The Landscape and Grounds Committee (LGC) has been busy working on 2009 budget proposals, reviewing quotes for landscaping work needed in the community and other projects that involve the growing VOWS neighborhood.  The 2009 budget proposal has been drafted and will be presented to the Budget and Finance Committee in the coming month.  This is the first year the LGC has had the opportunity to contribute to the budget process.  During the planning process the LGC has attempted to project future long and short term landscape needs, identify landscape projects with community partners, and address needed improvements for the irrigation system.  The proposed items will begin the task of addressing water conservation and the communities landscaping needs in a proactive way.

In other news, the summer color did not come out as well and the LGC and Brickman’s had hoped.  During installation of the fall and summer color Brickman’s informed the LGC that all beds in the community lacked irrigation heads in front of the beds where adequate water is critical to annual color survival.  As it turns out, during the initial design and installation of the irrigation system, heads were only placed in the back of the beds.  This type of bed design only allows water to reach the plants placed in the back row.  In addition, the back row heads were also tied into adjacent turf zones.  This results in the beds and adjacent turf being watered at the same time and rate, which is very ineffective because bed and turf water requirements are vastly different. Therefore, as a short term solution, the summer color was selected based on the plant’s ability to survive in the front of the bed with minimal water and a high tolerance for heat.  This was a difficult selection process, as the choices are very limiting, and has had a less than desirable result.

As a long term solution, Brickman’s proposed tying into the back of each bed’s irrigation and running a spray head to the front.  This solution would deliver the necessary water to the front where annual color is typically placed.  The cost for this fix was approximately $14,000; unfortunately 2008 HOA funds were not available for this expense.  However, Brickman’s decided to move forward with this project at their own expense.  The beds will still be tied into turf zones, which will remain an issue that the HOA will have to address at some point in the future to correct over-watering turf and water loss.  The spray head installation project has been ongoing for a few months now and will likely continue through September.  Please remain patient as Brickman’s works through this installation as there will likely be more loss of color before they are finished.

The LG Committee can always use more volunteers to help with research and the many projects we have on-going that affect the appearance of our community.  We have changed our meeting time to the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm.  Locations will vary until the amenity center arrangements are complete.  You can contact us via the official website or by submitting an email to vows.landscape@gmail.com.

By Kelly DeGrado, Landscape and Grounds Committee Chair