I feel for you Lisa! Too bad you didn't have the fence installed first.

Dh & I did the final run of our privacy fence for that very reason. I didn't trust anyone else to protect the plants on either side. It wasn't easy, but dh was a trooper! He knew how much the plants meant to me and our neighbor.

what! get out there and tell him to watch where hes going! your paying his bill so you have the say! I hate construction guys who are either oblivious or disrespectful. Dont drop subtle hints tell him straight up firmly. Its your money and your yard.

I know--I wish it had worked out that way. I did try to have the fence installed first. I've been on this guy's waiting list since March. He really is the best in the area, but it's still incredibly nerve wracking! I went ahead with building the potager because I really wanted to get my summer veggies planted this year. I had no idea how late I would end up being pushed out on his schedule.

Thanks for the commiseration!

I hate it when that happens!I don't know why workmen don't have more sensitivity. We should go to one of the remodeling forums here on GW and post this very question. Would be interesting to see what a contractor would reply.

Just finished this week replacing the rest of my privacy fence. My brother is a contractor so he and one of his men came to do it. I was prepared to block off everything as we went down the line, and he said trust me we work around flowers and shrubs all the time and don't destroy them. Well not one singe thing was destroyed or even broken. Now I am going to say that he is a big lover of flowers and he brought with him the other guy that is also. Don't be embarassed to grab chairs and everything else to block the plants in each area as they work and plan on staying out there the whole time they work to protect them all. I also was putting in new post holes and took out oversized garbage bags for them to put the dirt on as I didn't want to try and get all the loose dirt out of mulch.
Cher