This is one of the oddest cases we’ve heard about lately, and J & A – who e-mailed to tell the story – fully acknowledge it pales in comparison to some of what we’ve had to report on recently. Nonetheless, they do want to put out the alert about someone who came into their yard and did work without permission – damaging work at that – read on:
Some of your readers will find it silly and even stupid that we’re as upset about this as we are, but others of your reader-gardeners will understand and might want to know.
When we got home (Sunday) someone had done all our yard work – mowed the lawn, trimmed the bushes and the roses, and cut back some of the plants. We take great pride in taking care of our yard, and wouldn’t hire anyone else to do it – most of our plants are rare, some are unique, and many are hard to grow in Seattle. We have a lot of young plants that we’ve been putting in this spring. We have to trim very carefully, and spend a lot of time watching over all of them.
The yard work damaged many of our plants, one right down at the base of the trunk so we’ll see if that one survives. One set of plants only produces new leaves twice a year, and most of the new leaves were “trimmed” off – and this is the first time those plants have produced new leaves since we transplanted them last summer. We were looking forward to seeing these plants finally recover and establish themselves in our new yard. Many of our plants are edible, and with the “trimming” that was done we won’t get to enjoy some of the fruits of our labors. The trimming wasn’t done very well either – leaves, twigs, and stems are all torn up, not nicely clipped.
Anyway – it’s an odd crime – trespassing and doing “yard work” but from where we stand it is extensive damage. We’ve filed a report with the police. The guy even left a card with his phone number on it. I think he hopes we’ll like his work and hire him. On the plus side, plants grow and it’s not a crime where anyone was hurt. We’re still sad.
Thanks for passing this on to the other proud gardeners out there,
J & A
Near Jefferson Square Safeway
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