Gardener has "crown lifted" (ruined) our tree

[SadAboutMyAcer]

We hired gardener to clear out the front garden (complete mess) and do tidying/weeding in the back garden (messy, unruly and weedy but also structured and still fundamentally a garden - we had it looking tidy and lovely ourselves just earlier in the year).

Before they came to do the work the boss did a walk around with me to discuss everything that was to be done. We didn't discuss the beautiful, established head-height red acer in the back garden, whose foliage reached almost to the floor creating a "tree cave" which was my children's den in the garden. As you can probably tell, I liked it how it was...

They've come to do the work and have "crown lifted" the tree, removing all lower branches and completely altering it's shape and appearance (for the worse). I so regret not specifically saying "don't touch the Acer" or making sure I was at home.

We're otherwise overall happy with their work which would be a very fair price if they had left the Acer alone. What would you do?

I sent the fellow a message saying we were really not happy with the Acer and he replied that they reasoned they would lift the crown to allow light and growing room underneath it. But isn't fundamentally and permanently changing the shape of an established tree something you should check at least once with the owner?

It was still in full leaf also and I'm slightly worried it could become sick or die from such an aggressive prune (I'd say 2/3 to 3/4 of the foliage is gone)

Does anyone with any gardening knowledge know whether the tree's foliage is ever likely to reach the ground again? The gardener seems to think it can recover it's previous shape but I doubt it's possible.

And I'm not wrong, it does look absolutely awful? Does anyone like it how it now is?

The picture may not be that clear & don't have a great photo for comparison without my kids in (which I don't want to share) but the area underneath where there is no grass was previously entirely covered by it's (lovely) canopy.

Feel so sad.

Did the work involve trimming / pruning other shrubs? Or was it just weeding? I think if they were trimming other stuff back then it wouldn't be a stretch to have trimmed the acer as well.

It is hard to see if they traced each hanging branch back to the base and took it out or just used a pair of shears to demolish it.

I'd be seething to be honest. A plant like that should only be pruned back when dormant. And it should be done with intention not hacked at.

If the foliage was to the floor previously then I wouldn’t be happy with this. Also for them to do something not discussed isn’t great. I have beautiful trees in my gardens and if someone came along and decided to cut them back without discussion I’d be quite upset. Sorry I can’t help with the regrowth issue as I don’t know.

Vandalism. These people you’ve employed are hacks. A real gardener would absolutely know to ask because of how long it takes an acer to grow:

These are just people who can cut and pick things. You can’t do anything about it now but I would never use them again

Do they have horticultural qualifications? If you paid mow and blow prices, then you get mow and blow?

It’s probably technically a fine job but morally and aesthetically I’d be sick 😭 They’re gorgeous trees I had to leave one behind when I left my husband it was gorgeous. Hopefully it’ll grow back down but will take a while 😏

My partner did the same to mine in the summer when it's not supposed to be cut. It's absolutely fine, recovered really well and now looks great and healthy although i don't think the bottom will ever grow back.

I wouldn’t be happy with this. The only thing that you can do is not use them again.

Yes it did, a hedge fairly near to the tree was pruned and a large buddleia near to the tree was taken to the base (but both with permission / discussion before the work was done)

Any decent gardener knows you don’t cut trees and hedges at this time of year!!

I think it's fair to say we paid mow and blow prices.

But we weren't asking or expecting for professional horticultural services. We wanted them to tidy areas of the garden which were specifically discussed. And then, out of the blue they did this to the Acer without asking. I just wasn't expecting them to do unannounced tree surgery.

That's really encouraging thank you. I'm just sad because I loved the shape it had and I don't think it can ever be the same again. And right now it looks awful!

You can't hold back money though because it was obviously overgrown and they'd been asked to tidy the trees and shrubs up.

They have traced each branch back to the base and carefully removed it. It has been carefully done I think. It's just brutal/extreme and will completely change the shape of the tree. Basically , they've intentionally altered the shape of the tree to remove the shady area underneath it, but without asking if that's what we wanted.

I think with the right underplanting it could look nice as a standard. Acers in Japenese gardens always seem to have their crowns lifted e.g.
www.arundelarboretum.co.uk/blogs/knowhow/create-a-japanese-garden-with-ease?srsltid=AfmBOop0aaEttiOoaerBIs6aLak6nlNEX9rpx-kIWADYjR85dv6w4mn5

Thank you that's really helpful. I think that's maybe where I need to go with this, just accepting the situation and working with it as best I can. It comforts me that the new shape could be beautiful in a different way!

There was actually a surprisingly healthy (despite the very deep shade) azalea growing just underneath it which they have completely removed for no reason but they have said they will replace it free of charge.

In another area of the garden I asked them to remove brambles whilst preserving a hedge as best as possible and they've done a really great job with that, obviously taking care not to destroy the hedge.

I think this is a matter of personal taste but someone has taken it upon themselves to make the Acer how they'd like it but without asking us how we'd like it. I don't think the job they've done is badly done as such (other than possibly risking the health of the tree just due to the extent of it), it's just not the job we wanted and nor did we ask for it!

Yes- it's not clear when you say 'what should I do?' whether you're asking if you should pay! Hopefully not.

Sympathy for the kids den :( but surely you know that people have vastly differing ideas of 'tidying up' when it comes to gardens- skilled gardeners are in demand for a reason.

See, to me that is the key bit. I think if you'd had discussions about other specific pruning/trimming then they really should have discussed this.

I have an acer of that type. I lifted the canopy a bit and it has grown back well. Acers are slow growing, I feel your pain! That one has a natural canopy shape. I can see it has been carefully pruned, just not how you want it!

Don't worry I've already paid them!

I guess I was contemplating whether to bring them back as there's still work to be done. I'm happy with a lot of their other work and it's not as though they can brutalise the acer twice...

Also whether or not to discuss it again in person (Vs just instant messaging), or just move on now.

The guy I actually met to go through everything, I got a really good impression from. (Though maybe he's just a good salesman!).

But because of the amount of work, he had 2 others working with him and it was one of those who did the acer. I don't think it's badly done it's just not at all what we wanted. If they'd have asked we'd have told them not to touch the acer. But I guess getting 3 fellas in at once increases the risk of miscommunications, now that I think of it.

We are the ones who wanted it done quickly (hence a team working), and the pricing was very reasonable.

If I can make the Acer look nice in a different way, then I'll feel better about it...

The kids were genuinely devastated though. My eldest actually cried (he is v sensitive and was probably a bit tired after school). I think that's affected how I feel about it as well.

I’m so sorry OP 😢 they are beautiful, delicate trees, I would not be happy either. The hard cut back has probably fundamentally changed the shape of your tree unfortunately. I also have a tree ‘den’, a bush really in an umbrella shape that the kids enjoy playing in. A possible option (thinking what you could do to make up for the loss of your lovely shaped tree and play den for your DC) maybe have a look for a new umbrella shaped shrub or tree to plant up as a new den, and/or visit a garden /tree nursery and get a new acer if there is space elsewhere to plant one (though appreciate they can be expensive).

Oh, I feel for you! I had an Acer Garnet (finely dissected red foliage) in a large pot that my late husband bought many years ago. After he died, I felt it would do much better planted in the border, which I did - with great effort as the tub was so heavy. It settled in very well, until next door neighbour had ad his fence replaced just behind it. I was out, but they must have come into my garden, and completely broke off the leader, leaving a few lower branches. I was so upset.

Well, it slowly grew back, I had trained a lower branch to be a new leader, and you would never know it had suffered so much damage! It is very low growing, no more than 3 feet high, but all the branches completely cover the base in an umbrella shape.

So your lovely tree will probably recover, but it may be a few years before it looks as good as before.

Bloody hell I would have been INCANDESCENT with rage.

They have utterly wrecked it, and at a time of year when it was at its most spectacularly beautiful. Some acer varieties grow in that cascading way rather than as an upright tall tree, and seeing what they've done to it I'm guessing they are not proper 'gardeners' at all and simply garden maintenance types who just hack everything back to make it neat. No qualified horticulturalist would have done anything remotely like that to a lovely acer.

Please tell me you have not paid their bill.

The fact that they dug up and threw away the azalea under the acer demonstrates to me that the workers did not know what they were doing. An expert gardener would have known exactly what it was and left it there. But then they would not have butchered the acer to start with.

Sorry OP, my son would have cried too- our trees have names! I think if you dont have time to do things yourself then one gardener, that you trust, is worth their weight in gold- Gardens are too important to let cowboys loose in!