I've been keeping busy in what feels like a perfect storm of absolutely inexcusable (insert many cuss words) BAD "gardening". I don't know what the heck happened, but the stars aligned and I've been doing nothing but evaluating problems, recommending that gardeners get fired, and interviewing new gardeners. I have three current projects dealing with this at the same time, and today a project I haven't even started working on yet became the fourth.This morning's text from my new client brought such sad news. She had the most charming Hong Kong Orchid (Bauhinia blakeana) tree and came home from work to find that it was absolutely butchered by the "gardeners". They were not directed to prune the tree, and I have to tell you - this has happened to more than one client where someone has butchered a tree without approval or permission! My client loves this tree and I'm working on finding someone to help us in directing its recovery from the abuse.Below you'll see the few photos I have of the tree - I was so charmed by it, I can't figure out why I didn't get better photos.It used to overhang the front patio that the living room looks out on - is focused on - but now I'm told that you can't even see the tree from inside anymore. If you are sensitive to gorey pictures, now is the time to avert your eyes:I warned you, don't say I didn't.SO - what the hell? Thing is, any idiot can call him/herself a gardener. There's no training required, and most people are happy enough to have someone else do the mowing that they don't worry about it - how hard can it be? But what many don't think about until it is too late is that those specimen plants can be responsible for a good up-tick in your property's valuation. New trees don't add value, but healthy, mature ones totally do!I will post again soon about some of the other issues with gardeners - but for now, may I just list these few things that every property owner should know:An Arborist is an educated, certified person who is held to certain standards of care and who can be reported for not upholding those standards. Hiring a tree service company does not mean an Arborist will be involved in your project, nor does it mean you'll get qualified advice. If you have an important tree, make sure you protect it with advice and evaluations from someone qualified to give them.A Consulting Arborist can help you diagnose problems or evaluate a tree, the American Society of Consulting Arborists has a great web page that lets you search for one near you: ASCA. They aren't the folks with the clippers, but they can tell you if a tree is in good health and stuff like that.There is no specific qualification for someone to do pruning. However, some arborists do work in hands-on ways or work for companies that do. To find these kinds of people, check out the International Society of Arboriculture, or ISA. The difference being arboriCULTURE as opposed to arborIST.The moral of this story is that everyone who hires or works with a gardener or a landscape maintenance company should have the conversation about doing unauthorized work. This is a huge no-no, and I'd like to make a law about it, but until that happens, we've got to look out for the trees ourselves. Well, us and the Lorax anyway.