West Boynton· He began at 15 by mowing a few lawns for neighbors. Within two years, he landscaped entire gardens from scratch, built waterfalls and ponds and, until recently, raked in around $2,500 a month.

But in recent months, board members of The Colony, west of Boynton Beach, have been trying to clamp down on their community's youngest entrepreneur, 16-year-old Bishy Tannous, saying his landscaping business violates association rules.
 

Never mind that some of them, including board president Richard Grant, have been Tannous' customers. Grant said complaints stemmed from the fact that Tannous was running a business from his home, which the community prohibits, and from the noise and look of his mower and equipment on the street. "I'm just enforcing the bylaws of the homeowners association," said Grant. "You wouldn't believe they're adults," said Tannous, reflecting on the controversy. " ... They should worry about something that's worry-worthy." On Wednesday, the association mailed a letter to all residents -- there are about 160 homes in The Colony -- advising them that the board had added a rule to the bylaws banning the use of any unlicensed motorized vehicle from the community's streets. That rule, which residents said was passed without their input, has put a crimp in Tannous' business. He tows a small pyramid of landscaping equipment from job to job with a golf cart, which he would not be able to get a license for under state law. At his peak, the Pope John Paul II High School student was regularly servicing 22 yards and doing installation and

Some residents of The Colony admire Bishy Tannous' work ethic, grades and ability. But others don't want him operating his lawn-care business in the community.

With his earnings, he sent his mother and two aunts on a cruise to the Bahamas in December and is saving to buy himself a truck.

"His father died when he was 4, and since then, he has always felt a responsibility for the family," said his mother, Sameeha Tannnous.

The feuding over Tannous' business escalated into violence earlier this month, residents said, when police were called to a board meeting at which a brief scuffle erupted between a resident and Tannous' uncle, Abdallah Akrouk, who also lives at The Colony.

Tannous has tried to diffuse the problem by cutting down on his work. He now services around nine yards.

When he speaks of landscaping, it is clearly a vocation. Names such as Arbicola bush, Ti plant, Pittosporum, Kimberly Queen Fern and Adonidia palm roll expertly from his lips.

"There's a lot more to landscaping than people know. It looks like a slave job, but you have to know your plants -- the conditions they thrive in, the water and sun they'll need," said Tannous, who turns 17 on Sunday.

Over the years, Tannous read books on horticulture and garden design and researched the subject on the Internet. Informally, he apprenticed with professional landscapers, learning the art by watching, and plans to study plant science and horticulture in college.

But even as he contemplates owning his own company one day, he must wade through the politics his entrepreneurship has stirred in this community.

Sue Lambert, a Colony resident, speaks of her young landscaper with a sigh of support.

"He gets good grades. He mows lawns and saves money and this is what our community calls its problem kid," Lambert said.