Tree Trimming

 Good tree maintenance means cutting down dead fronds, and pruning away some of the green fronds.  When the job is done, the tree is neater looking and less messy.

Tree trimming is a dirty job. I am glad it is being done, and I am glad that I do not have to do it myself.

The difference a tree trimming can make...

Thank you to the Property Manager and to Ted Conner Tree Experts for the great job they did in trimming the three trees behind building 40, and also for the superb job they did in cleaning up after themselves.

Rain Gutter Problems for Building 33

Rain gutters have been added to some buildings as a really good measure to help prevent water intrusion damage.  However, the rain gutters themselves do require some maintenance.  In the case of building 33, pictured below, it is clear that the gutter is so full of leaves and or debris (in spite of leaf guards having been installed) that the water is running over the top of the gutter and down the side rather than down the spout (06 August 2011 rainstorm).  That particular downspout also has problems, in that the away-tube portion has never been installed and a rather large hole has grown, from rain-water erosion, at the back corner of that building's foundation.  There are some simple solutions that can be applied.  But there are multiple such problems around the property that have existed for several years and have not been addressed.  Previous posts on this subject can be found by clicking this link: (Other rain gutter posts: rain gutters)

                

It is too bad that the tree trimmers didn't clean out the gutters while they were right there (on 04 August 2011) with the lift equipment that would make it an easy and fast task to accomplish.

How Long Did It Take?

Nevermind. The tree got trimmed some way other than waiting for the management office and maintenance crew to respond to my request to have the tree pruned to remove an obstruction to my wife's vehicle.

Tree Trimming Needs

This is an old picture, and the leaves are now hanging so low that they touch my car and interfere with passengers getting in and out of the vehicle. I called the office today at 3pm and got their answering machine so I left a message, and I also sent a request via email asking them to please trim back the tree, or give me permission to cut it myself and I would happily do the job. How long do you think it might take before something gets done?

Remembering Hurricane Wilma, from October 2005

Here are some pictures that I took in the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma. Captions to be added later.

Above is the path that Hurricane Wilma followed, from the West to the East across Florida. Below is what it looked like out my back window when the rain started to fall and the wind started to blow. You can see a piece of the plastic that was supposed to protect our building that was mostly under construction.

Pictured above, we could see trees start to lose limbs during the storm.
Pictured below, the aftermath of the storm when it was safe to walk around the neighborhood.

Above right and below left, building #35 can be seen to be without exterior siding as that building was under construction. It had been wrapped with sheets of plastic by ConTech, the construction company working on the building. The plastic quickly blew off in the storm and offered little protection. Fortunately the storm was more about wind than about water so the building experienced little damage due to water intrusion.

Trees were the big casualties in Hurricane Wilma. When the ground became saturated with water, the high winds toppled many of the big trees that had big, full, leafy "heads".