Landscape contract terminated

Efforts to renegotiate the current landscaping services contract were abandoned today. The Legacy landscaping contract will expire at the end of May and the Association will move forward with different vendors.

Some services (e.g., flowers) will be delayed until new contractors come online. Legacy was charging the association $10,000 for seasonal color. There are already bids for the same work at 30% of the cost. Your patience as we go through this transition and training of new contractors is appreciated.

The unsolvable issues with Legacy were the the use of large heavy mowers, the lack of attention to detail, and the very high costs for shrub and irrigation repairs. A small Crape Myrtle planted on the property in 2019 cost the association $1,000. A quote to for $3,500 irrigation leak was assigned to another contractor who did the work for $325.  The final negotiations were very cooperative and respectful, but the parties were far apart on major issues and both felt a mutually beneficial partnership was out of reach.

Bidding Request for proposals were sent to seven landscapers and the Association is evaluating bids.

1. American Landscape Systems 
2. Bare Roots 
3. Docs Landscaping 
4. Garden Design Landscaping 
5. Jim Anderson Landscaping
6. Southern Botanical 
7. Steven's Lawn and Sprinkler

Portfolio The plan is to employ multiple specialized contractors to replace the work done by Legacy as follows (ranked in order of annual expense):

• landscape maintenance (out for bid)
• tree services (Hernandez Tree Experts , Maya Tree Service)
• irritation repair (Waterboy)
• porter services for pool, tennis court (Integrity Porter & Services)
• nursery (Circle G Nursery, Southwest Wholesale Nursery)
• fertilization (TruGreen Chemlawn)

Retainers The Association will reduce the general reoccurring monthly fees and purchase more services on a fee-for-service basis. General reoccurring payments will be reduced from 83% to 40% of the annual landscape budget.

Batching Future shrub, tree placements, and tree trimming will be batched in 2-3 lots per year. Plant material will purchase materials in bulk and at wholesale prices.

All other landscaping articles are here.