...but sometimes we don't know what should be done or what it should look like. "Please don't butcher the tree and leave a just stump" is not much of an instruction.
But certainly being as specific as possible in writing (by email) is the way to go - instructions, agreed cost/contract, time frame etc. This holds for building work or garden work. Often people don't know they should have done this until it has gone wrong.
Many years ago, I hired a reputable company to prune a large sycamore at the end of my garden. There's an access road behind. There's another sycamore next door. I went down to see if they wanted coffee or tea and discovered the ladder was propped up against the wrong tree! Even reputable tree surgeons can make mistakes.
...but sometimes we don't know what should be done or what it should look like. "Please don't butcher the tree and leave a just stump" is not much of an instruction.
But certainly being as specific as possible in writing (by email) is the way to go - instructions, agreed cost/contract, time frame etc. This holds for building work or garden work. Often people don't know they should have done this until it has gone wrong.
I would have thought a gardener would know and do what's best for the garden, without me having to give detailed instructions on how to cut everything? It was made very clear that for the trees, I wanted some slight pruning to just bring it down a little. Instead he has topped them and cut off about 25ft from all of the trees. Everything has been cut into the same shape and size. Surely a professional gardener would know what's best for each individual plant/trees needs and cut accordingly?
I don't have many before pictures sadly, but here is an example of what he has done to the rosemary and bay plant. The picture on the left is how it normally looks when I prune it myself, the picture on the right is what he has done. During his breif, I said to trim a little from the side so it's not sticking into the path so much (About 3-5 inches needed removing). I have a very small amount of gardening knowledge but I'm fairly certain that rosemary cannot regrow from old wood which is what he has cut it back to
That looks horrendous. You are correct, rosemary doesn't grow from old wood so that will never recover. If the rest of the garden looks as bad as this bit I wouldn't be paying for the work. I would be furious if a professional left my garden like that
@george-cauty I agree that looks dreadful and won't recover. How to prune a Rosemary is pretty basic stuff not sure how you managed to find good reviews. I assume your garden is also full of garden waste. People hire a gardener then wonder why things go wrong, as said you need to be involved too until there is a proper understanding of what needs to be done.
Just to add if the Rosemary had been pruned carefully with secateurs you could still have the same result. A mature plant like the one in your photo may only have new growth at the tips cut any further down and it won't reshoot.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
Sometimes recomms can cause a problem where an agency or larger company is recommended rather than a person. It always depends "who you get". I used a small fencing company one year and they were great - largely because the owner and his brother did the work. Some years later I used the same company again and it was a mess as the guys that came didn't give a toss. They trampled everything and broke wiring. The attitude seemed to be "we are not paid to care". It is a minefield.
No, I wouldn't pay for the job if plants were butchered like yours, but it would end in a row on the doorstep as to whether the job was ok or not. It's not pleasant.
To me if the "gardener" has limited to no horticultural knowledge and can only hack back they should state that. If the gardener is not sure of pruning they could take a look on Google if they cared enough.
Even if someone asked me to hack back a plant that I thought shouldn't be I'd specifically tell them the consequences of doing so.
It's perfectly clear that whatever your man was he was NOT a gardener. If he is affiliated to a professional body, you should report him. We can't know what you did to check his credentials but it is extremely difficult to find someone you can trust and the painful lesson here is that you took his word for it without any personal experience of his services. The world is full of incompetent people, offering work they are not capable of, hence the associations who verify those who (generally) are. It's tough.
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Even reputable tree surgeons can make mistakes.
I would have thought a gardener would know and do what's best for the garden, without me having to give detailed instructions on how to cut everything? It was made very clear that for the trees, I wanted some slight pruning to just bring it down a little. Instead he has topped them and cut off about 25ft from all of the trees. Everything has been cut into the same shape and size. Surely a professional gardener would know what's best for each individual plant/trees needs and cut accordingly?
I don't have many before pictures sadly, but here is an example of what he has done to the rosemary and bay plant. The picture on the left is how it normally looks when I prune it myself, the picture on the right is what he has done. During his breif, I said to trim a little from the side so it's not sticking into the path so much (About 3-5 inches needed removing). I have a very small amount of gardening knowledge but I'm fairly certain that rosemary cannot regrow from old wood which is what he has cut it back to
People hire a gardener then wonder why things go wrong, as said you need to be involved too until there is a proper understanding of what needs to be done.
Just to add if the Rosemary had been pruned carefully with secateurs you could still have the same result. A mature plant like the one in your photo may only have new growth at the tips cut any further down and it won't reshoot.
Even if someone asked me to hack back a plant that I thought shouldn't be I'd specifically tell them the consequences of doing so.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The world is full of incompetent people, offering work they are not capable of, hence the associations who verify those who (generally) are. It's tough.