LET’S TALK
The Retreat is a pristine, expansive 100-acre HOA community nestled in the Corona hills of California. This high-end guarded community is set in the Temescal Valley, carved in the canyons of the Cleveland National Forest. Its million dollar homes and sprawling open areas wind up and down the canyons, boasting sweeping views of the valley. The benchmark of service for a property of this caliber should be the gold-standard of care, however, The Retreat was nowhere near receiving that kind of service.
When Andre began, The Retreat’s grounds were unruly. The landscape was inconsistently trimmed, severely overgrown in many areas, and lacked definition between plants, beds, and turf. The parkways that meander throughout the community were in disarray, with huge bare areas and weeds throughout. But their irrigation system was in the worst condition of all – under-watering in areas, over-watering in others, water run-off issues, and a drip system that was dysfunctional. The irrigation programming was the same, whether in sun or shade, regardless of the plant needs and light conditions – costing the homeowners of The Retreat a great deal of money in water mismanagement. A portion of TheRetreat was irrigated with recycled water from a lake with no meter, but the system was no longer working. Neither the board, nor the previous contractor knew where the filters were – until Andre found them beyond the property grounds. Because the filters and valves were never maintained, they were so severely plugged, the master valves had to be replaced for the system to function again.
We rolled up our sleeves and went right to work, identifying items that needed immediate action, working with the board and landscape committee every step of the way. One of the first orders of business was to get their water management under control, including creating irrigation legends for each of their 19 clocks, cleaning out the recycled water filters and system, and replacing master values to get this beneficial system back on its feet again, while concurrently creating a rotation schedule for the timely and regular trimming of plant material throughout the site. The next step was to initiate turf scalping, reseeding, and feeding schedules for the revitalization of their parkways. And then – continue to listen, listen, and listen again, to the board and landscape committee’s concerns and priorities, addressing each through actionable, realistic steps that result in visible, tangible impact to the community.
The Retreat now has a renovated entrance that’s in harmony with their sophisticated community. Parkways and grounds are green, lush, and orderly in just a matter of months. Their recycled irrigation system is operating efficiently again, supplying the community with ¼ non-domestic irrigation water. Andre irrigates to the needs of the landscape and conditions, which has created a substantial savings – $10,000 in the first 2 months – with more savings to follow as we continue to perfect their water management. At the board’s request, we’ve also customized our tree care into quarterly sessions so that we can address their arbor care concerns or needs regularly. We meet 3 times a month with the board of directors and landscape committee. We walk the property with them, discuss their next priorities and how we’ll continue to move the community forward. All our work has been done on budget, with integrity, transparency and intentional communication. We are a landscape firm that gets things moving in the right direction again - It’s our mission- Make things hum.
There is no previous work
There is no next work
