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16 | THE COLONY NEWS | MAY 2022 | COMMITTEE NEWS MULCH: Please note that the term "mulch" as used by a landscaper differs from the way a backyard gardener uses it. "Landscape mulch" can be stones, bark nuggets, gravel, rubber chunks, ground- up trees, etc., used to cover the dirt between plants. For this article, I will be discussing the mulch used here on our front yards, tree wells and in the green belt areas, i.e., landscape mulch. Way back about 2014, one of the LAC members (Ed Kamp) noticed the mulch being used by Cal Trans along the freeways. What kind did they use and why? He investigated, and his research was presented to the LAC, and subsequently a mulch recommendation was sent to the HOA Board, which they approved. The type of mulch now used is Stonewood Mulch, which is composed entirely of ground up hardwood almond trees from central California. The company, MulchMaster, uses almond wood because it looks consistent coming out of the grinder and is cleaner. The fine material has been removed so rain and irrigation water are not trapped by this mulch cover, allowing water to slowly reach the plants' roots. This makes the mulch more resistant to mold and premature breakdown. It's the best for slopes due to the fuzzy end pieces of the wood shred don't blow off in the wind, and it lasts significantly longer than green waste mulch, eventually decomposing. It is quality tested and STA certified (tests for acceptable levels of salts, free of fecal coliform and salmonella, and acceptable pH levels). It is also tested for heavy metals as required for storm-water pollution prevention plans. The trees were considered food grade, which reduces the chance of pesticides or herbicides in the wood. And there is a steady supply of almond trees. Over the years, the LAC has continued to research many different mulches. We found using rocks in the greenbelts was too expensive and too hot for many of our plants, as was artificial turf. Therefore, we keep returning to the above, ground stonewood (aside from the stone palette for certain front yard spaces between the sidewalk and side of the house). Resident Questions At a recent HOA meeting, a resident requested to allow homeowners to purchase their own mulch. What would be involved in residents buying their own mulch, for instance, at a big-box store and adding it themselves? The LAC again undertook researching this idea with the Landscape Department at the request of the Board. Here are the findings: Big-box (or nursery store) bags of mulch may LOOK like our mulch, but most likely would not ACT like our mulch, nor be up to the testing standards of our mulch. Therefore, we are not recommending it, and in fact it would be a violation if a resident decides to circumvent the rules and add mulch purchased elsewhere. Residents are allowed to purchase river rocks (subject to Landscape Department review) for certain places in their front or side yards, but rocks aren't prone to mold or contaminants or likely to blow off in the wind. And they aren't in large areas, or replenished by EC. These requests must be routed through the Landscape Change Request form, and EC needs to prepare the area before any rocks are added. The Landscape Staff then looked to our mulch vendors, but none are selling individually bagged product, nor are they willing to gear up for that. What about dipping into the current mulch pile, allowing residents to purchase buckets of our mulch every so often? By the time you read this, all the mulch purchased in the last fiscal year has been distributed to front yards. The price of mulch itself has risen a little from last year, but in the last six months the freight has doubled from $650 a load to $1,200! That means even though the dollars requested from the Board for mulch for 2022-23 were more than last year, that money is going to buy even less mulch than before. After searching for alternative sources, the LAC and Landscape staff found that our current vendor is still the least expensive choice. In the past, when the mulch ran out (meaning the budget had "run out"), the front yard replenishment would be stopped until the next fiscal year. When the new money was allotted, the mulch purchases resumed and replenishments began from where they left off, until that year's budget was exhausted. In February, the LAC and Landscape staff saw this shortage of mulch looming for 2023 and suggested that the remaining couple of mulch deliveries for 2022 be used to spread new mulch on just the front yard tree wells until all were mulched, and after that to go back and finish mulching the remaining front yard planter beds until that mulch runs out. The LAC urged staff to remind the contractors to avoid mowing over the mulched tree wells and instead to mow around them, thereby keeping more mulch in the wells rather than flung out into the grass or into the clippings' bags. We concluded that any dipping into the current mulch pile on a special "mulch day" would be reducing the existing budget even faster than the occasional resident request as happens now. As a side note, I am assuming everyone knows the existing mulch pile has never been for any resident to just help themselves. However, we have had instances of this in the past, so I need to include it. Residents already can request (and pay for) more front yard mulch outside the distribution schedule if, for instance, they are getting ready to sell their house. Keep in mind that by requesting mulch for your yard, that depletes the pile and causes the mulch schedule to be disrupted for others. This requires a Landscape Change Request form. If homeowners want to redo their front yard with new plants (and pay for it themselves), the price already includes adding mulch to the new plantings. This procedure also requires a Landscape Change Request form. And while you're waiting for the mulch rotation to come to your house, please be patient. LANDSCAPE ADVISORY By Jan Foster

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