Our First Neighborhood Party, held on May 5, was a great success. Even though we had to postpone it for a day due to rain, we had an attendance of approximately 48 people (16 homes represented) and the weather that day was splendid.
Thanks to everyone who came and brought something. The food was great and it was a nice opportunity to get to know each other better, relax and have a good time.
We should make this a yearly event!
Every lawn has basic needs that must be met to keep it healthy and beautiful. When mowed properly, a lawn will grow thicker and have deeper root growth, which makes it more durable and helps fight weeds, insects, and diseases. Two common mowing errors are that the lawn isn't mowed often enough, or that the grass is cut too short. Certain grasses, such as centipedegrass, zoysiagrasss, and bermudagrass, require close mowing to stay vigorous. If these grasses are allowed to grow too high, the stolons and crowns tend to grow upright and the lawns become thatchy which exposes them to mower damage.
MOWING TIPS
| Allowing the grass to grow tall and then removing more than 1/3 of the leaf blade can "scalp" or damage the lawn. |
| Mowing the grass extremely low can damage the lawn by cutting into the crowns of the plants. |
| During periods of rapid growth, such as during summer months, lawns may require mowing every week. |
FERTILIZING TIPS
| Adequate fertilization with complete fertilizers produces vigorous turfgrass that is more capable of withstanding adverse weather, insect damage, and disease activity. Fertilizing does not mean that weather, insects, and diseases will not damage turf. However, a healthy, vigorous turf is more likely to resist damage and recover more quickly once damage occurs. |
| If you apply 2 times or more of the correct rate of fertilizer, the salt in the fertilizer can "burn" the grass. The grass blades will lose color and turn brown. |
WEEDS
Weeds germinate and grow during all seasons of the year. There are two types of weed control products. Pre-emergent and Post-emergent. Pre-emergent products control weeds before they germinate and come up. Post-emergent products kill existing weeds. Less weeds means the grass will look smoother or more even. After you mow, with no weeds the grass will keep its good looks and will be thicker with no competition from weeds.
BROWN PATCH
Brown Patch is a serious disease attacking lawn grasses. Initial symptoms are tan lesions on the leaves of the grass. As the disease moves from leaf to leaf it creates circular brown spots (or patches) in the lawn. As these spots enlarge, they can merge into one another until large areas of the lawn become brown and unsightly. Proper turf care can help prevent the spread of Brown Patch:
| Water in the early morning hours. |
| Do not over-fertilize the turf. |
| Mow turf regularly to maintain the recommended mowing height. |
| Do not allow piles of clippings to lay on the grass. |
| In severe cases apply fungicide in the late spring as symptoms appear. |
Professional lawn care companies provide services such as, fertilizing, disease and weed control. Landscape services include lawn cutting, seasonal planting and trimming. We use several different lawn care and landscape companies in our neighborhood. If you are interested and need some references, you can find them on our website under Vendors or just contact one of your neighbors.
The Board wants to be able to inform you of important meetings and events (such as the recent DHA meeting regarding robberies in our area) that affect us. We think that the best way to do this is through email so we need you to provide us with your email addresses. It will not only increase communication but it will also lower our administration costs. We will not give out your email to anyone without your permission.
Please notify Mary Powell so she can compile a distribution list.
We are planning to have a Neighborhood Garage Sale on Saturday, July 13 from 8:30 am—4 pm. We will put a sign on Mt. Vernon Rd. a few days earlier to announce the sale.
Some hot items are: books, baby clothing, toys, furniture, and computer accessories.
Contact Mary Powell if you are interested in participating. On July 13, all you have to do is place some balloons on your mailbox and wait for people to just show up. Good luck!
Karen Kemp spotted their arrival last weekend so start spraying your trees and bushes. Japanese beetles (adults) are most often a little less than a half-inch long, and are a metallic green with copper-brown wing covers. They are voracious eaters and feed on many plant species.
Commercially available traps can actually increase Japanese beetle problems rather than reduce them. Try spraying affected trees with an insecticide spray such as Sevin or Orthene, available at nurseries or hardware stores.
Remember that watering is NOT allowed from 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Watering is allowed from 10 p.m. - 10 a.m. on an odd-even basis. Odd-Even System: If your home has an even numbered street address, you may water for outdoor purposes on even-numbered calendar days.
If you have noticed that your garage door is not working properly lately, try adding some lubricant to the door tracks and tighten all the screws. You will see that it will work as good as new.
Some of us have had problems with rabbits eating our flowers. This can be very frustrating not to mention quite expensive. A good product on the market is the Repel Animal Repellent and can be found at Pike’s Nurseries.