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12 | THE COLONY NEWS | MAY 2024 | This month I will give some of the history of the work of our committee and the Colony's Landscape Dept. to where we are today. Landscape history: During the earlier years of The Colony, the Landscape Committee's role was more hands-on. They oversaw the contractors, the landscape contract, irrigation issues, examined the plants/trees as they were delivered for planting, and handled homeowner concerns. But as the community matured and the irrigation system, plants, trees, and the volunteers grew older, the load of responsibility on the Landscape Committee had greatly increased. They repeatedly requested the Board to hire a Landscape Superintendent. One was hired in 2014, but he had to split his time with the Maintenance Dept. The job kept growing, so an assistant to the Landscape Superintendent was hired in 2015. By 2018, the Landscape Superintendent's role had been increased to a full-time position, and the Assistant Superintendent role was also expanded. At the same time, the Landscape Committee had evolved to be the Landscape Advisory Committee. The Colony is served by two separate local water districts. Rancho California Water District covers the Clubhouse, central, and southwestern part of The Colony. Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District covers the northern, eastern, and southeastern areas, and each water district does business differently. Both water companies purchase part of their water from the Metropolitan Water District, which has also offered rebates. We have had speakers from both districts who described the shortage of water for the future. The question of turf renovation of the common areas first arose in 2010 when Murrieta was hit by a very hot spring. As a result, the water districts installed a tiered rate/billing structure, with the highest cost being for commercial turf areas. The water was turned off or significantly reduced for one to two months in certain areas. The plants and trees suffered as a result, and some never recovered. We initiated projects to reduce water use. We researched and planted Buffalo grass in G19 as a trial area. We increased the diameter of the tree wells, so the trees get more water. We updated our irrigation control system. We seriously researched the use of recycled water. In early 2010, the Main Gate entrance turf had been removed and replaced with drought-tolerant plantings, boulders, rock, and gravel by Valley Crest (our landscape contractor at the time). For some time, the Landscape Committee had been working on a Master Plan to conserve water, but it was decided that the help of a landscape design architect was needed. At least four firms were interviewed, and VanDyke Landscape Architects was hired in 2013- 14 to develop a Master Plan for all our common landscape areas. The focus was to reduce about 70% of non-functional greenbelt turf to save water and costs, enhance the landscape aesthetics, and eventually reduce maintenance costs if possible. We suggested VanDyke not use a desert palette of rocks and cactus, but rather use a Mediterranean palette (more lush). In September 2015, VanDyke presented a Landscape Master Plan covering the whole Colony to the Board and also did a Town Hall meeting for all the residents of The Colony. The illustrations presented at this meeting showed plants at full maturity (five years later), resulting in resident disappointment when the small plants were planted. However, in the areas first renovated, those plants now are bushy and actually look like the illustrations. To some extent, we're still dealing with disappointment when new areas are renovated. We asked that areas should be kept fairly uniform in appearance throughout The Colony and convert the wasteful and costly overhead watering to drip irrigation. The VanDyke Plan also included probable costs for renovating each common area. Their estimate for completing the Plan (doing all the Colony common areas) was $3,319,539. This was a lot of money, and the Board was being very frugal. So, we decided to use VanDyke for the Main Gate, the Nutmeg Gate and east side of Avenida Florita. But to offset the high cost associated with continued involvement with VanDyke, we decided that with the help of our landscape contractors, landscape staff, and the Landscape Advisory Committee, we could design the rest of the work ourselves, since no further permits were required, saving LANDSCAPE ADVISORY By Jan Foster, 951-698-0170 continued on next page

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