What are the landscape committee's plans for the oak trees (in the common areas around the lakes) that appear to be dying slowly? (I apologize if this has already been addressed or talked about, and I missed a notice or something). This is a huge investment by the neighborhood, and replacing those trees will be extremely expensive. We have noticed that MANY of them are getting browner and browner, and this shouldn't be happening during the summer. I just wanted to make sure that the landscape folks are addressing this problem before it becomes a huge expense to us all (not to mention a sad thing for the trees to die). Thanks

HOA Board Has Been Notified

In addition to the trees by the ponds, you may have also noticed that some homeowners have trees in distress also, particularly Bradford Pears. One of the Landscape Committee members did notice an article in the House and Garden section of the Dallas Morning News recently about cotton root rot. The symptoms sounded a lot like what we're seeing in the neighborhood. It's a fungus that thrives in clay soils and is most active during July and August. Fungicides do not control the problem. Texas A&M reports some success with a labor-intensive remedy of digging barriers around the affected trees and amending the soil with aluminum sulfate. We've forwarded this information to the Board and suggested that they consult a professional. The Landscape Committee does not have budgetary authority to obtain a professional opinion and none of us have the amount of free time that would be required to treat the trees. We agree that the trees are an important asset and we urge you to convey your support of correcting the situation to the HOA Board.

By Landscape Committee Member

watering

It appears that the mowing company that was maintining the common area had set the sprinkler system to come on only once a week for only 10 minutes a section (there are 10 sections). This setting was not discovered due to all the rain we had in july and with the somewhat mild summer upto that point. The company has sice been fired and the sprinkler system has been set for 4 times a week for 1 hour per section. We have had a landscapping company look into the trees and will continue to monitor the situation, but they feel that the trees will be okay. We have also hired a new landscapping company to handle the common area. It would appear the old company was cutting back on the watering so they didn't have to mow so much (this would be my guess) and with the mild summer it wasn't that noticable until the real hot weather showed up.

trees

In as much as this ''Landscape member'' has forwarded this info to the board, the real problem is not the cotton root rot as much as it is the willow trees that are down by the lake. It appears that we do have a beaver that thrives on willow trees and will also attack other young trees and other trees that are in close proimity to the willow's. The beaver has been spotted once or twice and the landscape company is on the look out for where the beavers base of operation is in hopes of maybe trapping it. Any other possible cause of tree problems would be greatly appriciated by the board.