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!

@Myfriendanxiety - I am sorry that this has happened to you and I hope that your more experienced gardener is able to give you some guidance at the weekend. One tip when pruning woody shrubs like your buddleia - ensure that you angle all your cuts to help shed rain and prevent rot and angle them outwards away from the centre of the plant to prevent rain collecting in the 'crown' which, again, can cause rotting.

Pruning can be brutal - look at the art of laying a hedge; a brilliant way to rejuvenate a tired, old or neglected hedge and bring it back to life. Essentially, one cuts through the stem of each plant, just above ground level, virtually right through, and bends it over. It looks brutal, and it is, but it is extraordinary how quickly regrowth appears, the hedge recovers and becomes lush, thick and viable again. This will probably be very identifying, but I am going to post some pictures of the hedge at the end of my own garden - it was very neglected, just a line of trees about 15' high. I layed it in January 2019. It is now a dense, green hedge 18 months on.

This is how it looked whilst I was laying it

And this is how it looks now - and, yes, it is a haven for birds!

Is there a right or wrong way to prune a fatsia? I like the lower branches removed so stuff can grown underneath, and I can see that’s what the gardener has done here, but is that ‘wrong’?

Posted too soon.

Hold your nerve, OP, they will grow back, they aren’t the only ones to suffer some drastic lockdown barbering.

@Hedgesfullofbirds wow that looks amazing!

@PenfoldsFive - there is, in my view, no right or wrong in respect of your Fatsia, purely personal preference and you have a perfectly valid reason for removing some of the lower growth. Fatsias should be pruned in spring (April to May ideally, when there is less risk of frost).

In the same way some people like to remove the lower limbs from conifers, whereas others like to see the lower branches sweeping down and brushing the ground. It is entirely personal preference and what one finds visually appealing and pleasing to the eye

Phew! I love fatsias and wouldn’t like to think I wasn’t treating them properly!

We inherited a buddleia
It’s seeds came from next door, so pretty
We let it flower then back it right back
Comes back as good as new each year

I absolutely butchered a box hedge which was too tall and 6ft thick. I cut it mostly on one side. I feared I'd killed it, and it remained dormant for months, even though I did it in spring, but it it did eventually grow back, and remains at 3ft width as required.

My dad used to offer gardening services for around 5-10 years on the side and he was very knowledgeable and I would often assistant him with jobs. This person is clearly not an experienced gardener or even experienced with tools, he has absolutely butchered your garden! Where did you find him?

@Hedgesfullofbirds I loved seeing your hedge photos, many thanks for posting them. I can’t believe the change in 18 months ! Is is beech or hornbeam ?

Is the garden you manage a private one or open to the public ?

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. I would have advised you to wait and prune things later in the year or the beginning of next year. I recently refused to trim back a tall hedge as it had nesting birds in there. I explained that to my client and I'm going back later on this year to do it.
Unfortunately, anyone can set themselves up as a gardener which is frustrating for those of us who put ourselves through college and have spent years learning our trade.
When the actual gardener comes, she should be able tell you what to do. Ask her to knock up a quick list of easy to grow plants that will work in your garden too. The fatsia and buddleja will survive but they will look sad for a while. In Feb/March cut the buddleja back really hard and it will look great next year. Get the gardener to sort out the fatsia as it is a bit more complicated to prune. 🙂

Why is now the wrong time of the year to cut back hedges/bushes?

birds?

Nesting time
www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/plants-for-wildlife/garden-hedges/hedge-law/

Thank you @CORA - it is primarily hawthorn, hazel and blackthorn with, yes, a few beech too. I have now planted a couple of liquidamber, a tulip tree and a snowdrop tree in it which will be allowed to grow into 'standards', but unlikely to reach maturity in my lifetime! And there will be an unmown wildflower margin along its length too. I have only been in this property for two years and the garden was sadly neglected - still a work in progress, and many, many projects still to complete!

The garden in which I work full time is a private residential estate, although it is (not this year!) opened a couple of times a year to raise funds for local charities.

@Hedgesfullofbirds
Thank you, I had to google snowdrop tree as I’d never heard of it! I can see you are very interested in wildlife.

Sadly no NGS visits this year for any of us this summer, though I expect it means less work for you. Although none of the pleasure of all the (hopefully ) admiring visitors.

@millerjane - yes birds. But it’s also much easier to do deciduous shrubs in winter when it’s just a lot of sticks and you can see what you are doing. You don’t have to fight your way through all the new growth.

And most buddleja flower on the new wood ( shoots that grow this year). So if you cut it back in winter, you will still get flowers in late summer.

The OPs garden man has had to cut back all the growth of the last 4 months, whereas if it had been done earlier it would be looking ok by now.

And there’s also a lot less waste to dispose of.

Plus it’s better to prune evergreens ( like the Fatsia ) in winter when they are not actively growing , it’s less stressful for them.

But plants are very resilient 😁

Years ago when I was a teenager my mother pulled an Edward Scissors hand pruning on the bushes adjacent to our back deck and it was quite drastic but the bushes grew back fine. My advice is never prune if angry over something

a theoretical knowledge does not always translate into an ability to undertake tasks practically. And the RHS qualifications only require a 50% mark in order to register a pass

Not true. RHS Practical Horticulture, for example, is largely practical (clue is in the name). The tutor has to make 150 observations on how well you can do practical tasks in the garden. For the examined parts, the pass mark is 100%. So if you are identifying plants, you have to get every single one right. Course providers are assessed by the RHS every year. They are absolutely excellent qualifications and I would think well of any gardener who had taken time to obtain them. What you say about insurance etc is correct, however.

I agree Gracie.
I knew quite a bit before I did my RHS level 2 but it really helped cement what I knew and I learned lots about specific pruning, plant and tree identification, pests and diseases etc. The standard needed to pass was high.
I think if a gardener has RHS qualifications it shows commitment and is a good sign. Owning a chainsaw and power tools not so much.