Rotten Wood

This is a fun post today.  Well I didn't like getting up early on a weekend, but I did love that homeowners got together and removed the terribly terrible rotten wood around our property.  There are several phases going on right now at El Presidio.  We are revitalizing a 30 year old property that had not been properly cared for over the years.   One of my rants, if you've been following my blog for awhile, has been that it's not a good idea to use a lot of wood in your desert landscaping.  Why? Because it rots and breaks down over time with the hot hot sun.  Also dry rot termites love to dwell in old beams that have not been water proofed over the years.   For 4 years, I've watched the beams almost come crashing down onto homeowners moving furniture in and out of the property.  We removed the pool, cleaned out the planters and now....are removing the rotten wood. 

There is a special quality about an entrance with overhanging Wild Grape Vine.  It's beautiful.  For the homeowners of El Presidio who follow this blog, I'd like to state that we are going to keep this entrance to the property the same way it was built.  The front gates will be addressed at a later time, but for now, we will be looking at the shed area that required a heavy amount of removal.  This look is going to change.  And we will NOT be using any wood in this area.  Let's take a look at what we've done.

Those old rotted beams were removed carefully and examined to see if they could be used again.  Sadly most of them were so badly weather and termite damaged that they couldn't be salvaged.

Powersaws and manly man tools were used to remove all this wood.

One remaining cactus on the beam grew over the years in the rot of this wood.  Many homeowners enjoyed this solitary soldier.

Everyone was careful about the nails as there were plenty of these rusty guys in the wood.

 The removal was a success and it was determined that these beams will not be replaced as the natural canopy of the oaks and mesquite will act as our own canopy.  Plus it looks nice open.  The issue we have comes from thousands of acorns and birds droppings.  A shade cloth is not the answer nor is placing more wood that will have to replaced and maintained for years to come.  Most of the homeowners want something low maintenance.  And that's what we are going to provide.

 The shed will be re-stuccoed where the wood beams were originally and the 4 posts will be cut in half.  I am thinking cobalt blue pots with lovely flowers on these posts will add a lovely impact for visitors and homeowners coming in through the western and eastern gates.

 Currently the shed looks like this.  We are hoping to get this done before monsoon season begins.

 You can see the size of the beams we removed.  The pool has a plan as well, and I'd like to remind homeowners.....It's going to get ugly before it gets pretty.  A homeowner became upset  with the removal of the dangerous beams and I understand his feelings.  I'd love to have it all done right away but it costs money and our time.  And it's going to take time to repair and beautify our property.  But it's happening.  And slowly unless we have more homeowner participation.  

 We cut these beams up and now they sit in our parking lot.  I am a total lame-o.  I need to weight lift.  I can barely bench 40 pounds. I was the younger guy and had the most difficult time lifting heavy objects.  Hey, but I'm good with design and ideas:)

 The pic above is of the columns that will be cut in half.  They will be tiled with the similiar brick on top.  The question is....lights or cobalt blue pots with agave etc?  What do you all think?  Okay and for my wildlife friends here are some fascinating finds from our gardens here at El Presidio.

 Here are some of the honeycombs after our bee swarm a month ago. Cool!!

 The first cicada of the summer.  Awesome....and one of my favorite bugs to have around this time of year.

 And the butterflies in the garden are out of this world.  Here's a swallowtail doing a little jig around our tangerine tree.

 Here's one last shot of the honeycomb found within the rotten structure.  Very very cool!!!

Thank you to all the homeowners who came out and helped out around the property.  Phase 2 of the rotten wood will happen soon.  Stay tuned for an email from our Vice President Jon.  Please remember, there is a vision and a plan for the property.  It's going to look great when it's all finished.  Right now, it's in the ugly phase.  It will all come together.  For El Presidio, it comes down to money and in particular making sure everyone pays their dues on time.  We had two units severely behind in dues.  One was foreclosed and a check is forthcoming for several thousands of dollars and the second has been paid up with the new ownership which is why we could go forth with the shed area.  With the foreclosed unit over 3000 dollars behind, one can only imagine why progress has been slow.  More tomorrow.....

A Clean Slate

Last Friday was our workday on the property.  Here is an update on what we've done around the place.

With a pic and an ax, all the stumps were removed from the planters saving us a lot of time in Spring. One of the hardest things about these projects is clearing out older established plants and starting over from a clean slate.  However, it actually looks really nice and open now for me to paint my magic.  Ten stumps were removed and the planters are now ready to be dug out.   In March, when the danger of Jack Frost has left the area, I will begin the renovation of the gardens.  Working from a clean slate allows you, the gardener, to work objectively.  I made a mistake 2 years ago by not taking all the plants out when I had the planters removed along my side of the building.  I kept a ficus tree because I didn't want to take it out.  Today it's an eyesore and something I'll have to remove next year.  My bamboo forest took over most of the area and looks lovely, but this eyesore still reminds me to remove everything from an area and start over. It's harder than you think. Live and learn:)

Every year, I have this California Palm trimmed.  It grows about 2 feet and it will soon quickly rise above the roof away from the resident's window.  I love this plant skinned and raised.  If you like a nice thick trunky palm in the desert, I recommend this variety.

Check out the massive amounts of fronds!!!

Of course, we can't forget about the pool which froze over.  As we emptied the water out, the ice shattered with an earth cracking sound.  This was the day after our freeze.

While this has been the most costly of projects at over a thousand dollars, it has been worthwhile.  In Spring, the area will be ready for a makeover that will change the feel of the Eastern garden.  No longer will residents have to look at ratty bushes or trees.  I can't change the garden overnight, but I am working on different projects based on yearly phases.  This one was one of the biggies and I hope the residents get a feel for what they are going to see around their homes.
Winter here has been devastating. A lot of plants were killed and are still dying.  I have a post called Plan B coming up that will discuss emergency issues when it comes to a lot of plants around a complex dying. There are ways to deal with this and I look at it as the "emergency fund".  I think it's a great post on being smart and savvy in the garden with a back up plan. You hopefully have a saving's plan, so why not have one for your garden? So much more coming up...... Las Aventuras is just gearing up for a fun year in 2011.