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| THE COLONY NEWS | JANUARY 2026 | 9 continued from previous page water in this area. It's not going to be what it was, probably when many of you moved in. As much as we'd have liked to keep our thirsty greenbelts green, it's just not feasible. And we are facing the deadline of AB 1572 (aka Potable Water: Nonfunctional Turf Law) which calls for a ban on using potable water on HOA greenbelts by 1/01/2029. So far we have no plans to modify our front lawns, and hopefully we won't have to. Summary. What has the Landscape Advisory Committee learned throughout this project? We have learned that while all the plants on the VanDyke Landscape Architects' list may be drought tolerant, many go dormant or are too frost-sensitive here. We have learned that there is a fine balance between using evergreen plants and colorful plants. Too many evergreens meant not enough color in the summer, and too many colorful plants meant dead-looking plants in the winter. We have learned that rabbits will eat our young plants, regardless of what the gardening literature says, so we need to put wire cages around the new plants in rabbit-dense areas. We have learned that what looked good on paper didn't always turn out as we'd thought. And we have learned that no matter what we did, there would always be complaints. So, renovation continues around The Colony common areas, taking advantage of the rebates to remove non-functional turf in the common areas. Throughout it all, we have had changes in Staff, in the whole irrigation system, in landscape contractors, in the Landscape Advisory Committee, and in the HOA Board of Directors. With each change came apprehension that the Turf Renovation Project would be disrupted, but all in all we make it through. New residents arrive all the time, curious as to what is happening. I hope this article has helped to give a history of what, why, and how we have been working to keep Colony costs as low as possible and the surroundings as nice as possible. Happy New Year to everyone, and a special thank you to our plants vendor, Inside Plants, who installed the wonderful holiday decorations that have been in the library. We hope you had great adventures and family fun during the holiday season. As we begin a new year, we are looking forward to new adventures with our library selections. We strive to keep our stock updated and easy to access for everyone. How can you help? Bring in the books you've read and liked to share them with the other residents. Keeping our shelves stocked with your good finds and favorite authors helps make the library a favorite place for all of us. If you have any Large Print books to share, we would love to expand our selection. Thank you to all the volunteers who donated their time and efforts to keep the library looking great this past year. If anyone needs to contact me, please do so at bdywave@ sbcglobal.net. Otherwise, I'll see you around the puzzle table! LIBRARY By Diane Smith

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