3 years of patience lost in 5 minutes

[aryoung1980]

Let me preface this post by informing you that we rent a single family home which was recently purchased.

3 years ago I decided to start growing hops. I knew year one would likely produce little or no cones; I had none. I knew year two would produce some but the plant would not be at its full potential. I had a decent yield but had nutrient and watering issues.

Year three has been the year I've been anticipating since ordering rhizomes from an HBT member in PA. I prepared my soul beautifully, gave it just the right amount of water, and gave it some nutrient boost halfway through the growing season. My hops were going GANGBUSTERS! I was getting ready for a monster harvest in the upcoming weeks. I even built an oast.

My plants are trained laterally and engulfed the entire side of our garage from end to end, ground to roof. It was majestic. 80% of my hop cones hung over the fence going into our alley.

I woke up this morning, walked through my yard, opened the gate into the alley and find no hops. "?!?!?!?!" would have been my thought bubble if I were a comic. I initially think, "It's been windy. The hops must have been pushed back to the other side of the fence. I hope there isn't too much damage." I walk back into my yard, look around. "Where the f@$! area hops?!"

My new landlord come by, cut off EVERYTHING that hung over the garage into the alley, and hauled it away, before ever even saying anything to me. He knows I garden. There are tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, corn, peas, rhubarb, and herbs all around the property. I would think that if I knew somebody was a gardener and they had a plant trained to grow along a wall that there would be a good reason for it. Not that it was some "weed" overtaking the property.

I am sooooooooooo upset right now. Three years of research, patience, and care gone in five minutes.

It's his property so he can do whatever he feels like. I however still feel like it was a major dick move to cut something down before even asking what it was. If it was an eyesore to him and he asked me about it I could have informed him that it would be gone within a matter of weeks. WEEKS! I WAS LITERALLY WEEKS AWAY FROM MY FIRST REAL HOP HARVEST!

Thank you HBT for letting me rant and having this sub-forum.

 

[jschein]

We feel your pain. Sorry for your loss.

 

[SharonaZamboni]

That's awful!!

 

[Dixon9717]

Man that really sucks but as a renter you do have rights. Landlords are supposed to inform tenants before entering the property. I would explain that to him to stop future issues of him invading your space.

 

[passedpawn]

That utterly freaking sucks. I'd be really upset and probably going through the gauntlet of grief stages (sounds like you're past denial and deep into anger, right where I'd be!). But the truth is he probably thought he was doing you a favor by cleaning up the vines.

With all things, it's better to keep a cool head. Your landlord is human and thus likes beer. I'd give him some homebrew, explain to him what hops are, and then let the rhisomes grow again, which they will. I'll bet he's gonna feel like a heel for what he did.

3 more years of patience

 

[smurfjuice]

Let me preface this post by informing you that we rent a single family home which was recently purchased.

3 years ago I decided to start growing hops. I knew year one would likely produce little or no cones; I had none. I knew year two would produce some but the plant would not be at its full potential. I had a decent yield but had nutrient and watering issues.

Year three has been the year I've been anticipating since ordering rhizomes from an HBT member in PA. I prepared my soul beautifully, gave it just the right amount of water, and gave it some nutrient boost halfway through the growing season. My hops were going GANGBUSTERS! I was getting ready for a monster harvest in the upcoming weeks. I even built an oast.

My plants are trained laterally and engulfed the entire side of our garage from end to end, ground to roof. It was majestic. 80% of my hop cones hung over the fence going into our alley.

I woke up this morning, walked through my yard, opened the gate into the alley and find no hops. "?!?!?!?!" would have been my thought bubble if I were a comic. I initially think, "It's been windy. The hops must have been pushed back to the other side of the fence. I hope there isn't too much damage." I walk back into my yard, look around. "Where the f@$! area hops?!"

My new landlord come by, cut off EVERYTHING that hung over the garage into the alley, and hauled it away, before ever even saying anything to me. He knows I garden. There are tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, corn, peas, rhubarb, and herbs all around the property. I would think that if I knew somebody was a gardener and they had a plant trained to grow along a wall that there would be a good reason for it. Not that it was some "weed" overtaking the property.

I am sooooooooooo upset right now. Three years of research, patience, and care gone in five minutes.

It's his property so he can do whatever he feels like. I however still feel like it was a major dick move to cut something down before even asking what it was. If it was an eyesore to him and he asked me about it I could have informed him that it would be gone within a matter of weeks. WEEKS! I WAS LITERALLY WEEKS AWAY FROM MY FIRST REAL HOP HARVEST!

Thank you HBT for letting me rant and having this sub-forum.

Sorry, shoot him... in a kind way ...

 

[Inkleg]

Sorry, shoot him... in a kind way ...

^This^ and I am sorry for your loss.

 

[govner1]

Salt his lawn!!

 

[freebeertomorrow]

That sucks. I was moving once and my landlord took my half barrel planter full of eggplants a week before we moved. Thought "we didn't want it". I was pissed.

 

[Zuljin]

Burn the place down!

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Let me preface this post by informing you that we rent a single family home which was recently purchased.

3 years ago I decided to start growing hops. I knew year one would likely produce little or no cones; I had none. I knew year two would produce some but the plant would not be at its full potential. I had a decent yield but had nutrient and watering issues.

Year three has been the year I've been anticipating since ordering rhizomes from an HBT member in PA. I prepared my soul beautifully, gave it just the right amount of water, and gave it some nutrient boost halfway through the growing season. My hops were going GANGBUSTERS! I was getting ready for a monster harvest in the upcoming weeks. I even built an oast.

My plants are trained laterally and engulfed the entire side of our garage from end to end, ground to roof. It was majestic. 80% of my hop cones hung over the fence going into our alley.

I woke up this morning, walked through my yard, opened the gate into the alley and find no hops. "?!?!?!?!" would have been my thought bubble if I were a comic. I initially think, "It's been windy. The hops must have been pushed back to the other side of the fence. I hope there isn't too much damage." I walk back into my yard, look around. "Where the f@$! area hops?!"

My new landlord come by, cut off EVERYTHING that hung over the garage into the alley, and hauled it away, before ever even saying anything to me. He knows I garden. There are tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, corn, peas, rhubarb, and herbs all around the property. I would think that if I knew somebody was a gardener and they had a plant trained to grow along a wall that there would be a good reason for it. Not that it was some "weed" overtaking the property.

I am sooooooooooo upset right now. Three years of research, patience, and care gone in five minutes.

It's his property so he can do whatever he feels like. I however still feel like it was a major dick move to cut something down before even asking what it was. If it was an eyesore to him and he asked me about it I could have informed him that it would be gone within a matter of weeks. WEEKS! I WAS LITERALLY WEEKS AWAY FROM MY FIRST REAL HOP HARVEST!

Thank you HBT for letting me rant and having this sub-forum.

Late night Roundup application on his front lawn/shrubs/trees; Just sayin'.
Regards, GF.

 

[JosephN]

Wow!!! Sorry man. I don't know much about growing them to even think of a way to May save what he hauled away, if it was even possible. Time to buy a home.

 

[Homercidal]

He probably didn't even know what they were. I imagine he thought they were invasive weeds.

Did you call him and ask him why he did it? Ask if he will purchase hops from the store to replace the hops he stole from you. I know it's not the same thing, but it's something anyway.

 

[SlickTX]

Ask him for his insurance information and tell him you have a claim to make.

 

[drainbamage]

That sucks bad. I'm assuming he thought it was ivy (which would be an easy mistake to make with an untrained eye), but still, to do something without advance notice...

 

[Melana]

So sorry for your loss.

 

[unionrdr]

there are tenant/landlord laws. As long as you're paying the rent, it's your home & he can't just come over & do as he pleases, let alone without a minimum of 24 hours notice.

 

[dustinboyd]

I would seriously report that... It's no different than taking anything else off of your rented property. I don't see how its different than taking your grill sitting outside and just walking off with it.

 

[bruteforce]

That blows man. Really sorry to hear that.

 

[sablesurfer]

GAH! I put way too much effort into my hops to even contemplate this!

 

[aryoung1980]

I am calm about the situation now but still upset that it happened. I'm not going to say anything to him now because we're getting kicked out anyways. We have to be moved out by the end of October.

My best guess is that he's trying to winterize the yard before he moves in on November 1st. It's still not right but it's not worth the headache to fight him over it.

Hopefully we'll have all our ducks in a row and will be able to purchase our own home by the end of spring. Then I can restart my hop growing.

 

[Rhumbline]

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by ignorance.

As the property owner, was he on the hook with code enforcement for stuff extending over the fence? What were beautiful hops to you may very well have looked like kudzu to someone else.

 

[aeviaanah]

never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by ignorance.



As the property owner, was he on the hook with code enforcement for stuff extending over the fence? What were beautiful hops to you may very well have looked like kudzu to someone else.

+1

 

[aeviaanah]

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by ignorance.



As the property owner, was he on the hook with code enforcement for stuff extending over the fence? What were beautiful hops to you may very well have looked like kudzu to someone else.

+1. Nice quote btw

 

[unionrdr]

That doesn't excuse the fact that he didn't give notice, much less asking if it were something you planted or a weed. Some of these slum lords can be real a-holes in my experiences. they think because they own it, they can do as they please. Not so, says I.

 

[Hoppity]

Doesn't sound like a slumlord if he's moving in Nov. 1st. I'd vote for ignorance of the value of the vine to you and also his requirement to notify you.

 

[Rhumbline]

The way I understand things around my neck of the woods is that a landlord needs to give notice if he is going to enter the structure.

It sounds like he never even set foot on the property, just trimmed what was hanging over the fence which, in most cases is allowed and in this case might even have been required to maintain access through the alley.

If your tree is hanging over a neighboring property line, your neighbor can trim the branches up to the property line as long as he doesn't kill the tree or shrub itself.

 

[unionrdr]

True. But if the plant is growing on the owner's side & he reaches over to cut it down, then the cutter is at fault. you have to have written permission of the owner to cut something down on the owner's side. Particularly boarder trees. but it could apply here as well.

 

[fuzzy2133]

I am calm about the situation now but still upset that it happened. I'm not going to say anything to him now because we're getting kicked out anyways. We have to be moved out by the end of October.

My best guess is that he's trying to winterize the yard before he moves in on November 1st. It's still not right but it's not worth the headache to fight him over it.

Hopefully we'll have all our ducks in a row and will be able to purchase our own home by the end of spring. Then I can restart my hop growing.

Get over to the hop growing forum and find out what it takes to move your hop plant with you! At 3 years it possibly has good root structure worth keeping for transplanting at the new place.

 

[Rhumbline]

True. But if the plant is growing on the owner's side & he reaches over to cut it down, then the cutter is at fault. you have to have written permission of the owner to cut something down on the owner's side. Particularly boarder trees. but it could apply here as well.

I don't want to flog this thing to death, but my understanding of the situation is that the property owner came down the alley and cut the vines that were hanging over into the alley.

I'd be interested in what the law says about landscape improvements belonging to the tenant or landlord, my bet would be the landlord.

Don't we all have some beer to brew/drink?

 

[Devon]

Reason #82649 why renting sucks.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

Sorry man! They will come back!

 

[aryoung1980]

Reason #82649 why renting sucks.

Word.

 

[djonesax]

I am a landlord and would have never have done this. It's my house, but it's their home, that guy is a dick.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

I'd dig up the root balls and leave the holes for him to backfill as punishment. Sorry for your loss

 

[aryoung1980]

Well, I harvested 3.5 ounces (wet) tonight. I should've had well over a pound.

I guess a little is better than nothing at all.

 

[jake-k]

I feel your pain. I started some cascade hops in my yard, after a year and a half I moved just as the plants were coming into there own. ****ty part is, I was so caught up in getting shut moved, I didn't even dig any of the rhizomes to bring with me. Total ******* move. Sorry for your loss.

 

[aryoung1980]

We move in a few weeks. Haven't decided if I'll dig it up yet or leave it behind.

 

[treacheroustexan]

You should hide pictures of guys b'holes around the house right before you move out.. that way he will casually find them here and there after he moves in....

 

[aryoung1980]

You should hide pictures of guys b'holes around the house right before you move out.. that way he will casually find them here and there after he moves in....

Hahahaha!