Waaaah, I need some sympathy. Roofers next door, were dropping old shakes and shingles from the very tall house. One of the sheets of plywood they had placed against our fence to protect my garden broke, mashing about 6-8 feet of my shady border. It could have been much worse, but still I lost (for this season) a large Japanese waxbell, a nice cluster of Begonia Grandis, several ferns, a patch of trillium and a portion of my Kerria Japonica.
Here's the area in late May.
and here it is today
Here was my Japanese waxbell coming along nicely in May.
And today
my trillium in May
and today
Don't you feel sorry for me?
Have you contacted the company and asked for reimbursement for your plants? The SHOULD be insured.
Well, they did at least try to protect me, and since these plants will come back next year I guess I don't really feel like I should make a big deal about it. I don't see any company name on their truck so I wonder if they are just "amateurs" and I don't want to make trouble for my neighbors who can barely afford to get the roof fixed in the first place.
Maybe just a big "We're Sorry" would help ease my "pain and suffering".
Oh, man, that is so rotten, Chris! I *do* feel sorry for you!
Suzy
Oh, dear - and your plants looked so healthy too.
Now I'm nervous. The roofers will be at my house
next month.
I would wait until they have finished your neighbor's roof, then hit them up for insurance or compensation. That's tragic. :(
Rotten !@#$ amateurs. :(
-Joe
If they had used plywood I might believe that had some real concern about protecting your plants. What they used is mdf and of course it broke, just as anyone would expect it to. You say you won't force the issue because they'll be fine next year, but have you seen the money people spend on annuals? Annuals are just this year too. If you just let this go than they have no reason to improve the quality of the work, next time it could be a lot worse and a person could be injured.
Good point, maozamom. Maybe we'll have to follow up on this. Thanks.
Man, I am so sorry. Those pictures do tell a tale. :-/
I'm so sorry to hear this! I think you have a nice attitude about the whole thing, but it's understandable how frustrating the situation is. We had our house sided & reroofed this winter, and the workers completely trampled a bed of my perennials under the snow. Wore a path through them to the point that the snow had compacted to a thin layer of ice. I thought my delphiniums & agastache would be goners, but they came back beautifully in spring. (And I'd just planted the agastache in August!)
Now if only I had the same guarantee for my new elderberry bush, which my dunderheaded neighbor drove over this morning! I'm so peeved at him...
Well his (the neighbor's) car insurance should cobver your elderberry
Chris, I'm so sorry to read about this - I'll bet your heart just dropped to your feet when you saw the damage.
Yeah, but I'm feeling better now. All the sympathy helps. I'm now actually feeling more relieved that they didn't get my rhododendron or my buckeye - both of which I put in in the last 5 years, both of which are doing great, and both of which were in the line of fire. The roofers are done stripping the roof and are now putting on the shingles so I think the danger has passed. Thanks everyone for empathizing.
It is amazing what perennials can tolerate. Like you, junebug, we had our house sided a few years back. I scheduled it for late fall but was lucky they didn't get to me until January. The ground was frozen by then and we put about 6 inches of straw on the areas they would have to walk on. Come spring everything was in fine shape. the only problem was getting all the straw out of my yard.
Geeeez. So sorry this happened! That's just awful. You have a great attitude though. ;o)
Sherry
I "share your pain" too ! I know how maddening and upsetting this kind of thing can be.
It IS very admirable of you not to make an issue of it, but I would notify the contractor and explain their carelessness, so it doesn't happen to you (or someone else) again.
Unfortunately, these workers, be they roofers, PAINTERS, plumbers, cable TV installers, etc. etc. just never seem to give a "you know what" about how they trample people's gardens just so they can do their "job". I don't know if it's because they're ignorant of what it takes to grow a decent garden, or if they just don't care, or BOTH.
It's so typical of how people are these days...no regard or respect for someone else's property. TREE TRIMMERS are just as bad sometimes.
I made the city pay to have my lawn sprinklers re-done when they did curb repair. The idiots just slashed up my irrigation lines, poured their concrete and took off. They just reburied the broken pipes and heads.
I went ballistic and they repaired it..but at the expence of my nerves!
Here Chris - WAH!!!!
Oh, and the plants, too - OOOOOOWWWWWWWWWie!!!!
I'm impressed with your attitude too - seems like everyone is on the bandwagon to "make someone pay", despite the fact that, in the end, it'll be okay. It's not like the plants are so bad that you're going to dig them up and pitch them. Not so cool for this year, but....
Now, that doesn't mean you shouldn't point out to the roofers the damage that was done.... otherwise, they might never realize what they've done. *Bad* roofers!
I still love the tree trimmers in our neighborhood. One neighbor has a really really high power line over his house so he planted a row of short fruit trees along one side of his property with the approval of the power company that they wouldn't need to be trimmed. He comes home from work to find the 2 under the power line were cut down to just a 4 foot tall stump with NO branches left. He called the power company and talked to the same supervisor who approved the trees and they had to find him identical trees to replant so that the row didn't look odd.
I'm pretty sure I would've lost all reasoning ability if I came home to that. Luckily you'll plants will come back but I would still file a complaint especially if they are registered with the BBB and have a "flawless" record.
I am so sorry about your plants. I would be crushed (oops - bad pun!) if the same thing happened to my plants.
I don't even know what I would do if I came home and found trees cut down, but it wouldn't be pretty. That is soooo bad.
I did go out and yell at the roofers a little bit today because I arrived home from an errand in the morning and saw one of them pushing the old wood shingles off the roof in a different area (I thought they were done yesterday but I was wrong) and he was pushing them so hard that some were flying over the sheet of mdf into my garden. But he was very nice (and cute, too) and he apologized. Then I explained that the part of my garden they crushed Monday would grow back but in the area he was near now I have some nice shrubs and if he crushes them they are going to have to replace them. He said he would be more careful.
I couldn't be very mean though because it's so hot here today and there he was, up on the roof in full sun in this heat. I really wanted to ask him to come down for some iced tea. Oh, and did I mention he was cute? Oh yeah, I did, didn't I.
>grin<
"Come in to my parlor, cute roofer - I have some plants I want to show you......."
LOL - I needed that!!
PC - Do you have a souhern accent yet? I just imagine that said in a southern accent...you with a little mint julep in your hand....no, make it TWO mint juleps! ;) LOL!
Suzy
LOL Chris! :)
Ya know, eye candy does help soften the heart just a bit. I guess we have green eye candy, and then we have *other* kinds of eye candy. It's all a question of priorities.
Although.
The green eye candy will not tell you one thing then do another, sneak off to see another gardener behind your back, take you for granted, run up your charge cards and leave you for another gardener they found on the internet, ask you to come on a national TV talk show to reveal their secret life as a fungus, nag you about the garbage, turn the kids against you (unless you're growing something illegal back in the castor plants,) hog the remote control to the TV, complain about leftovers, or invite the inlaws over for a month (unless you plant an invasive.)
:)
-Joe
Yeah, Joe, and green eye candy won't try to drop a brick on your head either which was the last straw for me. Although my heart tells me it wasn't pretty boy who dropped the brick, it was still the crowd he hangs out with.
So yesterday, I was working in the garden, cleaning the bits of old shingles out of my border. I thought the roofers were working on the other side of the house but suddenly a shower of debris flies off the roof. I walked over to pick up the mess (and yell at the roofers) when something whizzes past me and lands with a very loud thud about 3 feet from me. I reached down into the pachysandra and found a very very heavy brick.
Well that was the last straw. Brick in hand, I marched over and called out the homeowner. I told him the roofers have been dropping debris in my garden all week and some of that I considered inevitable because my garden is so close to his house. But dropping bricks on me is totally unacceptable.
My neighbors are really very nice. They have a large family and I know money is tight for them. I'm sure they had to get the lowest priced roofers they could find. But still, they can't drop bricks on me, right?
They said it was a loose brick that fell from the chimney when a worker leaned on it.
I don't know and I don't care anymore I just want them to go away even the pretty ones.
Chris
Now, I have to report that my neighbors came over a little while ago and apologized for the damage to my garden and said they want to buy some plants for me. See, I told you they are very nice. I don't want them to spend money I don't think they can afford so I told them it really isn't necessary. But wasn't it nice of them to offer?
Yes, nice of them, and nice of you, too, to be so kind to them and realize their probable financial situation. Very gracious of you!
I have had problems of my own here....a garden in full bloom with lots of flowers knocked over by Power & Light and also the electricians. This was a full flower bed of coneflowers, dahlias, lilies, Coreopsis, and roses.
Thankfully I had a day to clear it out without them covering it with soil when they had to dig a 48" deep trench for an electrical line. I made them layer the soil they backfilled (when they filled the trench back up after excavation) with compost and soil. I have about 6-8" of sub soil on TOP of my garden, so I have some work to do before I try to replant.
Suzy
Your area of devastation looks way bigger than mine and how "Pollyanna" of you to see the bright side. Well, sometimes we just have no choice but to deal with it, right? Did you at least get some free compost for your trouble? That would be a real bright side. Compost is like gold to me.
Chris -- Thank goodness your neighbors redeemed themselves. However, I'd think that the roofers are liable for the damage. I get very angry over issues like this. I stopped using a lawn service because they were careless around my flower beds. Now I have a privacy fence with a locked gate across the driveway. Only garden lovers are allowed in! LOL! And no meter readers without supervision. I now tend my own grass -- what's left of it!
This message was edited Jul 5, 2007 11:00 PM
Figaro,
I once knew a man who wouldn't let ladies bring their purses into his garden because they might knock off the flower scapes.
Suzy
Oh, aren't we gardeners funny? I can actually understand the the purse thing. In fact, I myself, have broken a stem or two when arriving home with my purse on my shoulder and seized by an uncontrollable urge to pull a weed, I bend over, the purse slides down and crashes into a plant. And as much as I'd like help with chores like weeding, I don't trust anyone else to do it. My husband is cleared to pull Ailanthus and dandelions but only if he doesn't have to step into the flower beds to reach them.
How about when someone steps into a flower bed to retrieve a ball or even trying to be helpful, to pull a weed or some other task and steps squarely on one of your plants? I have little neighbor children who come over when I am working in the garden and want to "help". I am always trying to come up with excuses that won't hurt their feelings and when I do try to find a little task for them I always wind up with some damage. The little dears are positively uncanny at finding something to accidentally crush or dig into etc.
For the meter reader and cable servicemen etc. I have a flagstone path through the flower bed which leads to a small bricked area where the meters and boxes are. They have plenty of room to do what they need to do. I call it the "service patio". It seems to be working well.
By the way, the roofers are gone. My garden is safe again.
I, too understand the purse thing. I'm not quite there yet, but am working on it! I think we become protective of our gardens because we know what can happen when they "fall into the wrong hands."
It's not always people or animals doing the damage, either. I remember a few years back I was looking so forward to seeing one of my new daylilies in bloom. It had one scape that year. The daylily was located near an apple tree. I went out to check on it one morning only to find that an apple had fallen off the tree and broke the daylily scape. I had to wait another year! Needless to say, I no longer plant daylilies near that tree!
By the way, Chris, I like the assortment of plants in your photo. I hope they weren't damaged. The landscaping looks very nice!
This message was edited Jul 6, 2007 2:41 PM
I saw this thread and read about your plant loss chris and it caused me to think of what will happen when I get a new roof soon. Does anyone have any ideas about protecting the gardens next to the house? The roofers would have to clear about 12 ft. and I don't think the normal tarps will clear that.
Semper, Is your insurance company involved?
If so, there is a probably provision in there for "landscaped areas". Essentially, the roofers are paid more money and they have to carry debris from the roof down the ladders instead of throwing it off.
I've had a lot of roofs since I've lived here because of hail storms....once I had them kill off a lot of yews,,,yes KILL a lot of yews. When I complained to the workers about the shingles on my shrubbery, the lead roofer told me he had been roofing over 30 years and had never killed a shrub yet. Unfortunately, I was too young to know that roofers might lie. And they certainy don't go back to their old job sites to check over any damage they might have caused.
I guess what I am trying to say is that if your insurance won't pay the extra, you need to get some big 3/4" plywood sheets to set against the house...sort of a slide for the shingles to go down and underneath the plywood would be your plantings. I guess for 12 feet, you'd have to put them lengthwise, and that still wouldn't protect the outer plantings. (and in fact would probably definitely kill them all if all the shingles landed on top of them from the slide. Maybe you'd better think twice about my "great idea" before implementing it!)
Suzy
Suzy,
Thanks for the input, unfortunately the insurance company is not involved. Carrying instead of throwing the roofing tiles would have been a great solution, I'll ask what the cost would be. I can't even imagine what they'll do on the other side with just a 3 ft. alley, then my neighbors fence and yard.
I still recall the time I was talking to a repairman asking him not to walk through the plants to bring supplies in, while he's standing on the plants, telling me he won't walk on the plants. I calmly repeated three times"You are standing on the plants now" before he got it. It's just a different consciousness or unconsciousness and a need to do the job quickly. Now I was thinking maybe they could build something similar to a huge slide and just shoot the tiles down it. LOL
Check with the different roofers in your area - some have been known to set up some sort of landscape protection.
