A Q&A with Bland Branch Manager Roger Beale

In recent months, Property Manager Ron Fincher has received a handful of complaints about our landscaping company, Bland Landscaping. The HOA Board met with account manager Tim Mendenko and branch manager Roger Beale in May and again in June to review these complaints and discuss with them how best to respond. It was during these discussions that the idea of a question-and-answer session was proposed to give Roger and Tim an opportunity to differentiate areas that need to be fixed from legitimate horticultural practices that may be different from what some residents have come to expect.

The Q&A with Roger was conducted in June by Board President Gary Moss.

Gary: One of the complaints we have received quite often is that some
backyards were not mowed. What is being done to address that?

Roger: All of our employees working at Walden Townes are instructed to
mow each backyard unless it is locked.  It is a large site so it impractical for the site foreman or the Account Manager (Tim Mendenko) to walk the entire site after every mowing and check.  Our employees are asked if they finished and we trust that to be the case.  When it is brought to our attention through your property manager we take action to go back and mow the missed yard and stress to the employees to not let this happen again.

Gary: How does Bland deal with an employee who claims to perform work that has not been completed?

Roger: The first time, they are warned verbally.  The second time they are warned verbally and it is documented on their personnel file.  The third time their employment is terminated.

Gary: On that point, one of the questions that have been raised is the
failure to weed, seed, aerate, and fertilize all the yards. How do we know that your crews finished this work as called for in our contract?

Roger: Turf fertilization is done three times a year in late February, September and November.  The fertilizer used in February has a pre-emergent herbicide for crabgrass control in it.  Broadleaf weeds are treated in the spring via liquid form.  Seeding is done in conjunction with aerifying in the early fall.  In the future, Tim will let your property manager know when each of these tasks has been done.

Gary: Before the HOA voted to hire your company, a board member actually went to visit five of your client sites and raved about the quality of the work, which is why it has been so disappointing to me and other board members that there have been problems. Aside from problem employees, are there other issues that you are dealing with?

Roger: We appreciate your business, and we are working hard to keep it.
A challenge we face is that landscape maintenance is a
subjective matter.  Particularly in a townhome community since one deals
with so many different opinions of what is proper.

Gary: One of the most common complaints is about trimming of shrubbery. How come?

Roger: Sometimes this is because we have not been as quick as we should have been and we are taking steps to improve that.  Other times it is due to timing and different plant requirements.

Gary: One of the most frequent complaints we get is that people say they can't tell that you have even trimmed shrubbery.

Roger: Some landscaping companies do what I call haircuts, which is to
trim shrubbery in such a way that it is obvious that they have been
trimmed. Our approach is just the opposite: We try to shape shrubbery
down to fit the space it fills and looks attractive, but to do so in
such a way that it looks more natural.

Gary: Why?

Roger: The biggest reason is the health of the plant and a desire to prune in a horticulturally correct manner.  Routine shearing can be detrimental to the long term health of a plant.

Gary: Are you saying the aesthetics that some residents want - a clean-shaven, uniform appearance - is in conflict  with the actual health of the plant?

Roger: Many times this is the case.  There are also times when a tree or shrub is simply in the wrong place and may need to be removed and replaced with a more suitable one. 

Gary: We permit residents to trim their own shrubbery and trees to a  size and style that they prefer. Is that a mistake?

Roger: I don't feel comfortable answering as to whether or not this is a mistake because it is not a policy we were involved in creating.  I can see how it may be hard to maintain a consistent community appearance if that is deemed important.  Some pruning done by homeowners is improper, particularly related to crepe myrtles.

Gary: What approach do you take with crape myrtles?

Roger: The only pruning that needs to be done is removing dead/damaged limbs and any crossing branches which can lead to poor branch strength. "Hat-rack" pruning or topping of a crape is never good for the tree. Unfortunately, it is done by many landscapers and thus perceived by many as correct.  In many municipalities, property owners can be fined up to $1000 per tree for topping crape myrtles.

Gary: The other problem area is with mowing. People have complained about strips of grass being missed and about seeing long strips and clods of wet grass. What is being done to address these problems?

Roger: Your property manager passes on to us each complaint he receives from and we respond as quickly as we can. Joe Pugliese also walks the grounds with Tim at least once a month to point out problems. It has been a wet spring, which has been great for the turf, but problematic occasionally when we mow.

Gary: Why not wait to mow until the grass is dry?

Roger: Because our work crews are already working at full capacity to
keep up with mowing and we simply do not have the luxury of allowing a
crew to report to a work site and wait for the grass to dry. The rain that makes the grass wet is also keeping it green and making it grow faster than it otherwise would. During the droughts of recent years, for example, the challenge was keeping grass from dying. Rain or shine, we do all we can to make the best of the circumstances we are faced with.

For more information about Bland Landscaping, go to
http://www.blandlandscaping.com/