Devastated - can't believe my builder did this

[INFJismyvibe]

Bit of backstory - we've been having an extension done on the house, it's taken well over the agreed time (almost a year over) but we've been mainly patient about it. Builders have been dumping stuff in our garden, making it unusable for the most part. Everything was overgrown as I've been unable to mow the lawn or trim down the bushes, but I've been OK with that. I knew that once they cleared their crap from the garden, I could get back to gardening and sort it out. My garden had some beautiful, well established plants and fruit trees, and some taller bushes that worked as an extra privacy screen, which we really need from our neighbours. Without those, the neighbours can see into my kitchen.

Some of the plants were of sentimental value, gifts from my mum, a plum tree growing from a cutting that my aunt gave me, from my grandma's garden, etc.

The building work has meant I've been unable to use my garden - which was my sanctuary - this summer and last summer.

Anyway, on to current day.
I've been away on holiday with my (older) kids. Dh stayed home for various reasons.

Builder has been in, finishing up on the house. His dad came along (he sometimes helps builder out on projects) and asked Dh if he's OK to clear the garden. Dh naturally assumed he meant all their builder's mess - bags of cement, wood palettes, etc etc. I've been saying for a while that I can't wait for all that to go so that I can tidy up the garden and even be able to access the washing line again.
So Dh said yes please clear it up, and then left for work.

The guy brought in a team of men and they removed everything. Every single plant, bush, tree. Completely removed the lawn (which, to be fair, was riddled with weeds and needed returfing anyway).

But it's completely bare.

All my beautiful beautiful plants, my sentimental ones, my privacy ones. All gone.

Dh didn't tell me until the car journey home as he didn't want to ruin my holiday. But i've just returned home a couple of hours ago, and I'm absolutely devastated. Don't even care about the rest of the work thats been done while I was gone. Struggling to even talk to Dh about holiday or anything else. Completely ruined my return home.

I know some may say, ah it's just plants.... But they cost so much money and effort and time, and can't be replaced just like that. I'm going to have to spend hundreds to fill it up again, and it's going to take years for them to establish. And it needs so much extra work and attention now.

Gutted. Aibu for feeling this way.

Any advice? What do I say to the builder? Dh didn't say anything at the time as he hates confrontation but wtaf?!! And now the builder will think I'm being unreasonable. But it was my sanctuary, my space, my privacy.

Ps please forgive any spelling errors, I've barely slept.
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Because it's not opinion, it's the law.

The builder has destroyed property and done a huge amount of damage which was not in any written agreement of work to be carried out.

It doesn't matter if he thought he was being helpful - he shouldn't have done major work without a contract and he is liable.

"He said/ she said" would not hold up. They would look at what was agreed contractually.

I feel your pain, I would be devastated if that happened.

I had a "gardener" in last year - I told him to cut the lawns and the hedges and trim the growth from the trees and big shrubs. I came home and he'd gone over all the summer-flowering bulbs in the beds with a strimmer. Couldn't believe it. I hadn't asked him to do anything with the beds. If he'd have known the first thing about plants he would have left them be. He clearly wasn't a gardener, just a lad with a load of power tools.

That's just not true.

I disagree.

What the builders did goes way above and beyond 'clearing up' or 'clearing the garden'. This is major work - they brought in a team to do this. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to bill OP for the work.

Clearing the garden of their own waste is understandable. But cutting down trees and ripping out her lawn because he personally thought her garden looked "overgrown" is absolutely unreasonable.

OPs DH did not agree to removing all trees, shrubs and the lawn and leaving the garden empty.

If you clear up, you make something tidy, put things away and throw away rubbish. You don't strip it back to nothing.

I used to work as a gardener.

You have no idea how many of these lunatics are out there.

They were the bane of my life.

What do you think isn't true?

The builder would be unable to demonstrate that this work was mutually agreed with the customer (because it wasn't).

Under the consumer rights act 2015, work must be carried out with reasonable care and skill. Ripping out plants and trees worth hundreds of pounds because of an ambiguous instruction would not meet this criteria.

Professionals must act with reasonable diligence and avoid taking irreversible or destructive action without full consent.

Consent was not clearly established in this case - it was a dubious verbal "agreement" and a miscommunication. That does not cut it.

The builder would be liable if OP decided to take this further. Whether she does or not is up to her and obviously you hear about horrible repercussions from people who go after tradies to get what they are reasonably entitled to - so it would be completely understandable not to. However, legally, she absolutely could hold him responsible for this.

OP, apologies as I haven't read the full thread, but could you ask the builder what happened to the plants (= where he took them)? It might be possible to get at least some of them back, if they were ripped out with root systems intact (thinking perennials, bulbs, for example). What a horrible thing to happen. I'd definitely ask for compensation.

Dont let the hospice patient cloud your judgement. You need to strike while the irons hot and get him round to your place pronto. Tell him you are want him to replace all the plants that he removed at his own expense. Or, take the money from his final bill.
What a fucking idiot - both of them

Hmmm...

YANBU OP. I’m not so sure that it was a misunderstanding. Your plants would have been worth a lot of money
It can’t harm to contact your builder to let him know that by “ clearing your garden “ you didn’t expect him to dig up and take your expensive plants . Ask for them back (they might still have them ) . If they can’t return them ask for money off your bill to enable you to replace them .
I would be furious at DH for not challenging them when there was the opportunity to rectify the situation .

I have nothing helpful to add, just wanted to say that I understand and I’m sorry about your lovely garden.
I would be completely devastated by this.
It won’t bring back the precious plants and trees that you had but I hope you can be compensated in some way.

I echo what @ThorsRaven said. You should be looking at a claim for a few thousand.
In your position I'd be having a good cry and a major rant, and then I'd be looking for a good local garden designer to come round and a) give you an idea of the like for like replacement cost and b) outline a completely new plan using whatever plants you have that are still viable. I've designed a couple of gardens myself and had a couple more designed professionally, the professional ones were way better and perhaps the best value for money I've ever had. This is your chance to get rid of all the niggles that didn't quite work, move the plants that were never really happy where they were, and create a space for something you've always wanted. I'd also be looking to propagate from any plants of sentimental value that can't be salvaged, see it as a new lease of life for them. Good luck.

What on earth is wrong with you? Quite clear there was a team of men clearing the garden.

To all those saying 'get the plants back' - any plant that has been ripped out, instead of carefully dug out, and then discarded in a heap somewhere in this weather is never going to get back to what it was before. If you want to move a plant without damaging it you have to take very great care, and even then some plants resent being moved and refuse to grow. OP will need new plants of an equivalent age to restore what she had.

It must be very distressing but large established shrubs are quite difficult to remove. I'd water around them in the evening and wait to see what regrowth you get as that is likely to be faster than planting something new, and you'd need to grub out the roots to replant.

Post what happened on your local facebook page or free page with a list of what you have lost and if it's anything like ours then you'll get people offering to split perennials for you come the autumn. You might also get offers of free seeds/ spare plants that people will part with now, depends what you're lost.

This

Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, OP.
You most certainly are not being unreasonable.
I'd be devastated too, not to mention absolutely bloody furious!

Clearing up doesn’t mean removing established trees / bushes / hedges. I’m sorry OP I’d be really upset as well

This.
Definitely ask if they can be retrieved. They might even still be in the back of his van.
Failing that, draw a plan of what went where whilst it's still fresh in your mind so that you can recreate what you can if it.
I'm so sorry, my garden is also made up of plants that I've inherited or been given as lovely gifts. I really feel for you.

It sounds like a complete breakdown of communication between, you, your DH and the builder. Lack of articulate instructions were builders are concerned can cause chaos at best, and a lot of expense at worst. You need to be on to them ALL the time, unless you know them well.

I would be heartbroken, I’m so sorry for you OP. I have similarly sentimental plants all over my garden. If you know the variety of the trees you may be able to buy the same one, not the same for you of course but still a connection to the person who gave you cuttings etc.
The lawn is replaceable quickly, but trees and shrubs take time, I can’t imagine what he was thinking, literally no one would want every single thing, even structures like trees, removed, I mean. It’s just a bizzare thing to do - even more so without checking “shall I also take out any trees” type of conversation.

Seriously!.
A year over, I’m sorry but sounds like you had the cowboys in.
I doubt very much if he’ll replace anything and will try to add the garden clearance to your bill.
This is why cowboy operators get away with stuff.

I mean Op's husband said "clear up" which to me means get rid of rubbish.

Gardener's dad seems to have just heard "clear" which is what he offered!

Well obviously he needs to replace the plants.

No sane person would think that clearing the garden after building work meant pulling the shrubs and trees out. Why would anyone think that?

God that would gut me, I'm so sorry op, what idiots they are.