Lawn service has girdled my trees. Need advice on replacement.

14 years ago

I'm just sick about this. Last summer I discovered why so many of my trees were dying/doing poorly. The lawn service hired people who weed whacked my young trees and cut the bark deeply.

Every one of my trees has been harmed to some degree, and the owner has a "well I've seen some amazing things. Let's put some tar and paper tape and see what happens".

Well, no. Everything remaining is girdled between 30% to 95%. I know from this experience and from reading on line that trees may limp along forever and never be right. I don't intend to wait a decade before having him replace what's eventually going to die or never recover.

How should I best handle this? I have a beautiful Japanese Maple which is cut about a third around. I don't want to chop it down if it has a chance, but neither do I want to waste years of growth if it's best replaced.

He said he'd make good, but he's reluctant to spend more than he needs. From my POV, he's lucky I didn't sue him for the thousands upon thousands of dollars due to negligence.

Opinions?

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Comments (15)

Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
14 years ago
well I've seen some amazing things. Let's put some tar and paper tape and see what happens".

Horse pucky.

The overall situation is all too common. Review your contract and consider retaining a lawyer if you have cause. You'll need valuation of damage and loss by certified arborist, take lots of pix with the date stamp on. This is one reason why we have lawyers, because of widespread incompetence.

Dan
0
arktrees
14 years ago
Post some picture of the Maple, otherwise... NO MERCY! If he has done this to all of yours, you can be #$&% sure he has done the same thing to everyone else he has done work for.

JMHO
Arktrees
0
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Embothrium
14 years ago
Advice on replacement? Start by replacing the lawn service. After that, choose trees that interest you and use those to start over.
0
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
yes.. get rid of the service..

and then.. properly mulch the new plants .... so there is no reason for a mower or weed whip to get any closer than 2 feet from any plant ....

no grass up to your plants .. EVER

good luck

ken
0
denninmi
14 years ago
Small claims court. Should be an open and shut case. There isn't much debate about who did the damage, the owner already admitted the damage was his fault, and he is negligent in that he should have known and trained his people better, since this is a common problem.

Get an estimate from a professional arborist (shouldn't be too expensive, I'd hope) about which trees won't make it, and estimates from a couple of landscape companies about replacement costs, and then sue the guy in small claims court for the amount due up to the limit in your state (unless it's way over the small claims limit).

Take lots of pictures of the damage.
0
botann
14 years ago
"Let's put some tar and paper tape and see what happens".

It always amazes me how many unqualified lawn services there are....and that's from the owner! Horse pucky is right on Dan.

I agree with Ken, "No grass up to your plants...EVER".

I go as far as not planting trees out in the middle of the lawn by themselves at all. Well, for every rule, there are some cases where it can be broken. I even broke it myself with a Camperdown Elm.
0
dsieber
14 years ago
I agree with small claims route ( getting a lawyer may lead to high charges for something you already can clearly prove. If you have lots a photos and replacement costs it should be good for small claims court. Unless all the trees are expensive as a J. Maple you should be able to come in under the small claims amount.
0
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
14 years ago
Small claims court has a dollar limit. If the damages are greater, then you go to civil.

Dan
0
iforgotitsonevermind
14 years ago
Still no pictures have been posted?
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churchvillegardener
Original Author
14 years ago
Sorry, I've been away and unable to take a pic. Here are two. One is the Japanese Maple. The other wasn't due to weed whacking but a collision by a riding mower when the driver swung too close to the tree. It's another maple with chartreuse leaves. It's about 4" caliper.

I looked at my lilacs, and they are all hurt too. Every plant except for two planted late in the season last year is damaged to some degree. These are among those with the least damage. The black is the tar that was applied last fall.

What's you opinion on their viability?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:347108}}
0
Embothrium
14 years ago
Might keep growing, as though nothing had happened - trees do want to live. But nobody can say for sure.
0
churchvillegardener
Original Author
14 years ago
Sorry, but if there's a way to imbed pics I'm not familiar with it. Here's a link for the second tree.

Do they need to be replaced?

Ack.

Just got my new Hori Hori. I think I'll go stab some weeds ;)

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:347111}}
0
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
14 years ago
Looks like someone ill-advisedly put wound paint in the wounds. Oops. Nonetheless, they may recover, they may not. Hard to say. Some sort of action/complaint against company should be done tho.

Dan
0
arktrees
14 years ago
Personally, I don't like the looks of either, and at the least it would take 2-3 years to "heal", but could fail some time down the line. Which would mean replacement then, the responsible party may then claim no responsibility, and your delay in having a new plant established to do what you wanted in the first place. In addition, in the second pic there appears to be very small buds growing from just at ground level, if so, I take that as a bad sign the the tree is basically in panic mode and believes it is dying. Lastly, I see no sign of callus forming in either pic (maybe I'm missing it). In short I would try for replacement of them all. The responsible party can go to a tree farm and buy HEALTHY replacements there, assuming they actually have a business license. Again, you can bet yours aren't the only one's in this condition, and the responsible party needs motivation to do their job correctly.

JMHO
Arktrees
0
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
14 years ago
A-men bruddah.

Dan
0

Lawn service has girdled my trees. Need advice on replacement.

Comments (15)

Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)

arktrees

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Lawn service has girdled my trees. Need advice on replacement.

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