‘She pulled out my herbs and kept the pot’: Tenant uses greenhouse research to get back at landlady for pulling herbs out of garden; weeks later, garden withers

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Nov 23, 2023 5:00 PM EST

There is no such thing as a 'green thumb'… Tending to a garden takes a lot of effort and knowledge, and if you don't put both in, it will show. Now, imagine you were a greenhouse know-it-all who brought home a pot of herbs you had carefully cultivated throughout the months, and then your landlady ripped them all out because she liked the pot you put it in. If that sounds a little too specific, that is because it is. The OP shared on r/pettyrevenge the story of the summer that her landlady did exactly that.

What this landlady was unaware of, was that OP was a plant pathology assistant who knew her way around a garden. OP knew that her landlady was head over heels for her rose garden, and when OP got an opportunity to use her knowledge to her advantage in order to enact some sweet revenge, you can bet she took it.

To find out what that payback entailed, you can scroll down for the screenshots, and then check out this veteran who led the rest of the company's employees down a petty path of malicious compliance against his boss.

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    Cheezburger Image 9839928576
    via Canva
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    Wrecked my landlady's flower garden This happened in the summer of 2020. I live in the bottom unit of a duplex house with my mom and sister when I'm not at school. Landlady and her family live in the upper unit.
    via u/Procrastin07
  • 03
    That summer, I decided to do a bit of gardening. I had access to good, organic fertilizers from a research greenhouse I was working at, as well as seeds and even a little space to grow them until they reached their transplanting stage. So I made good use of my employee perks and planted some
    via u/Procrastin07
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    herbs on the employee bench in one of the greenhouses. Always wanted a little herb pot for fresh summer salad dressings and soups. After transplanting my herbs into a nice garden pot I bought at Walmart, I brought my herb pot home and placed it in the
    via u/Procrastin07
  • 05
    backyard, right beside the shed. It was partially shaded, out of the way, and didn't obstruct the view of my landlady's flower garden from her bedroom window. In fact, you wouldn't even know it was there unless you walked past the shed because that's how hidden it was.
    via u/Procrastin07
  • 06
    Fast forward a week. I came home one day and went to check on my herbs only to find the pot had been moved to the edge of the garden and was EMPTY. pulled out my herbs that I've been growing for over a month and said she liked the pot so she's using it for her own flowers. She also had
    via u/Procrastin07
  • 07
    the gall to make me take care of them and the rest of her garden because she was leaving town for a week and I worked in a research greenhouse so I had access to good gardening materials. What she didn't know was that I was a plant pathology assistant. Perfect chance for a bit of petty revenge. I agreed to take care of her plants.
    via u/Procrastin07
  • 08
    Most of her flowers were pretty resistant to diseases, but she had three rose bushes (red, yellow, and pink) that she absolutely loved. Bought the bushes back in 2017 for a total of $500, and she showed them off to anyone who dropped by for a visit.
    via u/Procrastin07
  • 09
    So I went to work the next day with a few jars and snuck a bunch of pests and infested soil into them. Went home and released them all into her garden. Took a few weeks for the results to show but oh boy, those bugs did their job. Spots started appearing all over the plants and flowers from the aphids
    via u/Procrastin07
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    and thrips. Then, the nematodes got to work, eating up the roots. Damaged roots also started rotting. Her dahlias in my pot were more resistant to nematodes, but a bit of clay in the pot to block off drainage and the roots started to rot.
    via u/Procrastin07
  • 11
    By the end of the summer, her garden was ruined. She had to dig up the entire garden to get rid of the nematodes. Better yet, not once did she suspect me! She thought the squirrels and birds infected her plants. She ended up having to buy new roses the next year, which costed her $600 (she
    via u/Procrastin07
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    bragged about how expensive they were). In the end, my revenge took it was a while, but satisfying.
    via u/Procrastin07
  • 13
    MsMacGyver 8 hr. ago I hope you took your pot back. 397 Reply Share
    via u/MsMacGyver
  • 14
    CoderJoe18 hr. ago She reaped what she sowed. 4 68 Reply Share
    via u/CoderJoe1
  • 15
    Logan9Fingerses 8 hr. ago Nothing petty about that. You went full scorched earth 87 Reply Share
    via u/Logan9Fingerses
  • 16
    ConfusedAt63 · 7 hr. ago Blooming good story! ↑ 19 ↓ Reply Share
    via u/ConfusedAt63
  • 17
    Notmykl 5 hr. ago She stole your planter and vandalized your plants. I would've told her if she doesn't want to have a theft and vandalism charge she better get my plants back in the planter in 10 minutes. 13 Reply Share
    via u/Notmykl
  • 18
    Emotional_Print8706 9 hr. ago Bravo OP!!! 12 ♡ Reply Share
    via Emotional_Print7086

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Tags

greenhouse research neighbors gardening bugs plants landlady garden soil tenant greenhouse petty revenge herbs flower pot research leaves pathology rose bush dirt
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