It's generally understood that when you move out of a rented home, you will take all your stuff with you and leave the space as you found it.
One renter did just that, except instead of the furniture, they packed up the garden they had carefully created at their rental. The landlord got upset, and the renter took to Reddit to see if they were in the wrong.
The renter had been living in this house for years and rightfully decided to make it her own by gardening in the backyard. This was within her rights in the lease, and she took care to not do anything too permanent. However, when her lease was up, the landlord put the house up for sale and listed the house with pictures of her garden.
When her landlords found out that she took the garden with her, they were "furious" over it and "demanded that [she] return the backyard to the former state."
The renter had asked some coworkers if she was the "a******" in this situation, and they said yes because the garden had increased the value of the house, and by taking it, it had "fallen dramatically."
In many leases, renters are either forbidden to make any permanent changes to the unit or if they are allowed, they must return it back to its original state. This renter followed her lease, yet is still facing outrage from the landlord. Other renters have had much more intense stories of landlords forcing tenants to rip out gardens for no good reason.
This story sparks the debate of how much the renter has a right to make their (rented) house a home. Some advocates encourage renters to do everything they can to make their rented spaces their own, but landlords are often still wary of this.
Commenters generally agreed that the renter was in the right to remove the garden. She followed the rental contract and had no legal obligation to leave the horticultural improvements for the sake of the landlord's real estate evaluation.
One explained, "your landlord is trying to take advantage of you to increase the value of the property."
Another commenter fervently agreed that both the landlord and the aforementioned coworkers were the "a*******" in this situation. "Your landlord and coworkers are a*******. It's your property, they have no right to it. Trying to sell the property with the additions you made is so pathetic."
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