you need to water plants, there is no way around it.

A "lady" brought back a Japanese maple tree that she had not watered during the scalding hot week last week and wanted her cash back. We are familiar with the look of the desicated, ignored plants, and told her that all she needed to do was plant the tree and start watering it.

That prudent horticultural advice fell on deaf ears, and she insisted that she wanted her cash back, and if she did not get it, there would be hell to pay. Funny how she expected us to pay for her neglect.

The staff, feeling threatened by her loud yelling and threatening, took her phone number and asked her to leave, which she did.

I called her the next day and was met by the same threatening interruptions and berating comments, certainly did not appreciate it at all.

All I have to say is that all we do all day long when it gets hot, windy, and sunny, is water. All day long, every day.

If people want to buy a live tree, take it home and ignore it during a heat wave then take it back to the place of purchase and expect to get their money back after threatening college girls with unspecified harm, they will be disappointed with the reception they get from people like us.

Sister tree from the nursery- almost 18 lbs- properly watered!

Angry lady’s tree- almost 12 lbs., dry as hell!

Difference of six lbs between the two trees, the difference being almost the exact weight of one gallon of water/the volume of the container the tree roots are in.

This tree was on the cliff of death from neglect because of the angry lady’s not watering it- lesson for all potential summer plant buyers!

Plants are designed by nature to survive all kinds of abuse by Mother Nature- all kinds of abuse except man-made abuse. When a plant is in an above ground plastic pot, every single thing required by the plant must be provided by humans. Lacking that attention, plants suffer, give warning symptoms, then if not helped out in time, they die- plain and simple, easy to understand.