One renter is the latest in a long string of tenants to accuse a landlord or their agents of destroying their beloved garden for no clear reason.
"I have been tending a garden from bulbs and seeds for a year and a half now," explained the original poster. "I woke up the other day to find my marked garden completely destroyed."
According to the Redditor, they knew exactly who caused the damage. "I own a home in a mobile home park, where the lots are all rented from the landlord," they said. "The landscaping crew weed whipped all of my flowers and removed the cuttings."
The destruction was almost complete, according to the tenant. "I am left with nothing but one flower, hundreds of hours lost, and thousands of wasted gallons of water."
While gardens brighten a home and help purify the air, and many even produce food to save money for the residents, many landlords are against them — sometimes because they will be too complicated to keep when the tenant moves out, sometimes for aesthetic reasons.
When tenants do plant a garden — even with permission — some landlords will remove it by any means necessary. One landlord even turned up in person with a pickax. This destruction means the tenants are out the cost of seeds, supplies, and water, plus they no longer get to enjoy the health benefits of gardening.
The weed whacker used on this tenant's garden was less dramatic than a pickax but no less thorough. They didn't want to take it lying down. "Do I have a legal leg to stand on, for the destruction of my garden?" they asked.
The answer was a definite "maybe."
"What does your lease say about that area?" asked one commenter.
According to the original poster, the lease didn't speak about flowers one way or another. "My lease states that I keep the lot in a presentable state," they replied. "They may trim or cut at my expense. Nothing specific to maintaining of garden. None of the garden was weeds, most were young green plants."
That means the renter would have an uphill battle in court. However, they might have more luck convincing their landlord to change the rules to allow a garden in the future.
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