This report is being prepared in late June for the August issue.
Following the guidelines of all the Government bodies on social distancing, our ELM program started the spring and summer season with many adjustments. As a consequence, our contractor, Able Landscaping, took twice as long to install plant material this year due to having only 4-6 staff members available as compared to the usual 30 people or so that are hired to do the mass spring plantings.
June has been a very wet month and that has affected the turf growth rates and mowing and planting schedules as well. The rain and cool weather are perfect conditions for very fast grass growth. Once the planting is completed and the weather starts co-operating, the contractor can get back on track with the regular mowing and maintenance schedule.
The flower displays are already looking fantastic. The warm, sunny weather we usually get in July and August will make the green spaces, the beds and planters spectacular. The Edgemont ELM team would like to send out a big thank you to the management and staff of Able Landscaping for all their hard work under such unusual circumstances.
As we enter the fifth year of the ELM Program, we are getting ready to take a vote later this fall on continuing the program. This is called the “re-affirmation vote”. We will be using many different communication platforms in the coming months to explain the ELM program and what will happen to the community landscape maintenance in Edgemont moving forward. This will include posting the information on the Edgemont Community Association website and offering links to the City of Calgary website which explains the ELM Program as well as other Parks details. A specific date cannot be decided upon just yet as we have to continue to follow the stages of re-opening various buildings and the social gathering guidelines.
This year we have had a significant increase in the number of people helping themselves to the plants in our planters and garden beds. We have made the police aware that this is going on and they have informed us that this is theft of public property and should be reported. Our community police officer has also been made aware that this is happening and he will be keeping an eye on the community.
We are asking any residents who notice anyone other than our Able Landscaping crew members or ELM team members removing items from the planters or garden beds to report them to the police. The police recommend we take pictures of the people and vehicle license plate numbers, if possible. If you know the address of the person removing the plantings please report that as well. You can also report this to [email protected] or the office of the Edgemont Community Centre 403-239-1211 or [email protected] . Please attach any pictures to your report.
We have already used up our supply of emergency-use plant material that we pre-order each year to replace plants that have been removed in the month of June. Any planters and garden beds which start to look a little sparse, now, have probably had items stolen and, due to the lack of plant material available this year at the garden centres, we will not be able to get any new replacements. The enhancements to our community are for everyone to enjoy.