Devastated - can't believe my builder did this

Also op, I'm not sure if it's been suggested but www.dutchbulbs.com is a wholesale site and has plants astonishingly cheaply, a really huge range. I spend virtually all my disposable income there! I would draw out a garden plan and work out what plants you need for the back of the border, middle and front. Someone has suggested getting a ton of manure to put down-brilliant idea.
Now is a great time to start planning your bulb display as well-Dutch bulbs have mixed collections of 100 for about 20 or so. You can plan a succession of flowering that will start in January and go through to may when you can put your annuals/perennials in.

Take heart, your garden will be beautiful again xx

I know you were waiting to go to the garden centre in autumn however with the amazing weather this years’ plants are in abundance and they seem overrun. We always save some plants this time of year from dying off in the clearance section, the flowering will have started to pass but next year you’ll reap your reward!
Hydrangeas and rhododendrons we must have five that were less than a tenner. Lidl of all places had some lovely ones in for £8!

@RareFatballnot allowed to be skeptical apparently

I can't get my head around how builders Dad managed to do all this work in 1 day whilst OP's husband was at work. Even with a small team of 2/3 of them, this sounds unachievable in 1 day.
If done over a couple of days, surely husband would mention there has been a misunderstanding about what was to be cleared from garden.

Are you happy with the extension op?

I don't think anyone is saying it was done maliciously.

The thing is, if you accidentally crash your car into someone else's, your insurance still has to pay for the damage. Even if your relative has cancer or you have other sad personal circumstances like this builder.

It doesn't matter that this wasn't malicious.

What matters is that the builder caused a lot of expensive damage to OP's garden due to incompetence.

He shouldn't have done anything this big and irreversible without clear, full consent - ideally in writing - which he didn't have. It was dubious verbal consent at best. It would not hold up in court.

Legally, under the consumer rights act, if OP were to pursue this, the builder would be liable.

Oh OP, this is such a loss for you, I'm so sorry 😔
I live in a flat, so don't have a garden. But I have loads of houseplants, and some very sentimental, from cuttings etc. I know I'd feel bereft if they all went.
Do you know what the builder did with the plants? They might still exist somewhere, and you could get cuttings from them to propagate?
If nothing can be done, I hope you can grieve, and time really is a healer. You can design a beautiful outdoor space. But, for now, you have every right to be devastated and angry.
Take care x

I think the suggestion to spend the rest of the summer planning and improving the soil sounds sensible. Put some plants in once it's autumn.
We actually had turf laid in November a couple of years ago and it grew brilliantly (and I didnt have to water it once) but I'm a lot further south

Gosh I’m so sorry, OP, I would be devastated in your shoes. I have plants grown from cuttings from previous houses over many years, the miracle of continuity in gardening is one of the things I love most.

I came home from holiday this summer to a parched garden. My sweet neighbour had offered to do some watering but I think she just sprinkled rather than soaked and I really thought I’d lost some treasures. However I’ve cut seemingly dead stalks down to the ground and already I’m seeing new shoots appear. Your plants may well recover.

That’s my question. It’s so weird. I’ve never heard of a builder doing gardener’s work.

From that pov it would have been impossible for DH to predict a builder would touch the plants.

Sorry, but this doesn't make sense.
Why would a builder hire a team of Romanians to clear your garden for no reason?

I work in small scale construction, why on earth would builders do a landscapers or gardeners job?! It doesn’t make sense other than they thought they could bill you extra! You’ll need to get furious about this as they’ll want paying - kick up a fuss before they send you the invoice!

I would be absolutely devastated. We had a builder in who was working on the brick shed at the back of the garden and thought it was fine to dump a slag heap of rubble on top of a beautiful established hydrangea. I just don’t understand the thinking.

Why on God’s green earth did the builder do this? It makes no sense 😢 So sorry, OP. It must feel like such a loss.

I was wondering, I know nothing can replace the plants you had that were grown from cuttings from your mum and your aunt, but if other people were to donate cuttings from plants that are special to them, ie if anyone has plants that have similar sentimental value, and donated cuttings - it might feel special in a different way and in some way help heal? Donated with love, from strangers, each with their own special story and sentimental value. Just a thought as I don’t currently have any such plants myself - we’ve just moved house and the garden as yet is a blank canvas, but it’s also made me think very much of the importance of getting and nurturing some cuttings from my DM’s garden.

I can well imagine the grief.

At the moment my SIL who lost her husband suddenly 4 years ago, is refusing to leave her large house and enormous incredible garden.

Its the garden more than the house, its stunning and 50 years in the making.

But she is stressed not to be able to keep it pristine, but won't discuss trading down.
The emotional attachment is huge.

If you have cut flowers indoors, you can use some of them for cuttings

I’m growing some carnations from bits that would have otherwise gone in the bin, and I’m experimenting with bits of rose stalks (not doing much at the moment but hope springs eternal!)

Fuchsias are incredibly easy to grow from cuttings too (although they don’t make for great cut flowers 🤣)

I feel for you OP, and I understand. Your garden has meaning to you.
I truely hope the cutting back will regrow for you where it can.
Also, id suggest popping a post on your local Facebook site explaining the situation & asking if anyone local could spare any cuttings or plants. I absolutely would if you were local to me.
Good luck & I hope that in time your garden will make you happy again.

Oh I would be devestated too. I’ve got a new gardener to help me and I’ve just noticed he has completely weeded a pot that had a lovely moss garden in and I’m upset by that! You’ve had lots of great advice (and a few trolls) and I echo looking at the opportunity to design your garden. The shrubs cut back will probably come back and more vigorously. Also, look at places like B&Q that often have cheap plants and maybe make up a few pots of summer / autumn bedding in the meantime to give that splash of colour and hope.

This is a bananas story and I really feel for you - I'd be in tears. Nobody sane would think "clear the garden" meant "remove the grass" and "dig up actual trees" - the odd shrub mistaken for a weed, maybe, though it's kind of odd for them to do anything other than clear up their rubbish. Your builder may have insurance that covers property damage? Though I don't know if it covers rogue builders' fathers razing gardens to the ground for absolutely no reason.

Lots of good and positive ideas here for future growth and good that you're able to focus on that. Very pleased to read that your lovely cherry tree is there too. Definitely withhold some payment as compensation and use that to pay extra to get some bigger plants (of ones that would normally be slower growing) so your garden feels a bit less like a wasteland.

Try to find some positives and think of the opportunities to redesign and do some landscaping. Our garden was a pit of mud 5 years ago after a building project. I have built it up with lots of low cost options. Aldi and Lidl are great for shrubs, climbers and fruit trees. I also bought loads of plug plants of perennials like salvia this year - my garden is now a haven for bees!
look up a lady on Instagram called Anya the money saving gardener who gives demos of how to take cuttings etc