidying up your own equipment" became "clear my entire garden of any greenery" but without clarifying additional payment?

That sort of complete garden clearance would probably cost several grand on its own, particularly with the "team of men" needed, but builders father just decided to do it that morning?

You’re obviously not a gardener 🤣

if the roots are left in, shrubs will grow back.