Our landscape maintenance contract has been renewed with Yellowstone. The work schedule will remain the same as noted below:
Growing season – March through October: Property will be treated on a three-week cycle.
- Week 1 – Both sides of Seven Bar
- Week 2- Both sides of Sierrita
- Week 3- Westside Blvd and all the trails
Non-growing season – November through February: Property will be treated on a five-week cycle.
- Week 1 – West side of Seven Bar
- Week 2 – East side of Seven Bar
- Week 3 – West side of Sierrita
- Week 4 – East Side of Sierrita
- Week 5 – Westside Blvd
Reconstruction of all the walking trails has now been completed.
The original bushes and shrubs planted by the developer are over 25-years old and are being replaced as they become unsightly or die. More flowering plants are being used so that there is color throughout the growing season: Rose of Sharon, blue mist spiraea, roses, cherry sage, and potentilla. These plantings have been done primarily along Seven Bar. The planting spaces along Sierrita – from the wall to the sidewalk and the sidewalk to the street – are significantly narrower than those along Seven Bar. The bushes/shrubs and trees that the HOA has planted along Seven Bar are too large for the planting spaces along Sierrita. Hence, there have been limited new additional plantings on Sierrita during the past years. Sierrita “Add Color” is a test project to place perennial flowers, dwarf bushes and smaller trees in the available Sierrita planting spaces. The test plantings will be placed along both sides of Sierrita from the intersection with Seven Bar to the second light pole as you proceed north on Sierrita. Yellowstone has identified seven planting sites – two on the west side where planting sites are more limited and five on the east side. Vegetation to be planted includes:
- 1 small tree 2″ caliper Chinese Pistache [ bright red fall foliage]
- 8 dwarf butterfly bushes 2 gallon sized
- 3 Buzz Raspberry [reddish purple flowers]
- 5 Buzz Midnight [dark purple flowers]
- 19 perennial flowers 1 and 2 gallon sized plants
- 5 Plumbago ground cover [blue]
- 4 Lyrical Blue Salvia [blue]
- 4 Burgundy Gaillardia [red]
- 4 Moonshine Yarrow [yellow]
- 2 Firepower Nandina [red foliage]
Soil amendments will be added and irrigation will be provided to each planting site.
The ongoing effort to remove and replace dead and dying trees will continue with several trees along Seven Bar being removed and replaced with a variety of different tree species. By diversifying the variety of trees, we reduce the chance of the trees all being impacted by some insect or disease infestation such as the Fire Blight that is now hitting our Bradford Pears.
When work on Westside Blvd. begins, all the trees and shrubs along with the irrigation system will be removed. The city does not plan to replace any of these trees and shrubs along our common wall, but will plant some vegetation in the center median. They have stated that the HOA will be consulted on what will be planted. The HOA will need to repaint the wall when the vegetation, particularly the ivy, is removed and the entire wall is exposed. The paint behind the existing vegetation will not match the more recently painted sections of wall and to make it uniform it will all need to be painted.
The flower beds at the south entrance of Seven Bar were created over 10-years ago and have not received any “maintenance” since. Dubra [HOA flower bed coordinator] and Beth [HOA Yellowstone account manager] evaluated the flower beds earlier this spring and Yellowstone has completed a proposal to “Fix Up” the beds by: [1] incorporating premium soil amendments to enhance the fertility of the soil, removing the two struggling American Hawthorne trees, and adding additional plantings to include:
- 1. 1 15-gallon crape myrtle in each bed
- 2. 8 one-gallon perennials for the west bed
- 3. 4 one-gallon perennials for the east bed
Irrigation to the west bed has been problematic in the past. Maintenance of a sticking valve was thought to have corrected the problem; however, the valve was checked when the system was turned on this spring and the valve opening and closing was not working correctly. The valve will be replaced to ensure that adequate water gets to the bed and in particular the new plantings.
The original irrigation system was installed over 25-years ago. The irrigation lines [3/4” poly] were replaced over a 3-year period [2010 – 2012]. However, the valves and controls are original and several will have to be replaced this spring to ensure that the system continues to function.