spirea chopped

Discussion in 'Woody Plants' started by joclyn, Jun 11, 2009.

  1. joclyn

    joclyn Rising Contributor

    Messages:
    2,707
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    philly, pa, usa 6b
    without my permission and while i wasn't home, someone being 'helpful' chopped up my beautiful, full, just starting to bloom spirea. of course, most of what he chopped off is right in the front, too, so it looks like total crap. he cut out two thirds of what it was. i'm talking chopped it down to less than 6 inches. will it survive?? am i going to have to chop the rest of it down so it's all one height?

    i am so ticked i'm calm - and, when it comes to me and how i am, that's just really, really, really bad.

    he also took out some of the hydrangea - only took a third off of that. and one of the branches he took off of that was one of the tallest and it had the most buds - so, i'm not going to get to enjoy that...and that one has struggled for a few years. finally last year it was on good footing and had had decent growth. now it's gone.

    he also removed the mums and the blackeyed susan.

    yeah, he took that weed out (that i'd posted looking for id for). that is completely beside the point. I didn't ask him to do anything. and, since that has a tap root, it needed to be treated with something before taking it out...so i'll have them to look forward to next year. and, for chrissake, you DON'T cut down bushes just when they're getting ready to bloom.

    i'm just devastated...i've been nurturing that hydrangea for years (almost lost it 4 years ago by over applying fertilizer, my stupidity) and it had just completely recovered last year. and the spirea was a transplant that also had just gotten completely adjusted last year...this was the first time it was full of flower heads. i was SO looking forward to seeing them in bloom.

    it's been one thing after another for a month straight...almost every day there's been something happening that's just a 'screw you' thing. i can completely understand why people 'go postal' because i'm just about there.

    what is wrong with people? i would never go onto someone's property without their permission and cut their bushes...it's actually illegal to do that here, too. it's one thing to trim something that's overgrown the property line...you're allowed to trim it back to the line...this guy was working for the neighbor and had no right to do what he did to my plants....even if he'd just removed the weed plants, it would still have been wrong. he didn't have my permission to do anything. the mystery of who's been cutting my vinca is solved though...he's been trimming that, too.
     
  2. levilyla

    levilyla Active Member

    Messages:
    343
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Baltimore, Md.
    How about talking with your neighbor and have him/her replace what was damaged. Your Spriea will recover as will your Hydrangea...although maybe no blooms this year depending.
     
  3. M. D. Vaden

    M. D. Vaden Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    843
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Beaverton, Oregon
    Hello.

    Read your first paragraphs. With the light color text, hard to read after that. But seem to have the basics from the beginning.

    Should recover. If anything else, you could see sun damage to remaining stems if they were shaded before and exceptionally hot weather arrives.

    But new sprouts should emerge.

    Sounds like an intense change for a plant that was not all that big yet.
     
  4. Bluewing

    Bluewing Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,626
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Hey Joclyn,

    WOW! What nerve!

    What was that guy thinking??? Oh, I'd be more then P OFF! That idiot obviously does NOT have much in the way of smarts!
    I'm with levilyla on this, i'd have ALL the damaged plants either replaced, or want money for the value of them all.
    It's not just the plants, but he also trespassed! I'd be calling the cops! I wonder why he did such a dumb stupid thing???

    I recently had to call the cops when some idiot decided to dump a "truck load" of grass clippings AND outdoor plant tags on the edge of my property! To make a long story short, the guy/idiot will be coming here Monday morning to pick it all back up!

    I hope you can get some kind of compensation from Mr. Scissorhands! What he did was just plain wrong!
     
  5. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

    Messages:
    629
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    Victoria [Saanich, actually, northeast of Victoria
    This same thing happened to me when we were residents of Halifax, Nova Scotia. I hired a drop-by fellow asking for work, and he did weeding, etc., several times, although I knew he was peculiar. I mean, he had some kind of illness in the upper story, obvious. My neighbour was afraid of him and wouldn't go near him, advised me to do the same. My husband and I went on vacation, came home and the fellow had "pruned" our yard -- and wanted around $1000, but "would settle for $400". Pruning consisted of nearly flattening all my rhodos. Grrr. Naturally, I did not pay him. It turns out the neighbours were so afraid of him they didn't even call the police to protect my property -- i.e. he might act out vengeance on them... Well, he camped out on the sidewalk waiting for his money and I began to be a bit afraid and called the police myself. They knew him, he'd pulled things like this on other residents, mowed lawns unasked then demanded payment... After the police spoke with him for a while he went off, and I did not see him again before we moved to Victoria BC... pox on him! Maybe he moved to Philadelphia.
     

Share This Page