See Harbingers of Spring All Around You

By Louise Caudle, Chair

Spring is awakening in our gardens! The earliest harbingers, daffodils and tulips, have already bloomed, and now the redbud trees and jane magnolias are showcasing their beauty, with azaleas and others to follow soon. Those who find joy in gardening are eagerly finding ways to enhance the beauty of the landscaping around their homes beyond the services that Boyco provides.

What should you expect from Boyco, our landscaping contractor, in the weeks ahead beyond the usual mowing, edging and string trimming?

To assist the Bermuda grass in waking up from winter dormancy, Boyco will fertilize the grass in our lawns and common areas when the Bermuda grass is 90 percent green. Doing so earlier in the dormant period is a waste of product, according to Boyco. Specifically, they will apply a 19-0-3 fertilizer and a 5-0-10 fertilizer to the grass.

In April, the landscapers will feed trees and shrubs within the landscaping in the front of your homes with a 14-14-14 fertilizer with iron, which has been methex coated for extending feeding. The street trees in the newer section of the neighborhood will be included in that fertilization. The street trees recently planted in the original section of the neighborhood will not be fertilized. According to the city, the new trees do not need fertilization this first year beyond the nutrients from the decaying of the mulch around each tree installed by the city.

Liriope and ornamental grasses already have been cut shorter, which is advised before new growth begins to appear. In general, Boyco will shape and prune shrubbery in front yard landscaping beds after the spring growth spurt — typically late spring/early summer — and then again later in the fall.

The Landscape Committee recently instructed Boyco not to trim rose bushes or ornamental trees such as crape myrtles and Japanese maples. Most homeowners take great pride in the beauty of these in their yards and do not want anyone else pruning them. Importantly, this will prevent the landscapers from playing any potential role in spreading rose rosette disease or the crape myrtle bark scale infestations. Please note both spread easily without any help from the pruners!

It is important to point out that the pre-emergent Boyco applied to our grass at the beginning of March does not prevent all weeds. In particular, it does not prevent the growth and spread of the invasive poa annua weed, also called annual bluegrass weed, which is difficult to control and requires applications of more specialized chemicals in the fall and spring. Poa annual has become a major nuisance in lawns in this area of North Carolina. It is a bright green grassy weed that grows in clumps and produces seed heads with whitish flowers in the spring. Pulling or digging up the weeds with the  root system before the seed heads form is the best method of control, if the chemicals have not been applied. The only good thing to note about poa annua is that it dies back with the heat of the summer, although it usually returns the next spring.

Since Boyco deferred the aeration of grass to the fall of last year because of the immaturity of the Bermuda grass that had been installed in the new section of the neighborhood, they will keep the same schedule for 2026. Aeration typically is done once a year to relieve soil compaction and allow air, water and nutrients to reach the roots and can be done in the spring or the fall for Bermuda grass.

You may have seen MaryKay Doane’s announcement on Slack recently regarding the launch of a street tree channel. The Landscape Committee encourages everyone in both the older and the newer sections of the neighborhood to join the new channel, which promises to provide reminders and tips for how to help the street trees grow and thrive throughout our community.

Mark your calendars now for the annual Courtyards Crawl Garden Tour to be held Saturday, May 2. The Garden Club will share more details regarding the event soon.

Please send comments, questions and suggestions related to landscaping in our community to us by email.  

Landscape Committee members include Debbie Bell, Kathleen Cirillo, MaryKay Doane, Leigh Garmhausen and Bob Williams, with me as chair.