Landscape Committee

By Mary Sapp 

Late last fall and over the winter we did some final landscaping for 2023, transitioned to a new landscape maintenance provider, and started planning for 2024.

In December we planted an American holly in the woods at the end of Lakespray Way to help block the view and traffic noise from South Lakes Drive and to block the entrance from the Safeway access road to an “unofficial path” that has been worn through the woods beside Lakespray Way and to make that path less obvious. We also installed five iteas (deciduous shrubs with spring flowers and fall color) to the right of the parking area at the top of the Lakespray hill after adding topsoil to enhance the existing dirt. Finally, we added a small boulder in Triangle Park to try to protect plants from dog urine.

January saw a transition from Blade Runners to Complete Landscaping for both landscape maintenance and snow removal (which we needed for our three snow events in January and February). We have already scheduled a meeting with our new project manager to walk the Lakeport property and discuss property lines, point out areas that need special attention, and hear his suggestions for how to improve our landscaping.

We also have started on plans for 2024. The Landscape Committee has meetings scheduled with two arborists about needed tree work and will also set up a meeting soon with a landscape designer to hear her suggestions for enhancements we might wish to make over the coming months.

Meanwhile, Mother Nature is starting to bring to life landscape enhancements from previous years. So enjoy! 

By the way, despite the discussion of trillions of periodic cicadas emerging this spring, the DMV will be spared (our Brood X is not expected back until 2038, although we will hear some annual “dog day” cicadas over the summer). This year’s simultaneous arrival of the large broods XIII (every 17 years) and XIX (every 13 years), which occurs only once every 221 years, will be in the Midwest and some areas south of us.