OT The Lawnmower Men

Posted by NightMist on June 26, 2009, 8:08 pm

Jobe Smith would have been a vast improvement.

So the landlord's lawnmwer men came over yesterday to take care of the
lawn which had begun to resemble a ranforest.
He very specificly instructed them not to mow my plants and called me
in advance to let me know he told them. DH and DD3 went out and made
sure that everything was clearly marked anyway. Either mulched and
flagged or with little fences around them, just to be safe.
Did that stop these dedicated morons? Oh no it did not!
They went around the yard and very carefully removed all the flags and
little fences and raked out the mulch to make it easier to mow down
all the things they were supposed to avoid.
We stopped them before they got the bleeding hearts, foxglove,
wonderberries, raspberries, or the male holly tree.
But they got the rose of sharon, the female holly, four shrub
cherries, all of which were 3-4 feet tall with main stems 1/2 to 3/4
of an inch thick, a stand of iris in full bloom, the lingonberries
which had bounced back after being mowed last year, and the last
blueberry which had likewise come back after last years butchery.
They did very carefully avoid a stand of curly dock though.
I guess I should be greatful that they avoided the roses, the currents
and gooseberries, and the asparagus, and that they didn't disassemble
the raised beds.
The landlord (of course I called him!) waited until today to come
over and apologize. He Fears me, and wanted to give me 24 hours out of
respect for his body parts.
As for the lawnmower men, after I went out and just pointed at the
destruction with a blackthorn stick and quoted prices to them, they
ran for it. I didn't say word one to them other than rattling off
costs, and then went directly back inside. Admitedly I may have
looked a bit dark because I would really rather have laid into them
with that stick than just used it as a pointer, but DH dashed out
after me to make sure I didn't kill them and that they knew I
wouldn't.

What I want to know now is if anybody is going to replace my plants!
The iris will probably come back, but I am considerably less sure
about the rest of it.

NightMist
Gargh!
--

Legolas is my house elf

Posted by J* on June 26, 2009, 8:51 pm

spitting tacks comes to mind.

make sure they damn well do replace every single plant and do a f'n good job
of it too, under your total supervision of course.
just keep bugging the landlord and/or the lawnmowing company til they get
sick of you and get it done quickly. be sure they know that you want the
same size plants you had before, no excuses.
i'd not give a damn how far they had to go to find by those plants, nor the
cost to them.
they were told, all the plants were clearly marked and fenced to protect
them and the idiots have not one brain cell between them. they need to learn
the hard way.
good luck,
j.

"NightMist" wrote...

Jobe Smith would have been a vast improvement.

So the landlord's lawnmwer men came over yesterday to take care of the
lawn which had begun to resemble a ranforest.
He very specificly instructed them not to mow my plants and called me
in advance to let me know he told them. DH and DD3 went out and made
sure that everything was clearly marked anyway. Either mulched and
flagged or with little fences around them, just to be safe.
Did that stop these dedicated morons? Oh no it did not!
They went around the yard and very carefully removed all the flags and
little fences and raked out the mulch to make it easier to mow down
all the things they were supposed to avoid.
We stopped them before they got the bleeding hearts, foxglove,
wonderberries, raspberries, or the male holly tree.
But they got the rose of sharon, the female holly, four shrub
cherries, all of which were 3-4 feet tall with main stems 1/2 to 3/4
of an inch thick, a stand of iris in full bloom, the lingonberries
which had bounced back after being mowed last year, and the last
blueberry which had likewise come back after last years butchery.
They did very carefully avoid a stand of curly dock though.
I guess I should be greatful that they avoided the roses, the currents
and gooseberries, and the asparagus, and that they didn't disassemble
the raised beds.
The landlord (of course I called him!) waited until today to come
over and apologize. He Fears me, and wanted to give me 24 hours out of
respect for his body parts.
As for the lawnmower men, after I went out and just pointed at the
destruction with a blackthorn stick and quoted prices to them, they
ran for it. I didn't say word one to them other than rattling off
costs, and then went directly back inside. Admitedly I may have
looked a bit dark because I would really rather have laid into them
with that stick than just used it as a pointer, but DH dashed out
after me to make sure I didn't kill them and that they knew I
wouldn't.

What I want to know now is if anybody is going to replace my plants!
The iris will probably come back, but I am considerably less sure
about the rest of it.

NightMist
Gargh!
--

Legolas is my house elf

Posted by Maureen Wozniak on June 27, 2009, 3:33 pm

On Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:51:22 -0500, J* wrote

> spitting tacks comes to mind.

> make sure they damn well do replace every single plant and do a f'n good job

> of it too, under your total supervision of course.

> just keep bugging the landlord and/or the lawnmowing company til they get

> sick of you and get it done quickly. be sure they know that you want the

> same size plants you had before, no excuses.

> i'd not give a damn how far they had to go to find by those plants, nor the

> cost to them.

> they were told, all the plants were clearly marked and fenced to protect

> them and the idiots have not one brain cell between them. they need to learn

> the hard way.

> good luck,

> j.

> "NightMist" wrote...

I second this suggestion.

Maureen

Posted by Bobbie Sews More on June 27, 2009, 6:05 am

I am SO very sorry about your plants and all the hard work that you put into
planting and everything else. Maybe you could make a list of the
flowers and fencing and approximate costs involved, make copies of the
list, and ask the landlord to make sure the mower's supervisors get a copy
of the list. Good luck!
Barbara in SC

Posted by Taria on June 27, 2009, 11:11 am

Oh Nightmist, your story makes me sick. That is awful. I suppose you
could take the yard guys or the landlord or both to small claims court.
Your plants would still be gone though. The work here has really become
more than I can handle. DH does a lot but he really doesn't enjoy spending
a huge amount of time doing a lot of the maintenance. I have been thinking
about looking for some help. As I think about your mess that probably isn't
a great plan.
Here there isn't much of any yard help that speaks english and I don't speak
spanish. That is a big problem too. I sure hope most of your stuff will
come back.
Taria

> Jobe Smith would have been a vast improvement.

> So the landlord's lawnmwer men came over yesterday to take care of the

> lawn which had begun to resemble a ranforest.

> He very specificly instructed them not to mow my plants and called me

> in advance to let me know he told them. DH and DD3 went out and made

> sure that everything was clearly marked anyway. Either mulched and

> flagged or with little fences around them, just to be safe.

> Did that stop these dedicated morons? Oh no it did not!

> They went around the yard and very carefully removed all the flags and

> little fences and raked out the mulch to make it easier to mow down

> all the things they were supposed to avoid.

> We stopped them before they got the bleeding hearts, foxglove,

> wonderberries, raspberries, or the male holly tree.

> But they got the rose of sharon, the female holly, four shrub

> cherries, all of which were 3-4 feet tall with main stems 1/2 to 3/4

> of an inch thick, a stand of iris in full bloom, the lingonberries

> which had bounced back after being mowed last year, and the last

> blueberry which had likewise come back after last years butchery.

> They did very carefully avoid a stand of curly dock though.

> I guess I should be greatful that they avoided the roses, the currents

> and gooseberries, and the asparagus, and that they didn't disassemble

> the raised beds.

> The landlord (of course I called him!) waited until today to come

> over and apologize. He Fears me, and wanted to give me 24 hours out of

> respect for his body parts.

> As for the lawnmower men, after I went out and just pointed at the

> destruction with a blackthorn stick and quoted prices to them, they

> ran for it. I didn't say word one to them other than rattling off

> costs, and then went directly back inside. Admitedly I may have

> looked a bit dark because I would really rather have laid into them

> with that stick than just used it as a pointer, but DH dashed out

> after me to make sure I didn't kill them and that they knew I

> wouldn't.

> What I want to know now is if anybody is going to replace my plants!

> The iris will probably come back, but I am considerably less sure

> about the rest of it.

> NightMist

> Gargh!

> --

> Legolas is my house elf

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