I've been battling my electric company over our rear easement now for 25 years. I am on their "do not enter the yard without permission" list and probably the "The owner is a b@$D&" list as well!

It's an ongoing battle and one where one will only have partial victories. At least they don't spray here - they just cut things down or prune them into oblivion.

People have different priorities. This wasn't the work of a horticultural expert, it was some poor guy who was told to spray vegetation below or near poles and it sounds like the breeze created some unintended broadcasting of the spray. . Take their offer of replacements and try to plant them out of harm's way for the next time. It sounds like you have many others of the same variety, I personally wouldn't be upset about it.

I cant STAND when the power company sends their minions out. It is not wise to pull up on a rural property and have a half dozen strangers jump out and start milling around. That happened when they came out to spray. Pulled right up in my driveway and got out like they owned the place. No knock on the door,nothing. And they killed my avocado tree and a huge patch of dill with their death spray. Last time they drove their giant tree trimmer thing through my yard, crushing some of my potted plants. They trimmed the trees around the power lines, then left the branches in a pile on our property. They came back through the back of our property,trimmed some more the next day and left the branches in another huge pile. I have called at least a dozen times for them to come pick the branches up, was told that a work order was written for them to do so, and then forgotten again. They came out last year to do said trimming. The piles are now covered in kudzu. A snakes haven. Last time I called I was asked why I didnt just burn them myself. I absolutely SNAPPED. Apparently there is no list to be put on around here. If they want to trim the trees or spray, they can. I guess the only thing I can do is be a PITA from now until i die,nagging them to come clean up their mess,and acting a donkey whenever they show up,unannounced,uninvited,and unwelcome. I would rather be responsible for trimming the branches myself. They really went overboard with the trimming too.

Take the replacements they offer. I am sorry that is all you get. But such companies really do not care,either about your property or their employees training or safety. Sad but true.

I am sorry this happened to your trees. I don’t really understand their thinking. Driving down some country roads, there are huge trees (mostly pines) that don’t have any branches on one side. Why don’t they remove them completely? It just doesn’t seem safe the way they look.

Yeah, I’m sorry too. I get that replacing them doesn’t make you “whole” again but it’s at least an offer in the right direction. I’d have them replace what you’ve lost, but fight for the right to choose the nursery and the exact trees so you can be sure to get ones that are healthy and of the largest size possible. Same with the azaleas.

I too am sorry that happened. I'd let them replace them, that's really all you can do, going forward. At least they admit they owe you vegetation. Your place sounds beautiful!

"I cant STAND when the power company sends their minions out."

The word "minion" is used here with a contemptuous connotation. Just which employees of a company are minions and which aren't?

You said you worked for a refinery or a chemical plant, I forget which. Are you a minion of your company or not, and why or why not?

I am the night minion. One of them anyway. Because I say so.

I sign my emails to my boss and coworkers

"The night minion."

Anything else?

I have adjoining property owners that spray herbicides on my property without permission. Having a public worker doing it within an official capacity would be a refreshing change.

jrb and amylou, do you have elected officials you could turn to? Around here, our township commissioners often run interference with the local utilities for their constituents.

Oh I'd be mad too. I'm very sorry for your lost greenery. Did you find out the chemical name of the product used -- I think they'd owe you that.
Do you have "before" and "after" pictures? Would a local tv or newspaper be interested? Social media? Would you be willing to work with the "vegetations coordinator" to educate the public on why the policy is important, how it is implemented? Does the power company measure the effectiveness of its vegetation control program -- how? Does the power company have a public relations office?

Personally what I'd do ... take the offer of replacements, minimize the impacts of any future depredations on your land. Plant milkweeds and native grasses in their easement.

:-(

What I would do is keep the area near the power pole sufficiently devoid of vegetation so the power company would not have any reason to send people out to spray. I'd plant dense tall screening shrubs at a suitable distance away so that the area devoid of vegetation and the power pole was hidden from my view.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I did meet with the company's representative at my house. He said the contractors should have been more selective in their application and not targeted vegetation that did/would not pose a threat to the power line. He offered to send a crew to clean out and mulch all the dead vegetation.

I declined replacements for the 3 Dogwoods. They weren't ones that I'd been fertilizing and hand watering so they'd always been on their own. Also, we live on a rocky hillside. It's not an issue of putting a planting where you want it but where a hole can be dug. I didn't want to go through all that.

I did request a Pink Ruffles Azalea replacement; which he provided.

We spoke about the Dogwood that I trimmed the day of spraying and whether or not it will survive. (2nd Picture below) We will have another discussion if it dies. Losing this one would really hurt.

I will request that we be put on a no spray list. We've lived here 15 years and this was the first time the utility used herbicide on the easement.

Both pictures were taken this morning. The first is representative of the other Dogwoods.

Where are they planted, how close to the road? Our property sounds like yours. We are a township and they come through with their saw and hack EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING back 30 feet from the center of the street. That is the easement. It isn't your property if you are closer...we found out after we bought our fence and many plantings are over the easement. We are told they have to make sure there is room for trucks to get through so they even go after tree limps and whole trees if they feel the need. A farmer near by sprayed his field on a windy day. The wind brought the deadly chemical across a neighbors into my yard --remember we are three acres EACH. I lost a dog wood and many annuals in pots out front. The farmers are protected from responsibility. They feed us. It stinks but sadly the power people/township/farmers get to do what they need to do to ensure their right of way.

I'm sorry you lost your plants.

People complained about the utility companies not trimming enough when we had days of power outages after an ice storm several years ago. I was driving around the other day and wondered why some people plant where they do. The trees underneath the power lines are absolutely butchered. It doesn't look nice. We have underground lines in my neighborhood. I had the lines in my yard marked before I planted trees and shrubs. I planted around that.

Oh WOW, a picture speaks a thousand words and that is way worse than what I had imagined. I can see why you’re so upset, it’s obvious that your landscape is a work of love. Looking at your gorgeous greenery makes me wish I had a green thumb like that. Hopefully, you’ll be able to come up with a fix that will work and moving forward, they’ll agree to leave the easement alone.

A lady's husband here had spent 15 years on their fence border at the road with natives. He died and the stupid spray-it-all dumbos killed it in 5 minutes the year after he died. She protested and got nothing. I'm so sorry, but just cut back and go to grass only in the easement.

If you can get on a do-not-spray, go for it.

Yes, all that spray damage is lovely. To avoid future dismay make sure you know where the easement starts, aren't doing any gardening within it from now on. Here all I have is mown grass within the easement across the front of my place. And I plan to replace that with crushed rock when I have the money.