Cheers. Chris and Sue

Hi All. After repeated telephone calls to the pool maintenence company who have not been to do the pool for two and a half weeks and it looking a bit grim. I have instructed Loja to appoint an alternative company.

Loja have this afternoon passed the pool maintenece contract to Sulpools who have today cleaned up the pool and dosed with chemicals.

I’ll keep an eye on it for the remainder of our holiday until the 27 May.

Regards

Chris.

Here is a copy of the specification we have composed for the garden quotations.

At the moment we have received 4 seperate quotations (excluding our current garden company) for consideration. When we have had a go at transfering them into english we will publish them on this site.

Sue and Chris.

Gardening Maintenance Contract.

Provide an estimate of man hours and weekly visits required to keep the garden maintained to the high standards required by the owners.

The owners would prefer the garden maintenance to be carried out on a regularly basis and fixed to a particular day of the week unless weather and conditions do not allow. However if the garden cannot be maintained regularly on a specific day due to inclement weather we would hope some maintenance would be done at some other time.

Keep the garden free of weeds and remove all dead plants and shrubs.

Replace any dead shrubs.

Regular spraying to keep all hard areas free of weeds. (Perhaps 4 times a year).

Fertilize, spray with selective weed killer and insecticide all grassed areas.

Maintain the edging of the lawns around the flower beds to keep a neat and tidy appearance.

Keep all open drains and gulley’s free of weeds and leaves.

Maintain watering system including setting of sprinkler heads, replacement of damaged heads and seasonal adjustment of timers.

Remove all dead leaves from trees, palms and shrubs and keep topiary bushes in shape.

Prune and cut back trees and shrubs as required maintaining shapes and new growth

Keep all wall side plants tied back and trimmed.

Keep hedges around the perimeter of the garden cut and level to provide a neat and tidy appearance.

Extras over and above regular maintenance contract.

Annually advice of any recommended changes you consider would improve the appearance of the garden. i.e removal of old plants, replace and replant flower beds.

Advice on how we can reduce the maintenance hours required i.e membrane coverage and gravel, bark chippings to reduce weeds in planted areas.

Advice on any planting that is likely to cause root damage to structure and drains etc.

We have this morning 28th April taken a tour around the garden with Ana Paula from Loja to see what progress had been made with the garden following our meeting with Ecosys at the end of March.

Unfortunately, it seems that the basic stuff such as grass cutting and weeding have been neglected in favour of the new plants being put in ( we thought this was being done as a special project under a separate order).

We are therefore very disappointed in what we have found and the promises that were made have not been carried out. The results are that the garden is now looking yet again in a very poor state.

Having taken time out on several occasions to make clear from both sides what was required; all our efforts seem to have been a waste of time. The promises made in March of the work to be done prior to the AGM are not evident.

For the AGM we hope to have available 4 quotations from alternative companies, these being Landscape, Q Gardens, Cando Gardens (the original garden landscaper) and Naturella. We have toured the garden with Landscape and it is their opinion that their original quote for 2 men for 1 Day is not sufficient time to keep the garden to our high expectations, and they are going to re-quote.

We are looking for ideas from owner as to possible ways acceptable to the majority, of where we could reduce the man-hours needed, be that by ground coverings, reducing the planted areas,etc.

The Pool is also in need of a good clean, and the pool lights repairing. Loja are trying to get this sorted. In addition, we have had to remove sun beds that have been allowed to blow into the pool during the winter season, we are not aware of any damage to the pool at the moment. We also found a large green plastic patio table in the garden area which was broken and so have been removed and ‘recycled’.

I don’t know whether you sent this email to us by mistake or have sent one to Chris & Sue and copied us in on it.

I have been reading your comments with interest as well as Chris & Sue’s replies. With regard to the stones in the flowerbed, this household is divided. I don’t think that they will look nice and Vilma thinks that they will look good as they do in some of the roundabouts. This just highlights the problems we have trying to please 24 owners!!

I know that we all want a lovely garden, but there would be great resistance from a large number of owners if we doubled the number of gardeners and therefore the costs from our current 2 men for one day per week to 4 men for a day per week.

My feeling is that our current gardeners are overstretched in the Lagos area and cannot cope with the workload. I think that they have the contract for the new 4 star hotel that we look down on by the beach. At least I saw several of their workers around last summer.

I am aware that the weather has been against them all winter and if they set aside a specific day each week to come to Monte Anastacia and it is wet, they cannot reschedule us at someone else’s expense. It is the luck of the draw.

I think that it is important for Loja to get at least 3 quotes ready for the AGM so that Chris, Sue, Vilma, myself and anyone else who is out prior to the AGM can go and see the prospective gardeners and see evidence of their work in the area. This is what we did before choosing a contractor to do the painting, and that seems to have worked out to everyone’s satisfaction.

I personally have a problem with trees and large bushes close to the buildings. I feel that we will shortly experience blocked drains and damaged pipes and manholes due to the ever increasing root systems as the plants and trees grow. Their demand for water increases with size, and sooner or later the roots will find their way into the pipes and manholes in search of water, especially in the dry summer months. This inevitably will cause damage resulting in leaks and costly repairs.

I know I am always banging on about the palm tree outside our balcony, but I feel that all large trees and bushes close to drainage runs should be removed. Eric has asked Ana Paula to obtain the drawings for Monte Anastacia so that we can see where the drain runs are and I can plot on the large trees and bushes so that we can discuss it at the AGM.

I personally do not have a problem with Loja’s choice of gardeners who will quote even if they do come from Lisbon. If they are trying to become established in the Algarve, we might get a good service from them as recommendation will be important for them. The only problem with them is that we will not be able to see evidence of their standard of work unless the committee pay for us to have a few days in Lisbon in a 5 star hotel!!!

I would have thought that with the large number of apartment blocks that Loja manage, they must have a list of preferred tradesmen for just about everything. Why can they not recommend three good quality gardeners???

We are out on 26th April until 28th May, so look forward to seeing you both then and catching up on the latest gossip.

All the best

Rob

The first point I wish to comment on is the proposal to cover the flower bed next to the tennis court with coloured stones as the gardeners are unable to keep the weeds at bay, they have been unable to keep the weeds under control throughout the gardens and car park for some time and I feel that the problem is because they have failed to carry out any chemical spraying to any set programme which is what I assume is the normal thing to do. As for the coloured stones on the flower beds I do not wish to see coloured stones on any flower beds especially one that I would see from our balcony, I much prefer to see well tended flower beds and I do hope the coloured stones get no further than being a proposal.

The next point is regarding searching for quotes from garden maintenance contractors to carry out the maintenance, Having read the information you have provided regarding the only quote Loja have received to date, I cant understand why Loja have asked a company from Lisbon who have no contracts, office or experience of working in the Algarve area to quote the work and I feel that we would be leaving ourselves open to problems if we were to be awarded the contract. My other concern regarding their quote is that they propose to carry out the work on two half days with two men each half day, surely this wouldn’t work as we need to have the contractors on site all day to a set amount of working hours and a labour force of four to complete the work to the high standard we expect and once had, and I hope saving money does not come into the equation when selecting the right contractor as we have already paid the price for saving money with the contractors we have now. So I do hope Loja will be informed to search for good local contractors and that the gardens will be returned to there former splendour.
Kind Regards,
Neil and Gail Wright.

Landscape propose to provide two specialised gardeners for 2 half days each week with the necessary equipment to maintain a guaranteed level of work for a good appearance to the garden.

Services included

Regularly clean all areas of the garden

Weed and clean the flower beds

Cut and make good the grassed areas/lawns

Scarify the lawns

Regularly Fertilise

Maintain/prune/replant shrubs and herbaceous areas

Maintain/ do sundries to the shrubs and climbers

Cut and maintain hedges

Provide technical landscape assistance

Give regular technical assistance.

Technical Control

They have also said that they will provide monthly reports

Watering

Landscape will use the existing watering system but take no responsibility for its current condition. They will adjust and maintain the existing watering system, but any replacement to damaged materials would be at an extra cost.

Landscape will provide all specially trained staff, equipment, transport and removal of waste together with technical support.

Monthly Costs

They will charge 538.63 Euros per month excluding IVA (total 646.36 incl IVA)

Notes
Landscape will not be held responsible for any dead or dying plants or treatment of Palm trees. Any replacements or treatments would be at extra cost.
Proposal valid for 90 days (from 12 Feb)
Invoice payment 30 days from invoice date.

During our last visit to the Apartment we had a meeting and discussion with Sandra Sal from Ecosystemas our Garden Company.

Having now achieved a reasonable state of repair in the garden following what has been and exceptional year for Bad Weather, we both feel that some changes need to be made in order to make the garden easier to maintain within the allotted time of the contract. However our proposals would need to be treated as ‘Special Projects’ and to this end we have several suggestions.

1) Along the walled area of the parking zones we would suggest removing all the ground covering plants and replacing the watering system pipes and jets then covering over with gravel. The watering system could then be tailored to ensure that the water reaches the climbers and also does not end up running away without any benefit to the plants it was intended for. Gravelling this narrow strip would make it tidy and reduce weed growth and any weeds appearing could be killed when the gardeners spray the parking areas/ driveway.

2) The Large area below Block B and behind the Tennis courts is not looking so good at the moment because as fast as the Gardeners weed it they grow back. We already have arranged for some new plants in this area, but we think that if a Membrane was put down and then the whole area had a variety of large gravel and stones, of different colours with the plants set amongst them, then this bed would look again much neater and reduce the need for constant weeding by the Gardeners, giving them more time to concentrate on other areas. However the covering will need to be large enough so as not to move in bad weather or when the watering system is in operation.

3) We should have a contingency in place for replacing any bushes and plants that die around the garden to they can be substituted quickly, and in the case of the hedge which has just been ‘manicured’ wait to see what if any action needs taking when it has had chance to grow back.

4) We need to get some professional opinions on the trees near the children’s pool and establish if their roots are going to cause problems to the pool walls in the near future. If so we must have them removed and if necessary replaced with something more suitable. This will involve some ground works.

5) In respect of the many Palm trees in the garden, it has been brought to our attention that there is a huge problem in the Algarve area with a Palm Beetle which if the trees are not treated kills the tree quite rapidly. The infected trees have to be cut down and removed at great expense. We should get quotations for regular spraying and take some action as soon as possible if we are not to loose them.

6) We have also arranged for a quotation for painting of the inside of the perimeter wall where the hedge has been cut back.

7) Loja have provided us with one firm quotation for an alternative garden maintenance company, called Landscape, and we have tried to interpret their offer, which will be sent in a separate document. But we need to make a definite decision at the AGM as their quote runs out a few days after out meeting. Landscape are primarily a Lisbon based company who are also setting up on the Algarve, but Loja could not say where just yet, but we have their publicity brochure and their work seems to be in parkland and large spaces, and also road sides if the brochure is anything to go by. We will be meeting with them before the AGM to see some examples of their work, hopefully on Apr 30th.
In addition Loja say they are awaiting a further quote from Q Gardens, but that was not available at the time, and again, we propose to meet with them on 30th Apr to see their work.

Many thanks for copy of Rob’s excellent report. The heating of the pool would not be of great benefit to us although we would be prepared to contribute should the majority be in favour.

We also have concerns about the day to day management of the system which is needed in order to provide effective control of both heating and costs whilst remaining simple for guests to use. The difficulty in providing effective insulation to the pool is a further compounding factor which we suspect would limit the overall benefits to residents.

Like many of the other replies we prefer to see additional investment in the gardens, these are a major benefit and differentiate our condominium from others in the area.

Colin & Lily Brade