My heart goes out to you. Most gardeners around here are clueless guys who can't get a regular job but can push a lawn mower or they are newbies in USA who speak no English. I've yet to meet any one of them with real knowledge.

My ex once pulled up all of my ranunculus just as they were emerging one spring. Thought they were weeds. Another time my landlord took a weedeater to all of my Dutch irises.

I actually do prune my azaleas into a hedge because they are across the front of my long front porch. If I left them natural, I'm afraid I'd look like the crazy old lady behind all the shrubs! It forces more leaf fullness and more blossoms. Your azaleas will not be the same natural shape you love but they will bloom, don't worry. Rhodadendrons look best as a natural shape but I don't have any of those. It's too hot and dry here for those beauties.

Oh no! I would be livid, too. I can't believe hired gardeners would do that to azaleas without checking with the homeowner first. Had they done that, they would have found out for certain that the azaleas were off limits!

Good thing you haven't paid the stump guy yet. At least you have some recourse there!

Feel free to vent all you want. We all have the need on occasion, even if our particular problem may not seem like the "end of the world" to some, in the grand scheme of things.

Linda

I am sorry for your yard damage, Pam. Many of us know how you feel. Stay your ground to get the stump guy to fix your yard. Mention that you can not recommend him to others if he is going to be so negligent.

Years ago I had to deal with roofers who damaged my shrubs. There are ways to prevent these things - if workers are "professionals" they should know about preventing damage to the owner's property.

Teresa

Oh Pam, I'm so sorry to hear what goober-heads you're having to deal with. Your lawn can be fixed (ruts and grass), but the guy who did the stump grinding needs to ''sweat'' it on your behalf. (He's clearly an idiot who doesn't think first.) The good thing is that you haven't paid him yet, and shouldn't until it's fixed. (OR, you can always give him a bill for what it would cost, even if you do it yourself. At this point I wouldn't trust him, and probably wouldn't want him there.) The neighbor's ''gardener'', clearly isn't a gardener. He sounds like a lawnmower guy, who has a pair of shears and has no idea what he's doing. The azalea damage would make me cry. I would probably be asking him to put in an insurance claim, just to make him sweat, and see what he wants to do about it! In any event, your neighbor should know the people they are hiring don't really know what they're doing. ((Hugs!)) I feel for you, and if it helps, just hearing about it makes me mad too!

Vent away! Those incidents would make me livid, too, especially after a bad day at work. I'd be thinking conspiracy.

Sally

Vent away indeed! All I can do is echo what has been said. No, the guy isn't a "gardener" he is what we up here call a "mow and blow" guy. Yes, your azaleas will recover, but it will take a season to do so.

Definitely tell Stump Guy that repairs must be made before you pay him.

A similar thing happened to my friend.... her "mow and blow guy" sheared and shaped a gorgeous huge weeping cut leaf Japanese Maple into a trunk with sticks a few weeks ago. Unfortunately she has no recourse because she is married to him. LOL!

So sorry that your yard is suffering....

Alexa

Aw, thanks everyone. I am a little calmer today. My stomach still churned when I looked out the back window at my azaleas that are as flat as a table top and a good foot shorter than they used to be.

Yes, this is a crew of immigrants who come in and use the slash and burn method of pruning. Everything in the neighbor's yard was whacked within an inch of its life and now resemble ugly topiaries. This is her first house. She is a single woman with an adopted child and has a lot more on her mind than learning to garden, so she just turns them loose. I'm sure she was counting on them to have some knowledge of their work.

I feel like I have been fighting a lot of battles (not the screaming and yelling kind) lately and this was just one more assault. The yard will recover with time and some manual labor. It's just sad because that's where I go to escape all the rest of the cr@p.

It is so wonderful to have you all on my side. Thanks for listening and thanks for your sympathy!

Pam

Pam: It's good that you've vented here and that you can put that whole invasion of your space into perspective. Your contractor could have and should have taken precautions to protect your lawn; but it will recover -- we've had to work through a couple of similar attacks to our lawn. It's good of you to understand that your azaleas were mistakenly butchered, and they too will recover. I think things have become so unfair and hardships are presenting themselves to most of us these days in covert ways that are personal. So when your beautiful yard, part of your sanctuary at home, is assaulted your anger is understandable. Here's a story that might make you smile:
Our neighbors are fine people but have the ugliest, unkempt garden. We have a spindle fence, so had to look at the mess every time we enjoyed our patio. I planted many honeysuckle vines; nurtured them, trained them and after several years I had a 6' x 40' section of fencing covered with beautiful fragrant flowers -- and no ugly garden to view.
Then one morning I went out to admire and maintain my honeysuckle patch and discovered that our new Labrador puppy had chewed threw each stalk about 10" above the ground. My beautiful barrier was dying on the fence! And that ugly garden was coming back into view! Oh well -- stuff happens and that bad dog is on my sofa now as I write, with all four paws in the air, head hanging over the edge and making snuffly, snoring sounds. We finally replaced the fence with a solid board style. Your yard will be beautiful again and you've retained a good relationship with your neighbor -- that's a good thing and at least you weren't betrayed by your own animal!
Annie

His name isn't Marley, is it??

No, Pam -- his name isn't Marley! But I think I could write a book about our experiences with our Labradors and the lessons they've taught us! They love life and we love labs! Best to you.
Annie 1971

Guess what? My neighbor, the one whose "mow and blow" gardener lopped off my azaleas, sent me a lovely orchid plant to apologize.

Wasn't that nice? Toatlly unnecessary but very thoughtful. I am so touched.

Still not a word from the stump-grinder guy. I'd like to grind his stump.

Send the stump grinder an estimate for labor and sod...

My faith in humanity has been restored! I got home today and the stump guy had come back, filled in all the ruts with soil and spread grass seed.

His check is in the mail, for sure.

"I'd like to grind his stump."

OMGosh! Where Jessy? Sorry Pam! I always giggle at that stuff and, ordinarily, would *never* say it or type it...but that just hit me funny and was too good to pass up! LOL!

Plant abuse kills me!! It is actually one of my pet peeves that we don't teach people in school how to properly maintain their shrubs and trees!! Like you said, you would expect that someone you HIRE to do it would at least have a clue, but it is amazing how clueless these people are and still make a living, because they are paid by equally clueless people. And like Alexa's neighbor, I can totally sypmathize, because my dad (the mow and blow guy) has pulled a few doozys in his day! (Like cutting down all the pesky "Cottonwood" trees along the river bank on their property, except they weren't cottonwoods, they were silver maples which are now all sprouting hydras from the stumps, and meanwhile the whole river and neighborhood for miles is lined with cottonwoods). But I'm working on him, and he is making progress! He now carefully tends the river birches I planted to try and salvage something of the view at my folks. Some people should not be allowed near power tools!

*snort* right behind you Deb

Jessy and Deb -- honestly. You girls!

I truly think that gardener's develop a "gardener's eye". You can just look at something and see if it adds to the landscape or if it shouldn't be there. That includes the ability to see that nature has a plan about how and where things should grow. All of us, of course, plant things where we want them and move them around, but still!

How nice of your neighbor to offer an apology.

I have learned to be very specific with the mow and blow guys. Last year the mow/blow dude did a big yard clean up for me. This included pruning a tree. What a disaster. He pruned it into a misshapen mess. It was beginning to recover but then we had a big wind storm which broke off a huge branch. Sigh, it will never be the same. He also cut to the ground an antique rose bush that was planted next to a vigorous Cecil Brunner. He thought it was a sucker I guess. Thankfully roses are hard to kill.

I am surprised the M&B guys didn't whack my roses, too, since they are next to the azaleas. One time my ex-H came by the house and forgot to put on his parking brake. His car knocked down half a rose bush. It recovered though. Roses are funny. Either you can;t get them to grow or you can't kill them.