
Situation
The Oaks at Boca Raton POA was suffering from a community-wide problem: its ficus hedges were infested and badly damaged by whitefly. Resident complaints had also prompted a violation letter from Palm Beach County that addressed the sorry state of the hedges used as a privacy buffer from the main thoroughfares alongside the community. The county asked The Oaks to rip out all 8,500 feet of ficus hedges and replace them with a whitefly-tolerant plant—a costly and labor-intensive proposition.