LANDSCAPERS and gardeners are working hard to beautify the gardens they are charged with designing, building and maintaining.
We ask a lot of the green thumbs who work in our gardens and rightfully so for the amount we pay for horticultural services. But many clients continue to ask for services that range from the ridiculous to the extreme to the illegal. The equation is not one-sided, though; landscape contractors are their own worst enemy when it comes to taking on projects that they know are not quite right. One of my friends in the industry was recently asked to cut down a tree on vacant land because the homeowner did not like the shade cast by the tree. My friend refused and lost all of the related project work because she was not willing to break the law. This is not a rare occurrence; homeowners regularly ask for contractors to provide questionable services. Here are just a few of the things that homeowners ask their landscape and gardening contractors to do that are stressful, risky or illegal for the contractor to undertake.
- Building retaining walls that are higher than the one metre unpermitted height.
This is a common request and it puts the contractor in the nowin position of losing the work because they won't build without a permit or building the wall without a permit with the risk of getting caught and fined by the municipality. Any retaining wall that will be built above the one-metre height requires a building permit, the wall has to be engineered by a structural engineer and the wall must be inspected by city building inspectors. That's the law and the law is there to protect people and property from damage caused by walls that collapse due to inferior construction standards. The cost to repair a collapsed retaining wall is far more than the cost of a permit.
- Cutting down trees on city land or neighbouring properties.
This request is quite common and it puts the contractor in the no-win position. Almost every progressive municipality in the Metro region has a tree cutting bylaw and those bylaws are vigorously enforced in these days of heightened environmental awareness. Along with tree cutting comes the request to prune off branches hanging over the fence, although bylaws on this issue are murky it should be known that no person appreciates having their property adjusted in any way without prior notice and consent.
So please, learn what tree bylaws exist in your community and be neighbourly and get permission to cut branches hanging over the fence before doing the work. If your contractor does not know what the tree cutting bylaws is, then you have the wrong contractor.
- Dumping green waste into the adjoining greenbelt or forest.
For people who live in such areas, this is a common request made of gardening contractors done by the homeowner who wants to save a few dollars on disposal. Green waste dumping in forested areas increases the fire risk, attracts rodents who nest in the green-waste pile and it is illegal. For contractors who do this, well, you will suffer the consequences. But for all of those homeowners who make this request, please don't ask for this service, it's just too stressful and unnecessary given that greenwaste disposal is quite organized and relatively cheap these days.
- Building on the boulevard.
This is a common request and it is probably made innocently by homeowners who do not realize that the legal limit of their property stops at the water connection box on the boulevard. All property on the road side of the water box is the property of the municipality and building in the "road right of way" or boulevard requires a permit and approval from the city. Most municipalities don't get upset about a few plants or some grass being grown on the boulevard. However, municipalities as a general rule do not allow without permit, the construction of any permanent structure, new parking spots that affect traffic flow or the planting of any plants that may affect pedestrian or vehicular movement.
If you want to build on the boulevard that you do not own, ask your municipality for permission and approval in writing. Most landscapers would be happy to build something beautiful and creative on the boulevard, once permission has been granted.
The problem with illegal or questionable requests is that homeowners can be found liable in court but the contractor is usually the person who gets fined, suffers financially and incurs a loss of reputation, since the contractor is required to know better and ignorance of the law is no defence in court.
Todd Major is a journeyman horticulturist, garden designer, writer, consultant and organic advocate. For advice contact him at stmajor@ shaw.ca
