Dealing with strata president despots

Strata council presidents change often. As a result, you can expect some changes to your routine landscape maintenance program. Some behave like despots.

New strata property ( multi-family complexes in British Columbia) presidents sometimes make astonishing landscape improvement decisions. Like the one pictured below.

What do you see?

The red mulch was installed throughout the property along all sidewalk and road edges. Now, all stratas are free to do whatever they see fit with their landscapes because my job is to maintain all existing landscapes so that everything is clean, crisp and healthy.

When I’m asked, I offer my best professional suggestions. However, in this case the new strata president did his own design and install work. And I believe it leaves much to be desired.

Tree mulch volcanoes

I knew we were headed for trouble as soon as I saw new mulch volcanoes rise up in all boulevard tree wells. This is a classic mistake that refuses to go away.

Since I’ve covered this topic in previous blog posts allow me to just briefly recap here for anyone new to my blogs.

Mulch piled up high above a tree’s root flare like a volcano causes many problems. One problem is that we are covering tree bark under soil which creates a moist environment and can lead to rot. Two, this wetness can invite pests and diseases; and three, adventitious roots can develop inside the volcano and, if left alone, can girdle the tree.

Back to mulch…..

Red mulch

I would personally go for one uniform color for my planted beds. Black soil or red mulch. Not one of each, in stripes. The look does absolutely nothing for me.

Also, the red mulch install is so thin, it must have been installed purely for aesthetic reasons. Proper weed control would require a thick layer of mulch over the entire bed.

We already know from Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott’s work that thin layers of mulch can actually encourage weed growth! The mulch keeps moisture in and allows for plentiful sunlight. If your objective is weed control go thick with mulch.

Maintenance problems

Cultivation

Because the mulch was installed at considerable expense, my new directions are not to disturb it.  That’s fine. But maintaining the black parts without touching the mulch is extremely difficult because I like to cultivate my beds with a cultivator for a nice fluffy look.

Blowing

Just as difficult is performing clean-up blows without disturbing this thin layer of mulch. While I can adjust quickly, I find that junior workers don’t sweat the details as much and then I hear about it when mulch goes missing.

Pruning

Finally, I find pruning in these beds complicated since it requires me to put tarps down under all shrubs. Otherwise, raking the debris will remove some of the prized red mulch.

In conclusion, is there anything we can do? Bite your lip and hope the new president doesn’t last long in his volunteer post. Things change. And it’s not always for the better.