Adopted Trees, Irrigation, Drains, Fenwick Marker

By Louise Caudle, Chair 

The Courtyards at Southpoint Adopt-a-Tree program has launched successfully, with more than 85 trees adopted by neighbors. The Landscape Committee identified about 100 street trees in our community as “orphan trees,” meaning they were not planted directly in front of someone’s house. The committee initiated the program to encourage neighbors to select one or more trees for which they would assume responsibility for watering as needed when Mother Nature does not do it for us. 

Thank you to all those who have stepped up to help us grow a more beautiful community. And please know it’s not too late to adopt one or more of the remaining orphans! 

As mentioned in a previous report, the Landscape Committee solicited bids from several landscaping companies for a drip irrigation system to water the plantings around the pavilion, pickleball court and lap pool. We are delighted to announce the HOA board accepted one of the bids and approved purchase of the drip system, which will be installed in the coming weeks. Our sincere thanks to Joanne Adney for taking the lead in watering and organizing other volunteers to help keep those plants alive thus far! 

Our grass and other landscaped areas have benefited from a limited amount of rain recently, including a couple of heavy downpours. Those heavy rains have flushed debris out of gutters and down to pop-up drains, often spewing it onto the grass. As mentioned in the June report, homeowners are responsible for cleaning the debris out of pop-up drains so that rainwater from roofs can be discharged away from a home’s foundation. For pop-up drains to work effectively, homeowners must keep the grass cleared or cut around the top of the pop-up. Our contract with Boyco does not include any maintenance related to pop-up drains. If a Boyco crew member damages a pop-up, Boyco will replace the pop-up, but that is the extent of Boyco’s involvement. 

Homeowners who install drip irrigation lines that are buried under the grass to reach a landscaping bed must ensure the drip line is buried at least six inches deep to prevent damage by heavy commercial landscaping equipment, including mowers and aerators. Other types of irrigation system lines must be buried eight to 12 inches deep. If the drip line is not buried at least six inches deep, the homeowner is responsible for any damages.

Likewise, lawn items and garden tools, including water hoses, must be stored safely away from the grass to prevent unintended damage by the heavy commercial equipment. The HOA does not pay Boyco to move any objects that are in the way of doing the work we hire them to do, nor do we pay them to mow around solar lights, bird feeders, lawn ornaments, etc. It is the homeowner’s responsibility to clear the way for the landscaping equipment, and the homeowner is responsible for any damages. 

We are excited to report we are nearing the end of the permitting process for the subdivision marker to be installed at the Fenwick entrance to our neighborhood. The sign is being constructed as we await final approval and receipt of the permit from the city of Durham. We hope the sign will be installed within a few weeks. After it is installed, we have plans to add some landscaping around the marker this fall. 

As a reminder, all landscaping issues and concerns should be addressed first to our HOA management company, William Douglas. 

Special thanks to the dedicated, hardworking volunteers who serve on the Landscape Committee with me:  Debbie Bell, Kathleen Cirillo, MaryKay Doane, Leigh Garmhausen and Bob Williams.