I feel the same about good hearted non equestrians sitting for horses. It’s fine until specialist knowledge is required then it goes bad very quickly.
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How do I mark as solved?? How do I edit. I jave been leaving long replies, but can’t figure iut how to add updates and solved to original post. Thank you
I agree. If you read through my whole post and my replies, you will see I am taking responsibility too. I know now I should have added an extra person to just care for the tree. I have had really good conversations with the sitter this week. I made sure to let her know she did an amazing job and my only real critique after the fact, was wanting to be informed when something is off. I didn’t plan accordingly for such a valuable new asset. She honestly thought she was helping by not bugging us and trying to remedy the situation. It’s an expensive but not life altering situation! I am leaving the thread up, and all the constructive replies. Maybe it will help others pay more attention to things like trees. I am a sitter too, and I could totally see myself stumbling with a plant responsibility beyond my knowledge. I told the sitter that. We ended well with her and will have her back. And a happy note - there are 2 green leaves coming back, so the tree might live!
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I am sorry for your loss. As a pro horticulturist, I would never trust a civilian to properly care for a newly planted tree. Most people don’t have the ability to provide proper care to plants. It’s unfortunate she didn’t follow your instructions but if I had a dollar for every time my clients ignored my recommendations, I’d be very wealthy.
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But not sure why she left the water running overnight.
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Update!! Not sure how to Edit my original post. We have brought the tree back to life with advice from a local nursery. I let the sitter know and we are both relieved. I told her it truly was not her fault. I needed better expert care, which we now have.
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Yes, I have learned a lot. Our sitter truly did her best. And I didn’t get the best tree advice from the planters. A local nursery has helped me now save the tree! It is thriving again. Next time, I will have speciality care in place or at least a trysted neighbor keeping an eye out. I have two who are great with plants and trees.
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That’s great news! So it all turned out well in the end and important lessons learned! 
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