Re: peonies sprayed

**L* N* <p*@hotmail.com>**

Jo Ellen,

We had a similar experience with my father's landscape plants--large trees, mature shrubs, ornamental grasses, hydrangeas, etc. A neighbor used a lawn service company who sprayed an herbicide a windy day. Dad has an 8-ft. tall wood shadow-style fence, but it didn't protect the plants. Requests that the company pay the damages (estimated at several thousand dollars) fell on deaf ears until our University of Illinois Extension agent suggested that we threaten to file a complaint with the state agency that issues chemical applicator's licenses. Although the agency doesn't seek compensation for the injured party, the threat of losing its' license made the lawn service responsive. The agent cautioned that the complaint must be filed within 60 days of the incident to be valid and warned that the lawn company would probably try to delay us beyond that point. He was exactly right. The company responded, made promises but kept delaying the payment. We finally had to give them a firm d
 eadline and faxed to them a copy of the complaint form, already filled out and ready to send to the state. My dad received his check and didn't have the hassle and cost of a lawsuit.

I'm not sure if this would work the same in other states or on a farmer rather than a commercial company, but it might be worth a try.

By the way, some of the plants recovered after a couple of years.

I wish your friend luck!

Linda Nitchman

"The Heartland Gardener"

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