By Louise Caudle, Chair

 

We are awaiting Mother Nature to bring the Bermuda grass in our neighborhood out of its winter dormancy so that our lawns can become fully green and healthy. Once the grass is 90 percent green, Boyco, our landscaping contractor, will fertilize the grass, which will help improve its health and appearance.

 

Boyco applied a pre-emergent weed killer in the first quarter of the year, as was noted in last month’s Landscape Committee report. Unfortunately, the pre-emergent needs water to work, and the effectiveness of the pre-emergent has been slowed by the warmer weather that came earlier than usual and the drought we are experiencing.

 

The landscapers are treating weedy areas with a post-emergent spray to try to manage the weeds. Once we get some good rain and the Bermuda starts to grow, the weed situation should improve since healthy, growing Bermuda grass will choke out most of the pesky weeds. Neighbors who water their grass already are seeing improvement in its appearance.

 

Many of the street trees throughout our neighborhood seem to be thriving, and others do not. Workers with the city of Durham’s Urban Forestry Division came through recently to check on the street trees they planted in January in the original section of the community and to remove those that were not alive. We understand Urban Forestry plans to replace the trees they removed with new ones during their next planting season this fall and winter.

 

Epcon has committed to replace any street trees in the new section of our neighborhood that are dead. They will replace dead street trees one time only as part of their warranty.

 

It takes about two years for a tree to become well-established. Watering the trees during the current drought is especially important. It’s equally important not to water them too much. Please join the street tree channel on Slack, where tips on how to care for and water the trees are posted.  

 

We appreciate everyone who is watering the trees in front of their homes, and we say a special thank you to those who are helping water street trees not directly in front of anyone’s house. While a few neighbors have taken the responsibility for watering some of the extra trees, one individual deserves special recognition. Jeff Davidson has “adopted” 15 trees located on both sides of Fenwick, along the stretch from the Martry trail connection to his house. We applaud Jeff’s extraordinary commitment to going the extra mile to help us keep our trees alive!

 

Spring is the time of year when gardens throughout the neighborhood are the loveliest. The Courtyards at Southpoint Garden Club will host its annual Courtyard Crawl garden tour Saturday, May 2, from 9:30 a.m. through noon. This year, the tour will feature some of the beautiful gardens in the newest section of our neighborhood. See the announcement on Slack providing the list of gardens that will be open during the tour. All are invited to tour the gardens, and we look forward to seeing you on Saturday!

 

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