Woman Asks If She’s In The Wrong For Taking The Garden She Built With Her After Her Landlords Kicked Her 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.

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.