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Gardening

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Original poster

I think gardener has destroyed my garden. will it recover

41 replies

meddie · 07/04/2017 17:24

I recently had a shoulder op so asked a garden maintainance company to come do cut and trim back of my garden then 2 weekly maintainace. I have come home today to a back garden where all the ivy has been cut back to the wood, no foliage, my strawberry bed and my borders look like they have been attacked with a strimmer, all my lavender plants, ferns and fuscia plants are stumps in the ground like 2 inches high. they have basically flattened the whole garden and borders. I had a large patch of crocosomia which was 12 inches high and you cant even see where it was sprouting. It looks bloody awful. Is this normal. I have never hired anyone to do my garden and now it looks like a bomb has hit it. Not a single plant has survived. I have a beautiful clematis that had already spread up the trellis and would have flowered soon and they have cut it back to a 6 inch stump it looks horrendous

OP posts:

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Original poster

meddie · 08/04/2017 15:25

I discussed the job with him. said I wanted the grass cut. the ivy thinned out and a general tidy up of the garden and borders ie weed them not attack them with a strimmer and flatten everything. I even said the clematis had already been pruned . I pointed at it. said how it was lovely when it bloomed.
He agreed said ok. so the Ivy chamfered a bit..
This firm does my next door neighbours garden. Its immaculate though a little boring. Just lawn and hedges, but the lawn is gorgeous , like a bowling green . thats why i asked for their details. I am beyond gutted. I had a lovely rambling garden and now its flattened and ugly

OP posts:

AlternativeTentacle · 08/04/2017 15:56

Meddie - it will grow back though. But you need to complain and complain so that you get them to replace plants that will not now flower this year or that they have killed with their incompetence.

gettinfedduppathis · 08/04/2017 17:10

Oh. My. God. That is absolutely appalling. If I were you, I'd take photos of absolutely everything and demand not just a refund, but considerable compensation. Contact a large plant nursery and get quotes for the replacement with full-sized plants of everything they've butchered - that will give you an idea of how much to claim, and a list of prices provided by a reputable firm would also be useful if it comes to court. I might also be tempted to get the journalist and the photographer from the local newspaper to come round as well...

Kr1stina · 08/04/2017 19:12

I'm so sorry , that's awful

JT05 · 08/04/2017 19:41

It must be soul destroying for you. The clematis will probably grow back stronger than ever. I had to have one cut down when trees needed pruning and was resigned to planting another when I spotted strong new growth from the dried stumps. So there might be hope.
Ivy of course recovers very quickly.

timtam23 · 08/04/2017 22:14

That looks terrible. They seem to have attacked everything with a strimmer and/or hedge trimmer. I hope you manage to get an apology and replacement plants from them

Mermaidinthesea123 · 09/04/2017 15:51

That is shocking, I would be demanding compensation for the brutal murder of my garden.

greeeen · 09/04/2017 16:09

That is awful, I would certainly be asking for compensation!

ElasticFirecracker · 10/04/2017 09:29

I'm so sympathetic. I think most people who claim to be gardeners are nothing if the kind. They are just hedge trimmers and strimmer wielders.

I had all my fruit trees ruined by a 'gardener' who assured me he had 'been to college'. They have never recovered !

Semaphorically · 10/04/2017 09:33

Oh I have so much sympathy
Gardeners did this to my garden once and I cried - things cut back to dead wood that killed them, beautiful green abundance backed down to nothing. I was devastated. I now ensure that I am present and keep an eye on them if I need any big stuff done that I can't handle myself.

Yes, you must seek compensation. Some of the plants will recover but some won't.

shovetheholly · 10/04/2017 09:44

This isn't gardening. This is someone with no horticultural knowledge going mad with power tools.

wonkylegs · 10/04/2017 09:54

They've done a terrible job, I know how heartbreaking that can be we had a 'gardener' last year who despite recommendations really was a butcher a bit similar to yours who killed a gorgeous flowering tree & didn't do what asked. I got rid and with great trepidation employed a new company this year. They came last week for a whole day to get started on a large section and so far I'm extremely happy. They took instruction well, if they were unsure they came and asked before doing work, and they worked extremely hard and have made a real difference in a day which in my garden is hard to do (1.5 acres in need of lots of TLC), I was worried as I had lots of mature plants surrounded by weeds & self seeded trees but now I have lots of beautiful mature plants surrounded by clear earth ready for me to do the fun bit.
I'm looking forward to them coming back in a fortnight.

Fantasticmissfoxy · 18/04/2017 08:15

That is awful - they have literally strimmed the hell out of everything! Agreed with taking photos of all destroyed plants (if you have any pics of what the garden was like before they came so much the better) and as stated above get prices to replace everything full sized plus labour costs to plant and let the 'gardening' company know you intend to claim against them.

ChishandFips33 · 18/04/2017 21:12

You must feel so down - first your shoulder, now this

You need to complain - do they have a Facebook page? Social media might be the way to go to get a response if other avenues are unsuccessful

Seeingadistance · 19/04/2017 00:18

That's awful. I feel quite ill looking at those photos.

You should contact whoever is in charge, get them out to look at the damage they have done, and get them to compensate you financially - for the purchase of replacement plants, the cost of getting an actual gardener in to plant them, and something for the stress and inconvenience.

I would be devastated if someone had done this to my garden. Some of the plants will recover, some more quickly than others, but not all of them, and in the meantime ...urgh!

Kam123 · 30/08/2020 07:49

I know I'm very late to this discussion, but this happened to me today and I can't sleep and am devastated. Our house is going on the market in a week and I have a 3 month old baby so the garden was out of control, and I hired a gardener to weed and mulch it. I didn't keeping an eagle eye on him because of caring for my baby and packing up my house, and before I knew it he had mown down the majority of my garden. Dozens of perennials, trees and bushes now just stumps. I'm so sad I can't go backwards in time, so pissed since my house is going up for sale in a week. I'm just devastated. 7 years of making a beautiful garden ruined in one afternoon.

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