BCC a garden spot? Well, not in front of our place. They ripped out all the old growth (whatever) and planted some puny bushes. When first planted there was some nice black top soil around them. That washed out right away and now it's a patch of scruffy dirt with some rocks. Weeds plentiful between stops by the the landscape guys.
Why isn't there mulch (keeps the weeds down and saves water) or some ground cover (") around the bushes. Is this the best our landscaping committee can do?
How about some more bougainvillea? More butterfly attractants? Are we Xeroscaping?
15 comments:
Charlie,
There is NO LANDSCAPE COMMITTEE...Jack is liason for Landscaping.
There is a Rules and Regs. Committee headed by Hariet G,
There is a Violations committee headed by Hariet,
There is an election committee headed by Harriet,
but I am told they have no plans for a Landcape Committee.
A little mulch would be nice.
Well, well, Harriet is certainly one busy woman. With Gustafson heading the election committee and Zubko Secretary of the BOD, the next election for BOD members will undoubtedly present an interesting subject for an in-depth investigation of condo election practices.
Garden Spot....
That new man on the Board came to our place and mutilated our landscaping.
Someone has to stop him. They told us that we do not own the property and they can do what they want. Another Czar on the Board...just what we need.
He knows nothing about shaping up the shrubs. Who let him do this to his neighbors?
I am utterly devastated. If this is the same guy - skinny? curly-haired? walks around with a clipboard looking at all the porch plantings? then he'd better stay OFF MY STREET!
My neighbor told me a guy fitting this discription came by one day and whacked off my Hibiscus.
I'm from New Jersey, and I LOVE Hibiscus. Our old one was full of thrips and I called in a landscaping friend who said it was too old to save, so I bought a brand new one only three months ago. It was beautiful - covered with huge pink blooms - and it was worth every penny of the $139.95 I paid for it.
That idiot - if I see him on my street - will get presented with a bill for $139.95 - he's just bought himself a whacked-off plant with NO bloom and ugly as sin.
Being from up north, I read up on everything to do with Hibiscus - THIS ISN'T THE TIME OF YEAR TO PRUNE HIBISCUS! You wait until blooming season is OVER - pruning is June to August - NOT while it's in full bloom - and my little tree WAS covered with bloom!
Now there is no bloom and no new growth for any blooms to develop - there won't be any more blooms until next winter!
Who the hell does this guy think he is? We HAVE a Landscaping crew - and Vinnie knows the right time to prune.
Board members should BUTT OUT and let the people who know what their job is, DO IT. Complaints against smart-aleck Board members, of course, will be ignored.
And yes, I realize that when you pay for and plant something, it then becomes "common elements property" but that's NO EXCUSE to mutilate the lanscaping!!!
According to "Caring for Hibiscus in Florida," http://www.homeandgardenideas.com/gardening/flowers/perennials/caring-hibiscus-florida, "Hibiscus plants in Florida do best when pruned after they have begun putting out new growth in the spring."
The same thing happened to us. All our blooms are gone and there is just wood exposed. We immediatly called Joyous, she knows her stuff and asked her what was going on. Joyous had nothing to do with it and said she received many phones calls. We are not the only ones upset. We also told her about our neighbors on the other side of #20. I guess "his friends" "the group" get anything they want to get their vote! He ripped out all the palm trees that the landscape committee put in not too long ago. He only saved one for his friend from the group. The rest were given away to the tune of $600. He is a mad man. We want Joyous back. She was not a dictator and had a committee.
No name from us or the rest of our plants will be pulled out.
Hey - check out Jack Israel's own place - Building 13 East ... 6411 #2 - HE has a gorgeous Butter-Yellow Hibiscus in full bloom that HASN't been "whacked" as Diane's was.
Guess when your on the Board you can dictate to the rest of us!
Some are MORE equal than others!
Oresident Phil needs to replace Israel as the Landscaping Committee. (How can it be a "committee" when it's a single person - who won't ket anyone else on with him???????)
Israel wants to fire Vinnie - and Vinnie has been with us for 26 years. Do you think that Vinnie will ever be able to find another job? Does Israel care?
Israel has lived here no more than a year or two. As the Treasurer, how can he advocate getting rid of BCC assets? (Several $100's in palm trees???) He's as crooked as the other Treasurers we've gone through in the past 3 years ...
God save us from these think-smart Yankee Northerners.
Maybe a little midnight pruning on HIS plantings might be just the thing he needs. Can't have him feeling left out while others are suffering.
Good Idea........cut everyone of his yellow flowers off, like he did to the residents in # 9. Let him look at wood. Jack...the Hack needs to be reeled in. Another Hitler turns up in Bay Colony.
I'd like to address some of the issues raised here. Please feel free to talk to me personally.
According to Florida university extension programs, hibiscus should be pruned in the spring or shortly thereafter. This is prior to the growing season when foliage takes off. Yes, it takes off some spring blooms, but they will bounce back. I have cut my own hibiscus twice this spring to encourage more bloom production, and they are doing well.
Unfortunately, some hibiscus in BCC have not been pruned for years, if at all. On the "surface" they look full and flowery, but underneath they are all wood. We have cut them back to encourage fuller, thicker growth and more blooms. I have photographs of hibiscus, which I cut back to wood last year. They looked hopeless, but they have bounced back with dense leaves and blooms. This approach works, and I can offer "before" and "after" pictures to anyone interested.
Last October, BCC sent a letter to all residents announcing that this pruning would occur. Regular trimming is essential to the health of the plants. Those that don't bounce back will be replaced.
As for the Xmas palms that were planted along the intracoastal, many residents in Unit 20 were concerned that they would grow up and block their view. More important, the palms looked bad. They were withered and dead on the tips of the palms. They were not faring well either in the high wind or salt breeze along the intracoastal. We decided to remove them. Two were planted in the community and the rest (3 or 4, I don't recall, were either destroyed or given to our landscape staff). To the best of my knowledge, and Joyous would know, these plants were purchased on sale for $50 at Home Depot, not $100.
As for Vinnie, I don't know where the notion of firing Vinnie comes from. I'd like to see our landscaping crew become more productive, that is, they should take care of the plants in front of the units. So, I have pruned these plants with Vinnie, teaching him best practices (when to cut, how much to cut, shape), and helping him when residents chase him away. Vinnie is "gun shy" about pruning some units. This is unfortunate and needs to change because the plants and ground in front of units belong to BCC, and they must be maintained for their own health and appearance.
Finally, I am 6', weigh 180 lbs, and have straight hair. I've been carrying a notebook to jot down units where the ficus are completely dead. We have to replace them.
Jack
It seems that if you belong to "his" group you will get what you want like removing palms trees and throwing them away. He takes care of our money to that is scary. what else does his friends in #20 want from him next. They have all new bushes and throws away trees to satisfy is friends. I thought you said the property belongs to Bay Colony. Who are you joshing? They got you hook line and sinker.
Jack the Hack says who says he wants to fire Vinnie and then says he needs to change and they need to become more productive. What is the difference? We know what he is up to.
He just throws away Palms because his new group doesn't want them! He does not know about trees and when they are stressed. He knows how to boss the men around. He will fit well in that group,
Jack the Hack.....is at it again! He cut all the bushes by the maintenance building. They are skinny now so someone from his "gang" can see the tennis court!
He has to be stopped before the community is stripped of its beauty.
He has no idea how to prune, he just does what he is told to do by the "gang". It will take years to retsore what he has destroyed. Where is the Board. Do they know what he is up to? Next he will rip them up completley if he is told.
He should be called Jack the Ripper!
A little history. Pete Shelton wanted his big Sea Grape Tree removed. One of his girlfriends happened to be on the board at the time. He used the excuse that the tree "moved" in a rainstorm (no kidding, so do bridges).
So Saundra Zubco ordered it taken out. She did not know you can not remove a Sea Grape Tree, but she does not know about rules. So, BCC was sanctioned and charged for violating the rules. That cost us.
Reason, Shelton wanted to sit on his porch and watch his boat!
Now he wanted all the Palms removed so he can see the intercoastal which he CAN SEE but he has a "patsy" who does it for him.
some things nevr change at BCC.
Joyous says:
Let it be clear...I am not responsible or support the way Jack is treating the crew or residents.
I always treated the crew with respect and we got along great. I never talk down to them and gave them orders.
When Jack became a member of the committee, I loaned him my books, my before and after pix and sites that would teach him about Landscaping. I encouraged him to present a Strategy that he worked up at the committee meeting. I like to get everyone involved that were on the committee.
While I was on the Board, Bud became annoyed with the committees and disbanded them all. He told me one story why he did it and I would not be affected. Then he appointed Jack as liaison (what ever that meant) and at that point Jack completely ignored me, as if I was not on the committee anymore.He did a total turnaround and continued doing what HE wanted. Colleen and Bud assured me that I was on the committee and thought he was acting strange. I agreed.
After Jack got on the Board, he handled the landscaping and would not have a committee.
He also told me that he joined the yacht club and made friend's with certain people.
These certain people are the ones that he catered to and did everything they wanted. He told the many residents that called me, that were furious with him...that their front did not belong to them, it belonged to BCC and he could do what he wanted.
He took down the palms for his new group. The palms were sun-kissed because they were young, but would have been fine as they grew. I had a well respected arborist double check and he agreed with me, they would be fine. But, this was not the reason they were taken out..the reason was...he wanted to do it for his new friends. They don't own the property either and it was decided by 5 members of the Landscape Committee and residents up in #20 that the Palms would be a good addition. Because that group complained about people getting drunk and driving into the canal, the committee decided to place the palms so many feet apart so that would not happened...now they have changed their minds again.
Then, to just throw them away was very disrespectful and wasteful. They were $59 plus tax...it was a lot of money just thrown out.
I had 6 Frangipanis Trees that I watered everyday for months by the office. They were doing great. When it was time to transfer them. JACK SAID HE COULD NOT FIND A PLACE FOR THEM and he would not use them. They were worth $150. Because they were my idea...he would not use them. How childish and immature. We have 43 acres to plant pretty trees...so you know why he did it. Instructions from his friends dictate what he does now, it seems.
Only today, I got a call from someone in #9 to look what he did for ONE PERSON.. He cut all the thick bushes up so this one person, that belonged to "the group" would be happy. She wanted to sit in her apt and watch them playing tennis. With the green screens on the tennis court, I don't know how that would happen. The committee expressed that you can not change something like that to accommodate one person when many other residents liked the shrubs there. Now, those residents are mad.
One called me today and said, he wants the tree by his terrace removed so he can see the canal! He also said he does not belong to that group, for sure.
Jack also said HE WOULD NOT LET ME ON THE LANDSCAPING COMMITTEE..........
Oh yes, he belongs to the group.
So here we go again...
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