Image Up Advertising & Design

| THE COLONY NEWS | JUNE 2024 | 13 Do your eyes glaze over whenever you hear references to "G" and "W" areas? Greenbelts (G) and Wildbelts (W) refer to Common Areas in our community. Each has a number. Do you know where YOUR house is in relation to the discussion? There is a Colony map which identifies the greenbelts/wildbelts that are referred to at the Board meetings and in this magazine regarding renovations. You can ask for these maps at the HOA office and follow these discussions. Rebate Renovation Progress: As I write this May 1, we are awaiting Water Wise Consulting's representative to come do a pre- project inspection for the additional turf removal/renovation in G14 and G15. They are coming to see there is green grass waiting to be removed. This has to happen before we begin killing the grass and renovating. The request-for-rebate packets for G 46 and G16 have been submitted to SoCal Water Smart. The G17 and G30 packets are ready to go, and the other two rebate areas in the Rancho California Water District will be submitted shortly after that. After the packets have been submitted, a visit to the site occurs by Water Wise, and then if we are selected to receive a rebate, we can begin renovating. At that point the clock beings ticking, and the project must be completed within six months. Other HOAs are applying, too, so we need to get on Environmental Concepts' work schedule to remain on track. The reason the applications for the rebates are submitted in a staggered fashion is to break the work into bites which EC's Special Projects unit can fit into their schedule and complete within six months. Landscape Maintenance: This is the season of messy trees. Camphor berries, Brazilian pepper leaf drop, etc., are annoying. Leaf raking of planter areas is on a five-week rotation along with shrub trimming/pruning. Even though lawns are mowed with a bag weekly, the landscapers blow remaining grass clippings and any leaves back onto the lawns. If you are in the process of listing your house for sale and need the sidewalk cleared outside of schedule, you can request a special service. Otherwise, please be patient, because these requests to jump the queue are quite disruptive to the scheduling f low. Trees under 15' are being pruned, but the trees over 15' in height will be pruned in August. General pruning of Colony tall trees is done every other year, and the area map is split in half. This year, it's the area to the east of Avenida Florita's turn to be pruned. The pool's palm blossoms (a special category) are removed in June. Weeding is being handled aggressively. Nutsedge weeds (look like grass but aren't) require special herbicide and this is being applied. Clover herbicide is also being applied where needed. Housekeeping Issues: Please be aware that it is not allowed for residents to add their own plants to their front yards, especially in planter areas and in tree wells. Private landscapers are not permitted to do work in residents' front yards; this is the sole territory of The Colony landscapers, Environmental Concepts. The HOA has a policy that requires all new front yard plants/trees be purchased through EC. The reason for this is warranty purposes. Also, if you plant something in your front yard that is not on the approved front yard plant list, it may be removed by The Colony landscapers. Please know that artificial plants are never allowed in your front yard planters or tree wells. Pinwheels and such are not allowed there either (exceptions for holiday decorations), though a "welcome"-type f lag is allowed in the planter area. Homeowners planting anything in greenbelts or wildbelts will be issued a violation letter, and nobody wants to receive those. Back yard trimmings, potting soil, roots, or debris are not to be dumped/left in any of the common areas (greenbelts or wildbelts). Please pay attention when hedge trimming. Your landscapers should take debris with them, or you need to collect it to put in the green waste bins. Palm debris goes in the maroon garbage bins. The mulch piles at the corner of Corte Alpina and Colony Drive are not for homeowners to dip into. This mulch is already allocated to the Turf Renovation project, Greenbelt Mulch Replenishment project, or Front Yard Mulch Replenishment project. We can't stress strongly enough the need for all Landscape Change or Landscape Service requests to be in writing by you. Please don't phone the office with your requests and ask the receptionist to fill out the form for you. If you can't get to the HOA office for a form, you can have the Landscape Department deliver a form to you. By having everything in writing and signed by you, all requests get tracked and processed with nobody "forgetting" or "ignoring." Work can be scheduled. Tempers can remain calm. For those homeowners who don't respond in a timely manner to the Landscape Department's requests to choose a plant or tree: After six months of repeated attempts to contact homeowners to resolve these questions and receiving no response from the homeowner, the Landscape Department will note the non-response and remove the item from the pending work schedule. A big thank you to the many residents who have been gracious in complying with the process. LANDSCAPE ADVISORY By Jan Foster, 951-698-0170

• Cover