Spring Tips & Reminders from Your Willowsford Life Team

Spring is rapidly approaching and before we know it, the grass will be growing and flowers blooming. We would like to provide some helpful tips and reminders as you begin spring landscaping.

Lawn Care

To ensure your lawn is well established and healthy consider the following; in order to fill in bare spots left by last year’s drought, you should aerate, seed and fertilize your lawn. When mowing, please be sure to remove grass clippings from sidewalks, as well as trim along sidewalks, curbs, mailboxes and other structures to maintain a well-manicured yard. Yard waste may be collected in clear bags and placed at the curb to be picked up by Republic Services on Wednesdays.

Landscaping

When mulching your landscape beds, please remember to use black or brown mulch but please do not mulch street trees. Community Landscape Services will begin mulching in early March and is responsible for mulching all street trees to ensure a uniform look and to avoid “mulch volcanoes.” Also, If you are enhancing your landscaping, please reference the Design Guidelines (page 58) to determine if an application submission is necessary. If after reviewing this information, if you are still unsure, please contact hoa@willowsford.com. 

Common Area Woods and Meadows

Many residents back  to HOA or Conservancy wooded areas, fields or meadows. These common areas are generally intended to remain in their natural state to help support a sustainable ecosystem, and are not intended to be manicured. Please be sure to avoid offsite disturbances in order to maintain the natural landscape for which Willowsford is well known. Mowing, weed treatment, seeding, planting, yard waste dumping, etc. is not permissible on common areas. Yard waste (grass, dead plants, dirt, debris, etc.) may be compiled in clear bags and placed curbside for pick up by Republic Services on Wednesdays. For homeowners who back to tall grass meadows/open space, a buffer strip will be mowed by our contractor, Community Landscape Services on a regular basis as a transition area. If you have questions regarding the common areas adjacent to your home, please contact hoa@willowsford.com. 

Wooded Lots

A significant number of homes have mature trees and/or vegetation areas in the rear yard, also known as limits of clearing. These tree save areas are meant to remain and are not intended to be cleared or disturbed. Selective hand pruning of trees, and removal of invasive, noxious, or poisonous plants is permitted; however, clearing vegetation and removal of trees (dead or alive) requires an application submission to the Design Review Committee. For more details on tree and vegetation removal, please review the related Tree & Vegetation Removal Policy (Attachment G/page 130). If you have any questions, please contact the HOA office and we will assist you. 

We hope this information has been helpful and we look forward to seeing our beautiful community blossom this spring!