Jerome Wu, the owner of Mojo Garden Care in Auckland, said there was no law governing the times gardeners could use noisy equipment.
As a rule, he and most other operators he knew would keep their work to normal business hours and only occasionally on a Saturday.
The earliest he would start was 8.30am and he said 7.40am was too early to be using a leaf blower in a residential area.
"I know that some people do start around that time but I think it's very early. It's not a legal matter but surely you wouldn't want people digging up stuff and making a lot of noise when you're sleeping.''
This did not excuse shooting the man with an air gun, he added.