Upcoming Landscape Projects

Shepardson Project is still in progress. The dry creek has been installed; plants should arrive next week.

Tree work began this week and should be completed eary January.

Major projects in the planning stage include:

• Pool Area Improvements - At the last landscape committee meeting we discussed what areas in the pool area need attention. Areas identified include both sides just inside the gate entrance and the area on the Shepardson side (both sides of the fence).
  

• Front Gate Improvements - Earlier in 2009, the Board approved development of a plan for this area. Of particular concern is planning tree replacements.
  

Please feel free to post suggests and comments regarding these or other areas that need attention. (Note to prevent spam, comments are moderated and will not appear until after they have been reviewed. )

Happy New Year!

116/118 Shepardson Project Underway

This week work began on landscape improvements for the area adjacent to 116/118 Shepardson. Most of the plants scheduled for removal have been removed. The rocks for the dry creek were delivered today.

116/118 Shepardson Project approved

At last week's Board Meeting, the Board approved landscape improvements for the area adjacent to 116/118 Shepardson. We hope to begin work this month. Improvements will include the following:

• Removal of Ivy
• Removal of old plants past their prime
• Installation of dry river bed
• New plants consistent with the Bay Friendly approach to landscaping.

North Side of Riddell Landscape Project done

The north side of Riddell after a much needed face lift. Check out the new landscaping,

Pool Lawn Dethatching

Jensen will be dethatching the lawn in the pool area this month. As a result of this process, the lawn will look worse for a short while, but the end result will be an improved lawn. Check out this link to UC IPM for information on dethatching.

North Side of Riddell Drawings and Photos

Drawings for planned improvements to the north side of Riddell. The plants to be used are all drought tolerant. Starts at the corner of Oak Park and Riddell going east.

Please post comments.

September Walktrhough Friday September 25th

This month's walkthrough will be Friday September 25th. The landscape committee will meet first at 9am in pool area. We be covering the following items: Landscape Goals,Maintenance Issues, and Projects. The meeting will be followed by a walkthrough @ 9:30am with our Jensen Rep.

Please post here if you have any landscape items that need attention.

August Update

I've been busy with work, so it's been a while since I've posted.

Three projects are in progress

• 116/118 Shepardson
• North side of Riddell
• Tree replacements for the front gate area

Also coming up is major tree work. We have number of dying trees that will be removed. Also, some trees will be removed because their roots have become too invasive. The tree work will also include fertilization and pruning for clearance.

Next Landscape Walkthrough, Tuesday JUNE 30 @ 3pm

June's walkthrough will be Tuesday June 30th at 3pm. We will meet at the front gate and walk through the grounds. Focus is on pruning tasks and irrigation adjustments.

June Landscaping - Post your comments

The next landscape walkthrough should be Friday, June 26th at 11am. Please check back later in the month to confirm date and time.

If you notice any areas that need attention, please post as comments to this topic. You can also post any compliments!

In June, the landscape company will be focusing on pruning the xylosma and pruning for clearance.

May Landscape Walk Through - Friday May 29th

Meet at the Front gate at 11am if you would like to join us for the monthly landscape walk through. Topics for the walkthrough will include:

1 - Outstanding Work Orders

2 - Irrigation check - We'll turn on irrigation at some locations to see coverage.

3 - Pruning for clearance for access to backyard gate.

4- Upcoming Tree work

Please let me know if you have any areas that you think need attention so that we can visit them on the walk-thru. You can post your comments here.

Irrigation is on

Reminder: irrigation runs at night. So if you see it on during the day, please notify the office.

Irrigation is off

Thanks to our recent rains, the irrigation will be off for the next two weeks. Our plants should be fine, but if you do see distressed plants, please post a comment.

May Landscaping - Post your comments.

The next landscape walkthrough should be Friday, May 29th at 11am. Please check back later in the month to confirm date and time.

If you notice any areas that need attention, please post as comments to this topic. You can also post any compliments!

Mowing the ivy turned out to be big job, so the landscape company was unable to complete it during the optimal mowing time. Rather than prune too late in the year to promote re-growth, we have opted to stop mowing this year. We plan on mowing a portion of the ivy each year. Pruning of the escalonia was completed at the end of April.

In May the landscape company will be focusing on pruning the abelias and removing ivy from the buildings.

Irrigation is on

The irrigation tune up was completed on Tuesday(4/21) and irrigation is now
on. Note that the irrigation is scheduled for night and very early hours
of the morning. If you should see it on during the day, please call
the office and report it. On weekends - call security.

Next Landscape Walk-through 4/24 @ 11am

The landscape walk through will be Friday 4/24 at 11am. Meet at the Front gate if you like to join us.
This month's focus will be on upcoming projects.

1 - Pruning

2 - Thrips treatment for infected Abrutus trees. We are identifying those trees that we want to save and trying non-toxic treatment methods.

3 - Escalonia - yellow leaves.

4- Upcoming projects.

April Landscaping - Post your comments

The landscaping crew has pretty finished up mowing the ivy that will be mowed this year. The remaining ivy will be mowed next year. Unfortunately the crew couldn't complete mowing all the ivy before the optimal time period elapsed. The crew has shifted back to pruning the shrubs.

The next landscape walkthrough should be Friday, April 24 at 11am. Please check back later in the month to confirm date and time.

If you noticed any areas that need attention, please post as comments to this topic. You can also post any compliments!

Next Landscape Walkthrough 3/27 at 11am

Meet at the front gate if you want to join us on the monthly walk-through. This month's topics will include:

• thrip invasion of the Arbutus trees/shrubs
• 2009 Projects

March Landscaping - Post your comments!

This month the focus in on mowing the ivy. Mowing the ivy will rejuvenate it and should also discourage pests as potential hiding places are disturbed and uncovered. It has the additional benefit of reducing the volume for more efficient sprinkler coverage. Mowing began this week and will continue for the next several weeks. This time of year is best for pruning the ivy since it will grow back faster now then if we did it during the winter.

Pruning of the shrubbery has been started, but has been deferred until after the ivy is mowed since there is a shorter window of opportunity for the best time to prune the ivy.

The working schedule has been impacted by rainy weather causing the crew come on different days rather than their usual Mondays.

If you noticed any areas that need attention, please post as comments to this topic. You can also post any compliments!

Next Landscape Walkthrough Friday 2/27 at 11am

The next walkthrough will be next Friday, February 27th at 11am - meet at the front gate.

Topics include:

1. 'Hidden' areas - Is the landscape crew keeping all the back areas(areas not easily visible from the street) maintained? I think it's a case of out of sight, out of mind. We recently discovered one out of the way area that needed some additional attention. Committee members please take a look around (even if you don't plan to come to the walk-through) and let me know if there are any specific areas that we should address during the walkthrough.

2. Ivy - I continue to see ivy growing up the foundations and covering the plants at various locations.

3. Parfait project. We have a new plan for re-doing the area near 108 Parfait. We're working on an Asian inspired Bay Friendly theme for the planting.

Apologies!

Forgot to post the date and time of the January walk-through. It was Friday, January 30th. The focus of the walk-through was identifying areas for this year's improvements.

New Plantings

Here's a sample of some of the new plantings at Brittany Bay.

Left : A Coral Bark Japanese Maple Tree( 'Sango-kaku') replaced the Melaleuca tree which had outgrown the site. Summer foliage will be golden-green with reddish hints

Below Right : Re-landscaped area by 28 Shepardson. This area previously had two large trees, one of which had already caused major repairs to the sidewalk before it was removed. The new plants include a Peppermint Tree (agonis flexuosa) . The leaves smell of peppermint when crushed. It flowers between August and December.

Happy New Year!

All of the planned plantings for 2008 have been completed. There will be some additional mulch spread at the locations.

For 2009 plans call for:

1 - Mowing of ivy
2 - Selected hard pruning to facilitate maintenance
3 - Removing ivy at selected locatings and trying alternate ground covers
4 - Redesign area by 108 Parfait
5 - Other small projects.