Part of being a neighbour is helping next door out, whether it is taking in a parcel or watering your plants while you are away on holiday.
It shouldn’t be a big deal. However, it seemed too much of an ask for one person who took helping her neighbour out to the next level.
Instead, the neighbour who returned from holiday found her garden looking rather bare.
In a post on Mumsnet, user FlowerScarlet explained that she was “upset” after her neighbour “cut down all my roses in the garden” while she was away.
The post stated: “We were away on holiday for 10 days and had asked our neighbour to water the plants in the greenhouse whilst we were away.
“Turns out she did a lot more than what we had asked for – the entire garden was completely weeded, plants and shrubs shaped and manicured, we were shocked and genuinely grateful, she did not have to do any of this, we didn’t even ask to water the garden as we thought some rain here and there would be enough. Everything seemed perfect except she cut down ALL our roses!!!!”
The user admitted the neighbour did it without her consent and had cut the flowers “to none”.
She continued: “I really don’t know why she had to do this and even though it’s been a few days I still cannot get over it every time I see the bare garden with a great view of the perfectly weeded soil from the kitchen window…
“From the short conversation we had after we came back it sounded like she thinks she has done us a favour, I think she thought we don’t do any maintaining and it looked overgrown, but first of all every pruning article and tips I read states that summer is not the time to do major hard pruning of roses, and secondly I just feel so upset that she thought it was OK to just do this without me knowing.”
Despite the user thinking that she was a “lovely neighbour” she can’t help but feel “bitter” about the situation.
The user added: “Should I speak to her and tell her how I truly feel? Or would that just make her feel bad? Should I just bottle this feeling and move on and look forward to enjoying the roses next year?”
People took to the thread to share their thoughts about the situation, with one person writing: “Is it possible she felt they intruded on her garden and took the opportunity to cut them right back? Or that they made her view look untidy? Neither is an excuse but wondering her motivation!”
A second said: “You need to say something. ‘Ann, I can see you spent a lot of time in the garden, and I’m sure you were trying to help, but please don’t ever do anything like that again. I don’t know why you cut all my roses. It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever encountered.’”
Another commented: “I deadhead mine after they first flower so they’ll flower twice in the year, but I don’t cut them down to the stem. Seems odd she’d cut the whole lot back for cuttings as that would be a hell of a lot of work to plant and nurture numerous cuttings. Maybe she thought a hard prune now would help?”
A user added: “Don’t ask her to water next year!
“They may be okay. I tried to hack down a rose the previous owners let grow wild. I actually hacked it back to soil one July and tried to dig it up. It came back with no problem and it is blooming away, enjoying its reprieve. They also planted a rambling rose which is now entangled into the hedge, so that regularly gets a good pruning at the wrong time of year and still survives and blooms.
“I am sorry you have the upset though, I’d be furious if anyone hacked things down in my little oasis. I hope they bounce back okay.”
A fifth said: “She was way out of order, and you should definitely say something – albeit tactfully, as she thought she was doing you a favour.”
Finally, another commented: “That’s outrageous. No wonder you’re upset. I would definitely speak to her.”
