In case you’re wondering, no, my yard and garden has not magically grown back overnight. 

I took more pictures. Maybe I can use these as the “before” pictures when I do something about this next spring and summer. If it doesn’t just get pruned back by an over-zealous landlord, that is.

The worst is this camellia. Is it just me or does it look completely weird and lopsided now? Is this the way it’s supposed to look?

The rhodies also look so weird, like little stunted trees instead of plump, round bushes like they’re supposed to. The lavender bush, which was SO full and huge, is now looking like an upside down whisk broom, and all the ornamental grasses that were around it are now gone.

The rose bushes have been pruned back so hard I don’t know if they’ll grow back next year.

All the ground cover around the one remaining tree in my front yard is like…gone.

I think the worst is like, it’s all bare dirt now. And he said to me, “look, your curb appeal is back” like I should be super happy about it. What curb appeal? I don’t even want to look at it anymore.

He came to the door the night he cut down my tree to tell me he was leaving. I asked him what happened to the tree and he said that he was bummed too but that the maintenance crew offered to do it at no extra charge and that “it’s less maintenance” for him now, and that his wife wanted him to. I guess she thinks that the tree was compromising my security? Like how? And he mentioned that not having the tree will make it easier to put in security cameras? Great. I told him that I was really upset and disappointed and he just kept repeating how it would be easier to maintain now and that it was for “my security”. Uh…okay.

I love, love, love, LOVE my house. I don’t want to move, but jeez. That’s what I’m feeling like right now. Until now I thought my landlord was pretty great and that I was pretty lucky. Now I’m just depressed.

My yard is ugly, my tree is gone, and I didn’t ask for more security. OR cameras. Or any of it. Dammit.