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My mother recently moved to an elderly apartment complex. We thought it was going to be great. However, the maintenance man is making life miserable for my mom. When the landlord showed us the apartment, he told my mother that she could have a small garden along the east side of the building where the former tenant had one. Once my mother moved in, the maintenance man told us mom wouldn't be able to plant anything there because he was going to fill it in with concrete.

Then we asked if mom could have some pots with plants in them in the area right along the building, under the windows for her apartment. This area, which is filled with rock, is separated from the lawn by landscape edging. The maintenance man said yes, that would be fine.

When I visited last week, I moved 2 bags of potting soil and some pots to this area. My mom planned to buy some plants later in a few days, when she went shopping.

When she returned from shopping, the maintenance man had removed the potting soil and some 1/2 gallon bottles of water my mom had put there and stacked everything by the door to mom's garage. The next morning, he came to her apartment told her that he wasn't going to allow her to have those things in the flower bed. When my mother tried to explain that I had put them there because she is unable to move them by herself, and that she was going to use the potting soil and water to plant the flowers that she's just bought, he yelled at her and told her that she'd better realize that he runs the place and she'll follow his rules!

Of course, my mom was very upset. I've called the landlord and left a message on the answering machine but haven't gotten a return call yet.

What are our options? (Moving is not one of them!)

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I forgot to add that several other tenants in the building have pots of flowers under the windows outside their apartments and have not had these problems with the maintenance man.
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Talk to the apartment manager....maintenance people do not run a complex. I would go face to face with the manager.
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Keep calling the landlord cause he responsible for his maintenance ppl
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I wouldn't leave stuff outside, it will disappear. Put it in the garage. Assemble your pots and put them outside. Do this AFTER Memorial Day, or someone may steal the pots to use at a cemetery.
Look at what other tenants have and where they place them. Do not block air conditioner vents or dryer vents. It sounds like she should stick to smaller stuff that she can move herself. Taller plants might block the air conditioner.
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Even though the original post was 2 years ago, it is important whenever someone rents a place to find out exactly what type of plants are allowed [such as what Pam had said above], then there won't be any confusion.

Then have everything ready on one day to do the planting... do not leave bags of potting soil out for a few days... it could slip down and become a tripping hazard for the other elders in the complex.
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