Newsletter and Communications - "Like Herding Cats"

About those dying shrubs - communication to owners

The previous post was about the most recent association newsletter and the board generated Landscaping Report. That report included the statement that "The bushes along most of our buildings are infected with an Asian beetle. Every hedge must be removed. This will occur in late spring."

The Spring 2019 newsletter article about these shrubs is not the most recent. In fact, the first article about this was written in 2017.  As as the case with many other newsletter articles, I was the "ghost writer" for the August 2017 article.

Here's a link to the previous post:

http://briarcliffelakes.blogspot.com/2019/05/about-those-dying-shrubs.html

Here are the newsletter articles or comments contained in the newsletters from 2017 and 2018. I frequently "ghost wrote" articles with the respective board members permission because had I not done so, there would not have been an article.  Click on the images to enlarge:

From newsletter published in August 2017

From Newsletter published in April 2018

From Newsletter published September 2018 - my final newsletter

Here's a couple of photos I took about this problem in 2017 which were formally submitted to the entire board with the monthly "board packet":

About those dying shrubs......

Dead Viburnums while other shrubs flourish.....

The most recent association newsletter included a Landscaping Report and a statement that "The bushes along most of our buildings are infected with an Asian beetle. Every hedge must be removed. This will occur in late spring."

That's inaccurate. Our association has a variety of shrubbery and many of the shrubs on the property are healthy. It is the Viburnums that are dying because of a beetle.  The photo above was added June 15, 2019 which is typical.  It shows healthy shrubs and dying viburnums. I encircled the viburnums in the photo above.

The issue was first observed in 2017
This was observed in 2017 and reported to the board. Only certain viburnums are under attack, and some as well as many other shrubs are healthy. I noticed this problem in summer 2017 and discussed with professionals, took photos in July and August of 2017 and submitted them to the board with the professional assessment. This was discussed during the August 10, 2017 association meeting and in 2018. In fact management and I walked the association with a contractor and a proposal was obtained in 2018.  The Landscaping Director was scheduled to make that meeting but did not show up.  Proposals were submitted to the board.......

The August 2017 email I sent to management and to the board member who was/is the landscaping director included two photos. These were printed for distribution to the entire board during the August 10, 2017 meeting. The email said:"Dave; Can we get some printouts of this email and the attached photos to discuss tonight? I’ve added a second photo at another location."

Here are the photos:

The pest is the Viburnum Leaf Beetle. It only attacks one species of shrub (viburnums). There are some viburnums that are very resistant to the beetle. 

http://www.hort.cornell.edu/vlb/

This was discussed by the board over, and over and over. LOL!

I advocated replacement of infected plants on a rotational basis. A meeting with a landscaping contractor was scheduled for June, but by summer 2018 the board had made no progress.

Here are some viburnums that have been observed to be very resistant to the beetle, per the Cornell website:

Viburnum most resistant to the viburnum leaf beetle:

• V. bodnantense, dawn viburnum
• V. carlesii, Koreanspice viburnum
• V. davidii*, David viburnum
• V. x juddii, Judd viburnum
• V. plicatum, doublefile viburnum
• V. plicatum var. tomentosum, doublefile viburnum
• V. rhytidophyllum, leatherleaf viburnum
• V. setigerum, tea viburnum
• V. sieboldii, Siebold viburnum

My email about the June 6 2018 meeting to replace dead viburnums.  Our landscaping director agreed to attend, but did not. This was my email and part of my report to the board after that meeting:

"John, and Landscaping Committee;

Dave Grill [Our manager] and I met with [Our Landscaping Contractor] today to discuss issues with the dying virburnum shrubs.  This is in accordance with the site survey conducted a week ago with ...... our landscaping director.

Here is what was discussed:

1. We need a plan to deal with dying viburnum shrubs on Plymouth Court and Harrow Court. This is the first step in a multi-year program. These seem to be the worst impacted by the leaf beetle. Thereafter, other areas will be dealt with in a multi-year program.
2. We want shrubs that are 3-4 feet maximum height to replace the viburnums. We want low maintenance and hardy. We want the “cut back” to be reduced to reduce the amount of bare soil. Length of the shrubs at each building to be about 15-20 feet.
3. Our landscaping director has proposed a tree nursery on the property. The board is aligned with this and we need to know how to proceed.
4. The board has a long term commitment to the property, but we do need to balance this with financial realities.  Street entries off of Briarcliffe Blvd, while beautiful, are not as important to our owners as the internal beautification  and landscaping maintenance issues.  Ergo, recent discussions on the committee about adding ground cover for these area.
5. Shrubs will be replaced early fall (August and thereafter). This is optimum for the foliage.
6. We request the numbers so we can discuss these during the July 12 meeting.
7. We do want to address the landscaping issues at the Plymouth pond, but any work in that area must be delayed until after the concrete work on the stream.
8. There are other internal property issues, but these will require specific requests.

I think this covers the recent discussions and immediate landscaping concerns. "

We did receive a proposal, but it included plants which would require additional watering. In other words, it added maintenance and water costs.  This languished for several months and I refused to approve it unless the board member who was the Landscaping Director would provide specific guidance. He did not. 

So that approach died when there was no action as of September, 2018...LOL...

And some wonder why I am no longer on the board.  Give me a break....if I wanted a hobby, I'd get a hobbly!  Like doing more painted rocks...LOL.   The butterfly in the center is a work in progress.......

Another 1 to 2 inches of Rainfall today

We are in a severe thunderstorm with one to two inches of rainfall predicted........It has been a wet spring......From NWS "One Hour Precipitation" radar image:

Failing trees - the board decides to let the "firs and pines" die.

Our board stated in the most recent newsletter "All of our firs and pines are dying.....and must come down."

That's a sad position to take and an excuse to stop spraying and caring for the many conifers and related species on the property. In fact, back in 2008 I was told the same thing about our trees by the Landscaping Director at the time.  Boards may change, but doing as little as possible is not an excuse.

I'll remind the reader that the current board raised fees and is now reducing landscaping care.  I was angry in November when the  board decided to raise fees, even though there was a projected, substantial budget surplus for 2018.

Now, that same board wants to cut expenditures for tree maintenance.  When people ask my why I am no longer is on the board, this is one example.

Meanwhile, other trees are nearing end of life, really!  Back in 2008 when I expressed concern to the board I was addressing our many ornamental trees, which have a normal lifespan of 25-35 years. This association is now 50 years of age. While some trees are doing well with annual care, others are obviously in trouble.

More nature.....Ducklings on parade

Temperatures are slowly becoming more spring like.. The streams are running and that means geese, ducks and ducklings.

Many of the adult ducks are tame, probably because some of the humans feed them. However, the hens are wary when tending the ducklings. Feeding birds and other animals is against the rules in the HOA. Doing so attracts all kinds of wildlife. Occasionally the tame wildlife gets into difficulty. Then maintenance has to intervene.

We've also had fox on the property attacking the ducks and ducklings......"the circle of life"....