As landscapers, there are common concerns we tend to hear during the course of the “green” season (spring/summer) particularly from condominium residents – “the weeds weren’t taken care of; the grass in my backyard isn’t cut; my grass won’t grow (that’s another blog – 🙂 ); the bushes aren’t trimmed; why don’t you remove the dead bushes?”

These are certainly some of the more common concerns we hear. What most condo residents don’t know is that there is a process to the maintenance and there are health and safety guidelines we must follow. 

Let’s start with the gardens/weeds. Not every garden on the property is attended to every week. Landscapers work at weeding in rotation. This allows the staff to ensure they are completing other duties on the property as well. 

What about the grass? If the grass isn’t cut in a backyard, the most common reason is dog feces – the resident forgot to pick up after their pet and as per Ontario Health and Safety Guidelines, we are not permitted to address an area littered with dog feces. 

Another reason a backyard isn’t complete could be patio furniture or toys on the property. We aren’t able to work around or move these items as people/property could be harmed while doing so. We also don’t cut grass that doesn’t need to be done (too wet or too dry) …to so do can ruin the turf. 

The bushes…while they may look out of control, you want to make sure they are being trimmed at the correct time. Some can be trimmed all year long and recover – others, such as those that flower/bloom during the spring/summer should be addressed in fall. As well, some bushes may appear dead, however, they are actually dormant and could be summer or fall blooming so you don’t want to remove them. The bushes that are actually dead and needing removal we can do so as long as we have the ok to do so by the site contact/board of director.

Finally, for all of the above, it could be we made a mistake. We aren’t perfect and our team simply missed a spot, missed a garden or an area of lawn or we simply didn’t get to trimming the bushes as quickly as we would like. 

So, what do you do if you have a concern about landscaping? Communication is the key. Talk to the person(s) in charge of the site as soon as you have a concern. Don’t wait until winter to discuss something that you saw in Spring. Lastly, be reasonable. Allow the landscaper to explain why things are the way they are and if something was missed, be patient, allow the landscaper time to correct the error. 

For more details on what services, we offer condominiums – click here.