Pre-Landscaping Meeting

The pre-landscaping meeting was informative, but definitely not fun. My blood pressure went up a lot, and I had to really work to not kill the messenger.

The landscaping contractor met us at the site and showed us yet a third "new" standard plan for a "large" lot. I really wish Pringle had mailed us this plan in advance so we would have been able to research the trees, shrubs, etc. Communication on landscaping has been poor.

The landscape plan is very proscriptive. The contractor said this is a City of Mount Dora requirement. I'm not very happy at being told that I MUST have a particular kind of canopy tree exactly 13' from the street at exactly a specific position in my yard. I'm even more unhappy that I am apparently not allowed to have the turf all be the Zoysia grass that Pringle committed to in the contract and that I am not allowed to landscape the back 20' of the property that I own and paid for. We did not reach any agreement on landscaping. I have a meeting with the City of Mount Dora Planning Department scheduled, and if that does not go well, will have to see what Pringle will propose to honor our contract. I feel that I'm being gypped out of 14% of the lot I paid to own, and about 50% of the view we thought we would get, due to the reported City of Mount Dora requirements.

The requirements for a "large lot" (ours is nominally 78' wide) are:

- 4 canopy trees
- 29 large hedge plants
- 29 small hedge plants
- 5 - 8 large accent plants
- 12 small accent plants
-32 color items
-147 groundcover plants

Accent plants are required at the driveway corners, which we wanted to be grass.

Mulch is red cypress or pine bark in front and pine straw in back, unless we want to pay to have the back upgraded to cypress or pine bark.

None of this is per our contract. Some is better, but some is much worse. Stay tuned.

On a different note, there will not be as much information posted on this blog for the next two weeks, as I'll be out of town.