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Landlords Didn’t Expect Tenant Would Move Her Garden With Her, Have Potential Buyers Walk Out
Landlords are a tad like Vegemite—you either love ‘em or you loathe ‘em. From my personal experience (and feel free to pitch in with your own examples, Pandas), landlords are either some of the warmest and most accommodating people you’ve ever met or evil incarnate, intent on spreading misery and squeezing the last cent out of you. Redditor u/GardeningMonster brings us an intriguing tale about the latter.
The woman turned to the AITA community for a verdict about a dramatic situation that went down with her landlords. You see, GardeningMonster, as befits her online handle, has a bit of a green thumb. She turned the barren wasteland of a back yard into a verdant, lush oasis over the next 7 years of renting the property.
But when she was asked to move out, she packed up her entire garden and took it with her, being proud of it as she is. This, however, caused quite a quarrel with her landlords who were upset that the value of the home had just gone down. Scroll down for the full story and all the spicy details, Pandas! When you’re done reading, share your thoughts about the drama in the comments and let us know what tips you’d give anyone on how to solve issues with their landlords.
RELATED:
The tenant spent 7 years creating her perfect garden in the back yard
Image credits: Ben Ashby (not the actual photo)
However, when it came time for her to move out, she brought everything with her. Here’s the full story in her own words
Image credits: GardeningMonster
Image credits: Jan Canty (not the actual photo)
Practically everything in the garden wasn’t directly planted into the ground. It was all transportable. So GardeningMonster took her awesome shed, greenhouse, pizza oven, garden beds, aquaponics, and pavers with her when she left. It sounds like a perfectly reasonable thing to do considering how much time, money, and effort she put into turning the dull back yard into a small paradise for her and her friends.
The thing to keep in mind is that everything’s completely fine from a legal standpoint. The tenant had all the photographic evidence to back up the fact that there was nothing growing in the back yard when she arrived. What’s more, her contract was sound and allowed her to take up gardening. The issue is that the landlords expected the fabulous new garden to stay: they took photos of it for the sale ads.
Naturally, with the garden gone, quite a few possible buyers evaporated into thin air. The green oasis was one of the main selling points… until it got packed up and waddled off to set its roots elsewhere. It could be quite a shock for anyone!
One potential solution to the entire situation is better communication. As cheesy as it sounds. The landlords should have expressly asked about the garden, considering how extensive the makeover to the back yard was.
Personally, I don’t believe that the tenant was obligated to let the landlords know that she’d be bringing the garden (i.e. her property) with her. To me, it sounds completely logical that you take your stuff with you, whatever form that it takes: whether it’s a sofa or a pizza oven. However, things might have gotten hairy if most of the garden property wasn’t transportable.
In case you want to make a green oasis of your own, Pandas, you should consider making it more eco-friendly and a haven for small critters like frogs and lizards. Dr. John W. Wilkinson from the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation charity explained to me that the “single most important thing you can do for garden life” is to set up a garden pond.
Following that, you should really stay away from using chemicals in your garden if you care about the local fauna. Size isn’t everything, but creativity is. Even if you’ve got barely any space, you can still make your back yard friendly for critters.
“In a small garden, even an upturned dustbin lid or bowl will provide a place for animals to drink,” Dr. Wilkinson told Bored Panda. Meanwhile, setting up compost heaps and log piles can provide cozy habitats for frogs and reptiles. Though climate change is making things tougher for critters in some parts of the world.
“Climate change can be a very negative factor for frogs, toads, and newts. Ponds can dry up too quickly, meaning their tadpoles don’t have enough time to develop. Also, warmer winters affect hibernating frogs. They use more energy during hibernation and partially wake up, meaning they are in poorer condition for breeding. This is particularly hard on the females who put a lot of energy into making eggs (spawn),” Dr. Wilkinson explained what’s happening in the UK.
Here’s what some internet users had to say about the drama over the garden
What do you think ?
Friday 3 years ago
If the landlord took photos of the inside of the property would you be required to leave your furniture too? No. Take your possessions with you, including plants and garden supplies. 100% NTA.
Cold Contagious 3 years ago
NTA! The landlord wants to profit from the sweat of her backbreaking work, passion, and skills. To hell with that. They could never adequately compensate her for the amount of time that she put into the garden. It's a unending passion project for people who truly love to garden. They work in them daily. You can't put a value on that kind of dedication to your own garden. Any landlord worth their salt would've mentioned compensation for work being done around the yard years ago and learned what her plans were for it, instead of waiting to see, assuming it belonged to them. It takes some real balls to assume that the kind of upgrades she did like sheds, pizza oven, etc would be theirs at no cost. They're buffoons and deserve the garden to look as it did when she moved in. It was never her job to repair it. They didn't take pride in it. Why should it be left on her shoulders. That was her happy place, so glad she'll continue to enjoy it 😊
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Kathryn Garetino 3 years ago
I would like to see it as well, I can imagine how beautiful it is
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Parmeisan 3 years ago
Nobody seems to be talking about it, but I give you 4:1 odds that the REASON they were "planning to sell" was because they thought she had increased the value of the property to something higher than they were charging her (since rent for current tenants can only be raised so much so often, at least where I live). They got greedy, and now they got nothing.
Bunzilla 3 years ago
This. 1000% this. They figured they'd be able to take advantage of this young woman's hard work and supplies bought with her own money so that they could turn a tidy profit. Pure greed. Instead of a free garden and a new, higher-paying renter (or buyer), they have the same barren backyard they had before and NO renter with a property sitting empty and not generating income. Serves them right.
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Friday 3 years ago
If the landlord took photos of the inside of the property would you be required to leave your furniture too? No. Take your possessions with you, including plants and garden supplies. 100% NTA.
Cold Contagious 3 years ago
NTA! The landlord wants to profit from the sweat of her backbreaking work, passion, and skills. To hell with that. They could never adequately compensate her for the amount of time that she put into the garden. It's a unending passion project for people who truly love to garden. They work in them daily. You can't put a value on that kind of dedication to your own garden. Any landlord worth their salt would've mentioned compensation for work being done around the yard years ago and learned what her plans were for it, instead of waiting to see, assuming it belonged to them. It takes some real balls to assume that the kind of upgrades she did like sheds, pizza oven, etc would be theirs at no cost. They're buffoons and deserve the garden to look as it did when she moved in. It was never her job to repair it. They didn't take pride in it. Why should it be left on her shoulders. That was her happy place, so glad she'll continue to enjoy it 😊
Load More Replies... Kathryn Garetino 3 years ago
I would like to see it as well, I can imagine how beautiful it is
Load More Replies... Parmeisan 3 years ago
Nobody seems to be talking about it, but I give you 4:1 odds that the REASON they were "planning to sell" was because they thought she had increased the value of the property to something higher than they were charging her (since rent for current tenants can only be raised so much so often, at least where I live). They got greedy, and now they got nothing.
Bunzilla 3 years ago
This. 1000% this. They figured they'd be able to take advantage of this young woman's hard work and supplies bought with her own money so that they could turn a tidy profit. Pure greed. Instead of a free garden and a new, higher-paying renter (or buyer), they have the same barren backyard they had before and NO renter with a property sitting empty and not generating income. Serves them right.
Load More Replies...
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