Oh, I'm so sorry Danielle! That must have been a heartbreaking discovery.

I wouldn't cut back. They will lose leaves, that's normal. But since everything is going dormant now, who cares. Sometimes cutting back is more stressful for a plant. If there are any buds/blooms on them, remove them.

Of course you'll have to water these guys regularly until hopefully they establish new roots.

I'm so sorry to hear that has happened. That must have really been heart breaking to see as was mentioned. I hope you are able to rescue the plants that were dug up and discarded and I replied to your post in the lawn forum by the way.

I wouldn't bother cutting them back at this type of year. Potential for more harm than good by exposing fresh cuts to winter air. Glad you able to save them!

Thanks for the advice guys....I knew as fellow plant lovers you'd sympathize lol. Thankfully I think I've calmed down a little now. So, now for the next pressing question....should I still invite her to Thanksgiving?!? (hehe just kidding)

I'll let the plants be as Buford and Esh recommended and make sure they get adequate moisture. It also didn't occur to me about removing buds...I'll have to examine them more closely today.

Thanks for the good wishes, and Quirky I'm heading over to the lawn forum now.

Sincerely, Danielle

Have her over for T-Day. Then... just trim off enough of the "graveyard" plants (which sounded much prettier than her selection of all the usuals, btw) so you can make a pretty natural Thanksgiving table decoration. Be sure to point it out to her. Hee hee. Ok, I'm just being vindictive. Knowing how much work you put in on top of the waste of perfectly good plants bugs me. Sigh...inlaws.
Pam

Making a table centerpiece with a dead viburnum idea is something *I* would do. It is scary to know that there is at least one other person in the area with similar thoughts of practical jokery going through their head. LOL

lmao I like your suggestion Pam! You and Quirky are scary...in a good way though. I know who to go to now if I need to plot a plant-related revenge.

Quirky, I just noticed your "zone 0" lol. Did you just change it? If it's been that way for a while you can make fun of me for being slow.

Sincerely, Danielle

I'm a father in law. I would be so appreciative of my daughter in law's efforts to landscape that I would make sure that she knew well in advance if I (or anyone else) were going to make major changes.

It is certainly a waste and would make me feel sick too. He and she would have a lot of ground to make up before I ever went out of my way for them again.
Hopefully, some plants will survive and florish

Yeah I know, steve. It's like making your mom a macaroni necklace and having her take it apart and giving the macaronies to a gourmet chef to cook for dinner.

And Danielle, you're actually pretty quick, I just changed that today. I change that about once a month. It's like my little blog.

Hehe Quirky, well good, I'm not slow after all.

SteveGA -- my Father-in-law didn't know what was going on until after it was done. It was a birthday surprise...she told him she was hiring someone to come mow down the overgrown brush on the unlandscaped areas of the property. They only go down to the cabin on weekends and she paid the landscaper to come in during the week prior to his birthday. He had no prior knowledge, it's her I'm a bit peeved at for not thinking it might be a good idea to at least let me know what she wanted to do. I really don't have any problems with it if they had decided to go a different way. I tried a more minimal approach so that the cabin would blend in with its natural woodsy surroundings but I think that style was lost on her. What's there now is certainly going to be beautiful but moreso what you would see in front of a big new subdivision or shopping center. I wouldn't think Knockout Roses are a smart choice for under a tree canopy but hey, this guy was a "professional" so who am I to argue. Not that they won't live but I wouldn't think they'll bloom too great without much sun. He also moved the Hosta I had planted in a shade bed near the house out into a part of the front yard that actually gets hot afternoon sun. I guess I should be thankful he didn't throw them away, and I know some Hosta can stand more sun than others but I have a hunch they won't do so great there. Will have to wait and see the results next year. Maybe I'll sneak over there and move them back under cover of darkness lol!

Danielle

I don't talk to my in-laws about gardening anymore. I tried but we apparently have way different ideas. They are late 60's and recently moved into a new house on almost 3 acres. I tried to convince them to leave the back area "natural" with fallen leaves, mulch, etc. There were quite a few trees. They had the area between the trees bush hogged and planted grass. Now they have to mow all the time - at their age! It was too much for them so they hired someone to do it after just a few months. When they put the Bradford pear trees in, it was over between us. When they say something now about their yard, I just say "how nice".