Landlord destroyed the garden

[zo2812]

So I completely understand the responsibility, I am a tenant have been living here for 6 years. There is a small back abd front garden however from when I moved here, there were trees in the front and back garden, I have tried my best to keep them trimmed, but a retirement property ,on the street adjoining has made me aware that the ivy from the property is damaging their roof.

It's hard to see, but yes, I can see it, after this the lady came to my house and I reported to the property agent, they promised to sort it out , however, they have not tackled it at all!!

We had a front and back garden, they have thcompletely removed the back garden even though the Ivy has grown from the front garden!!

So we had trees in the back and the wall runs from the front to the back, however the back wall is not adjacent to any properties, we had bushes flowers and trees in the back garden, I was warned about waiting for work while I was at work.

I agreed, it was supposedly a trim back and remove the ivy from the next door property, front garden,which is where the ivy crawls over is untouched.

Back garden, which I entered into a tenant agreement with and was no problem had been completely removed...

I work long hours and was told to expect, am so upset, also what about the ivy that is still destroying the roof of (as I might add) a retirement property!! Who came around to me, and I promised I would get onto the landlord!!

Do you mean the contractor has dug up shrubs & trees or that they have been pruned back very hard?

If hard-pruned, they will grow back. If they've dug out the lawn & shrubs with a digger, I would complain to the landlord, and also point out that they have not cut back the ivy in the front garden, the original job. Tell them they will need to come back & bring ladders.

I had the retirement property report that the ivy from my front garden was damaging their roof. I reported to the managed tenancy that this was the case, I asked for further guidance.

I was informed that I needed to allow a visit from a gardener, I showed them the property and problem with the ivy, they said no problem, I reported back to the estate agents acting on behalf of the landlord, they told me you must allow access at any time to the front and back garden over the next few weeks.

Came back from work over a couple of days, I do work 12 hour shifts, to find they had completely removed all shrubs and trees from the back garden, there is now no back garden, just a fence.

The front garden with all the trees, has not been touched at all, perhaps they are going to remove all the front garden as well..

I'm just disgusted, as i was told I would have a trim back of both gardens and to keep them tidy!

Seems like an absolute piss take of my tenancy agreement! If they do the same to the front garden they will just remove it without warning?! Is that ok to do that?

Why did they do that when they haven't even addressed rhe problem with the front garden and ivy growing up the wall and damage to an adjacent house!! There were beautiful trees in the back, now everyone can see into our backyard and they left an absolute mess !!

Hi no, they had warned me would all be trimmed back and tidied, removed the whole back garden...

Everything removed, all shrubs,plants flowers, everything. Just dirt now

They know this, I also sent a complaint letter from the retirement property, adjacent , they had come calling to the property, I promised I would sort it out with the estate agent, as it a a managed property, I have no right to remove trees without his say so.

I set all this out, but they just removed the entire back garden, despite advising me there would be a trim back of front and back.

They have left tree stumps in the backyard and a massive mess, ok I can deal, but it's not ok

Well it is okay, because it isn’t your property. The landlord can do what they like with their gardens.

Of course they can, but what responsibility do they owe to the retirement property next door whose roof is being destroyed by the ivy from our front garden?

Which wasn't addressed by the original complaint, which might I add wasn't by me? Do I have the right to take down the trees without landlords permission? Or would you like to rethink your comment?

It’s none of your business. You pass the message on to your landlord about the Ivy and leave it at that. You don’t need to do anything else - not your property, not your obligation.

And no, of course you have no right to take down any trees on a property that isn’t yours.

That sounds terrible. You need to take photos and email them to the landlord. If there is a property manager send them an email of the photos too. Save the email you sent, so down the track you can’t be blamed for the garden being destroyed.

Then start a new garden. All in pots and removable planter boxes. This way you can take your garden with you when you move.

I don’t think there is anything you can do about the garden being ruined.

If you had read my comment, the damage is done by the front garden trees and ivy overhanging their house, not the back which was completely taken out, with nothing done to address the actual problem?

I don't care if they remove the back and front garden, however if you read my comment, I was told trimming back of both would happen, not removal of the back.

I don't mind if they remove entire back yard even though they said trim back, however they didn't need to do this ..?

Unfortunately it’s done now. Maybe move. But absolutely send lots of photos.

Again, not your circus, not your monkeys. Pass the neighbours complaint on and leave it be.

Barbie, you don't seem to understand how a managed property works.. the landlord pays to have an estate agent manage it, I don't even have his or her address, I go through them. They actually pay to have their property managed? And I'm sure they have a say, but you don't seem to understand how it works

It sounds like the "gardener" was just a slash and burn merchant and not a real gardener who knows anything about plants. You need to report this to the Landlord and ask him if this was his instruction and if so what is he planning to replace the plants with. Surely he is not going to just leave it bare? Maybe he is planning on putting down paving slabs to minimise maintenance.

Also point out that the actual problem of the ivy in the front garden has been totally ignored and still needs sorting out and ask if they are planning on destroying the front garden too.

It sounds awful Op, and a travesty to rip out an established garden like that.

Barbie, I do still have some rights to know what goes on since I pay rent, it is not ok to do whatever, I take it you don't rent

Thanks lardo,

Yes I do think that they were not actually gardeners and the landlord, despite trusting the management property would be extremely upset that his garden was treated like this.

My neighbour knew the landlord and he had spent a lot of time on his garden, he was very proud of it, and it was lovely.

Unfortunately, management property looks for the cheap option, if you saw the mess they left it, it's fine.. of course it's not my garden or my business, but why demolish it with no reason?!

Someone else put a lot of effort into it and I tended it and enjoyed it!?

I will put in pictures and ask for landlord address, since I was not told whole garden in back removed and also very bad for the landlord, not sure this was approved

Thank you for the useful advice, I'm upset that the back garden was removed but of course I can love with that, it's difficult to understand why the property management would do that, yet not adress the problem of the ivy damaging a property.

Even though it's not my property, I still feel responsible since I live here and I can see the ivy on the roof next door, it's a retirement property, and they had come to the house and asked me, I gave them the estate agents number and forwarded a letter they had posted to me.

Nothing was done for a long time, I don't have contact with the landlord, I pushed as it's not fair on the retirement property! I'd be willing to have work done myself, but that would mean cutting back trees and removing ivy from this and the adjacent property.

I wouldn't do this without consent as it is not my property, I was just looking for advice on how to broach this, I'm utterly confused as to why this meant taking out the back garden but how would you word this?

Seriously? Wow. I guess part of the reason this forum is useful is to keep up with what people like you think. You’d never believe it otherwise to be honest.

You'd never believe it either

Trolls exist

Now you are proof

I'm not quite sure why people have made some of the comments they have obviously if you're paying rent and it's your home you're going to be upset if the garden you've become attached to is decimated and I don't think it helps to make comments saying it's not their property, obviously not but is still their home

Post a genuine question about something and you are sure to get a few trolls as well as a good few genuine responses, the genuine replies have helped a lot, so I will ignore the trolls with nothing better to do and use the food advice to help.

Mumsnet, you need to filter better