Gardener has wrecked the garden!

[Myfriendanxiety]

Sorted a gardener to come and cut back some very overgrown bushes and plants on our garden.

I was at work but DH was here when he came yesterday, he clearly didn’t pay much attention to the work being done though!

Well the garden looks a mess. I expected it to not look amazing as obviously the leaves have been cut away to trim things back leaving all the branches exposed, but somethings that had flowers on are now gone and it just looks a state.

We have also lost the privacy from next door who can now see straight into my living room if they are sat in their garden.

Please reassure me it will grow back in time!

Well of course it will grow back but did no one give him guidance?

He cut back flowering plants and bushes?

Well hopefully most of it will grow back but it's really not the best time of year for cutting back some types of plants and bushes.

Had either of you walked him through what you wanted doing?

We've learned the hard way, there are gardeners, and there are odd job people who have bought themselves a petrol mower and do/clear gardens. There is a huge difference.

It will grow back. But did you or DH specify how much you wanted things to be cut back?

@TooTiredTodayOk Yes I think this was our big mistake. He is meant to coming back today to remove some weeds in another patch (can’t really go wrong there as we want to whole patch stripping back completely) so I will talk to him myself, but I fear there won’t be much he can do to sort my disappointment.

To be fair there wasn’t much flowering, it was an over grown mess to start with (I wish I had taken before photos).

We didn’t give much guidance as we literally know nothing about plants. We just said we wanted the overgrown plants cutting back to a level that was manageable for us to keep on top of.

This is the huge butterfly bush, it was way too big and wasn’t flowering and needed a big cut back. But he has left it like this which just looks like half a job to me!

This sort of happened to a woman in a gardening group I'm in on Facebook. The OP had a lovely rockery area with lots of lovely plants and flowers, she said it looked gorgeous. Next doors gardener thought she would "help" by going to the OP's side of the garden and she stripped that rockery bare

Plants will grow back, some should start to look better in a few weeks, others will take longer. Obviously we have no idea what he’s cut so it’s not possible to say which will bounce back quickly. As mentioned up thread, there are gardeners and there are people who will “garden”, huge difference

In fairness to him he did follow your instructions. It is a bit late in the season to be cutting back hard, but that was what you wanted. The alternative was for you to look at the mess of tangles all through the summer. Don’t worry, it will all grow back really quickly. In a month you will see green shoots appearing. By the end of August anything that does not look like It is recovering can be cut away.

The best way to keep on top of it is to prune after the shrubs have finished flowering. Spring flowing shrubs should be tidied early summer. All the other can wait to autumn. Aim to give your plants light and air, cut away any diseased wood and trim branches that are going in the wrong direction.

Now is,a good time to spread some general purpose fertiliser, like fish, blood and bone.

Here are a few pictures

Is he a gardener or someone who does gardening jobs?

I’m afraid he’s not a gardener he’s a butcher.

Wait till early spring to prune your Buddleia (butterfly bush). There are lots of good guides on how to it, but they are fairly indestructible.

Actually he's marmalised that poor Fatsia.
Still you'll be able to see what you are doing now.

Best thing to do is post the photos in the gardening section one at a time, so people can tell you how to rescue each one. The Fatsia, first on the left of those pics, leaves like big hands with flappy fingers, wants the biggest stems taking out. The rest will recover from the smaller shoots.

The council came and cut a beautiful mixed border down to half height and depth. It looked awful. The plants are now much better for it though.

I wouldn't have him back. I agree it's a mess but things grow really fast at this time of year, we just need more rain!!

To be honest even a beginner could have done a better job than that. Follow the great advice below from a pp and keep in mind the shape you want to finish up with; every now and then step back and take a look at the shape you have and see what needs removing. It looks as if your man has just taken a hedge trimmer to everything without any thought or design.

I definitely wouldn’t have him back in my garden!
Aim to give your plants light and air, cut away any diseased wood and trim branches that are going in the wrong direction.

Is he a gardener or someone who does gardening jobs?

Good point. There are a lot of people out there calling themselves 'gardeners' who are really just people who know how to push a lawnmower, dig holes and use a saw. I know, I had 2 before I found my current proper gardener. Always get references - and check they did what they say they did.

Not much help now, I know! But they mostly grow back. Btw, hack the buddleia back in autumn. You can trim it back to 2 feet from the ground. It'll grow back better.

If it was all overgrown and he's cut it back, it would look like that. You're being ridiculous.

It's impossible to kill buddliea. I promise you I tried. In spring prune it(what's left) properly to keep it under control.
The rest of it looks like it's never been pruned properly so you are going to have problems.

Yep I agree there are gardeners and there are people who will undertake gardening jobs.

By cutting back all the overgrown bushes and hedges, he’s probably destroyed nesting sites. Hedges shouldn’t be cut back until August, especially as the weather’s been so good that many birds are raising a second brood. Likewise all those flowering nectar and pollen resources lost.
Never mind, at least it’s tidy.

This is the huge butterfly bush, it was way too big and wasn’t flowering and needed a big cut back. But he has left it like this which just looks like half a job to me!

This hasn't flowered yet. It doesn't want cutting back too much or you'll miss all of this year's flowers (and butterfly visits)

The butterfly bush wouldn't normally flower till July OP....

Buddleias look a damn mess all year round apart from when they flower, when they are absolutely amazing.
I think you're going to have to live with this for a few more weeks, until the autumn and then get someone else in to rescue.
The plants will be fine in the end, and look great.
You could take the buddleia back to the ground over winter and still have a lovely shrub next year.

My dh is a landscape gardener....i have loads of buddleia in my garden...he cuts them right back to nothing and they come back amazing...he says you need to do that with most things....wait till autumn and cut right back...the plant will go grow back bigger and more beautiful.