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Old 09-04-2018, 03:38 PM
 
Location: Canada
14,723 posts, read 14,885,577 times
Reputation: 34775

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Quote:
Originally Posted by greatblueheron View Post
I can barely talk about it...that's how upset I am....

I can totally relate and sympathize to how upset you are. This summer I had something similar happen here, only it was not with the rhodies (there are 20 of them and all are 40 years old trees now) but it happened with 5 really big gorgeous rosemary shrubs that I have been nurturing and shaping into topiary forms for the past three years, as well as with 2 of the 7 clematis plants that I put in this year.

I take care of all the trees and flower beds here but I don't do the lawns or edging and weed whacking, the residential manager does that and does a good enough job of it, he knows where the lawns stop and the flower beds start and he avoids the flower beds. But for a couple of weeks this summer the manager was away on vacation and HIS boss hired a couple of landscaping and lawn care guys to come mow the lawns and edging. The older fellow who owns the landscaping business is okay at his work but his younger assistant/trainee is a dimwit who doesn't pay attention to what he's doing or looking at. I wasn't there at the time they arrived and by the time I got outside that young fellow had decimated a flower bed along one wall. He had already cut down 5 of my beautiful big rosemary shrubs and 2 of the clematis plants and 1 big tuberous begonia and 1 small rose with his weed whacker, it's the kind that has a circular spinning blade on it and it cuts through tough wood like it's going through butter. I stopped him just in time before he was about to start cutting down a 6th rosemary shrub.

.....

I freaked out on him (and his boss) like a wailing banshee, I was so shocked and so angry. I think everyone on the whole block must have heard me screaming at them because neighbours were coming out onto the sidewalk or poking their heads out windows to see what was going on. I still get upset about it any time I think of it. The guy's excuse - his boss told him to use the weed whacker along that wall, so he did it without paying any attention to what was there. Anyway, they were sent away and the managers here have agreed not to have them back here to do any work again.

.
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Old 09-04-2018, 03:43 PM
 
Location: Nantahala National Forest, NC
27,074 posts, read 11,775,613 times
Reputation: 30347
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoisite View Post
I can totally relate and sympathize to how upset you are. This summer I had something similar happen here, only it was not with the rhodies (there are 20 of them and all are 40 years old trees now) but it happened with 5 really big gorgeous rosemary shrubs that I have been nurturing and shaping into topiary forms for the past three years, as well as with 2 of the 7 clematis plants that I put in this year.

I take care of all the trees and flower beds here but I don't do the lawns or edging and weed whacking, the residential manager does that and does a good enough job of it, he knows where the lawns stop and the flower beds start and he avoids the flower beds. But for a couple of weeks this summer the manager was away on vacation and HIS boss hired a couple of landscaping and lawn care guys to come mow the lawns and edging. The older fellow who owns the landscaping business is okay at his work but his younger assistant/trainee is a dimwit who doesn't pay attention to what he's doing or looking at. I wasn't there at the time they arrived and by the time I got outside that young fellow had decimated a flower bed along one wall. He had already cut down 5 of my beautiful big rosemary shrubs and 2 of the clematis plants and 1 big tuberous begonia and 1 small rose with his weed whacker, it's the kind that has a circular spinning blade on it and it cuts through tough wood like it's going through butter. I stopped him just in time before he was about to start cutting down a 6th rosemary shrub.

.....

I freaked out on him (and his boss) like a wailing banshee, I was so shocked and so angry. I think everyone on the whole block must have heard me screaming at them because neighbours were coming out onto the sidewalk or poking their heads out windows to see what was going on. I still get upset about it any time I think of it. The guy's excuse - his boss told him to use the weed whacker along that wall, so he did it without paying any attention to what was there. Anyway, they were sent away and the managers here have agreed not to have them back here to do any work again.

.

OMG....you certainly have the right to be furious. That makes me so mad, for you. And I know how slowly rosemary grows too.

What an idiot. Do they not teach them the difference in a plant and a weed???

Thanks for your comments...
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Old 09-04-2018, 03:47 PM
 
2,373 posts, read 1,897,260 times
Reputation: 3983
I'm mad just reading this. He would be fired from entering my property if he did this. And I would truthfully put his info on social media and let neighbors know how bad he is...how stupid or whatever made him start work before you got there...unable to follow directions, thinking he'd get his money sooner if he did the work sooner than when you got there. I'd be posting pix on social media, contacting local landscape centers who may refer gardeners. I sure wouldn't pay him for the destruction...including any work he did that day, even the lawn because you can't get anymore money from him than what you owe him today. What a rat. Sorry this happened to you.
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Old 09-04-2018, 03:59 PM
 
Location: Nantahala National Forest, NC
27,074 posts, read 11,775,613 times
Reputation: 30347
Quote:
Originally Posted by petsandgardens View Post
I'm mad just reading this. He would be fired from entering my property if he did this. And I would truthfully put his info on social media and let neighbors know how bad he is...how stupid or whatever made him start work before you got there...unable to follow directions, thinking he'd get his money sooner if he did the work sooner than when you got there. I'd be posting pix on social media, contacting local landscape centers who may refer gardeners. I sure wouldn't pay him for the destruction...including any work he did that day, even the lawn because you can't get anymore money from him than what you owe him today. What a rat. Sorry this happened to you.

Oh thanks....he's just the guy that mows the lawn, not a gardener at all which is why it ended up like this.

He didn't follow my instructions and he's done that before too. But it wasn't intentional, the cutting like that, he just had no clue. I'll still use him to mow but never again anything else!!!

I'll reduce his pay for sure.
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Old 09-04-2018, 04:01 PM
 
3,211 posts, read 2,961,770 times
Reputation: 14632
I'm sorry that happened to you. It would have upset me as well. I bet they do grow back though, and they'll be like new.


This spring, my husband heavily pruned my wisteria just before it bloomed. All those lovely blooms were decapitated. It wasn't the first time he did it, and it probably won't be the last. Some people just aren't gardeners.
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Old 09-04-2018, 06:37 PM
 
5,989 posts, read 6,748,914 times
Reputation: 18485
When we moved into a house with 50 year overgrown rhododendrons, we stupidly cut off about 2 ft from the top, so that we could see out the windows. In 6 years, they hadn't recovered. Next owners just pulled them out and replanted tiny new shrubs.

Meanwhile, at new house, 4 yr old kid decided to play super hero and show off by chopping down our rhododendrons with a sword. What can you do? It took ten years, but they DID grow back, now are overgrown.
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Old 09-04-2018, 06:39 PM
 
12,003 posts, read 11,851,991 times
Reputation: 22684
I am so sorry. Since you live where rhododendrons are native, this may indicate that they'll recover more rapidly. Hope so, anyway! Perhaps adding some acid-lovers fertilizer next season might assist them as well.
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Old 09-04-2018, 06:41 PM
 
12,003 posts, read 11,851,991 times
Reputation: 22684
Quote:
Originally Posted by parentologist View Post
When we moved into a house with 50 year overgrown rhododendrons, we stupidly cut off about 2 ft from the top, so that we could see out the windows. In 6 years, they hadn't recovered. Next owners just pulled them out and replanted tiny new shrubs.

Meanwhile, at new house, 4 yr old kid decided to play super hero and show off by chopping down our rhododendrons with a sword. What can you do? It took ten years, but they DID grow back, now are overgrown.
You let your four-year-old play with a real sword??

I'm glad the damage was limited to your rhododendrons!
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Old 09-04-2018, 06:55 PM
 
Location: Nantahala National Forest, NC
27,074 posts, read 11,775,613 times
Reputation: 30347
Quote:
Originally Posted by CraigCreek View Post
I am so sorry. Since you live where rhododendrons are native, this may indicate that they'll recover more rapidly. Hope so, anyway! Perhaps adding some acid-lovers fertilizer next season might assist them as well.


I have some fertilizer I meant to use this year and didn't...will do next yr.

Thanks
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Old 09-04-2018, 06:56 PM
 
Location: Nantahala National Forest, NC
27,074 posts, read 11,775,613 times
Reputation: 30347
Quote:
Originally Posted by parentologist View Post
When we moved into a house with 50 year overgrown rhododendrons, we stupidly cut off about 2 ft from the top, so that we could see out the windows. In 6 years, they hadn't recovered. Next owners just pulled them out and replanted tiny new shrubs.

Meanwhile, at new house, 4 yr old kid decided to play super hero and show off by chopping down our rhododendrons with a sword. What can you do? It took ten years, but they DID grow back, now are overgrown.

Goodness.....this time no more pruning with a sword!
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