BrookMeadows Brook Meadows
The Official Publication of the Brook Meadows Homeowner's Association Volume 7, Number 1
www.brookmeadows.org
January 2012
It was a Good Thing! Donna Woods, BMHA Landscape Committee Chairperson
It was that time of the year again…time to remove the summer plantings that had been so beautiful even though the weather was so miserably hot and dry. I love plants and spend a considerable amount of time in plant nurseries. After being in this neighborhood for over 20 years, I thought it would be simple to just “pick the plants” for the common areas…It has turned out to be a little more than that with the evolution of Texas weather, but I am having great fun. Here is a little update on landscaping happenings since spring. You probably wondered why we decided to have a “plant giveaway”. The thought occurred on a sleepless night in the spring. Most of the plants that we planted this year could double as houseplants as well as outside plantings. We thought it would be nice to have a green initiative, that there were homeowners who would love to have some free plants, and last, they had survived the summer challenges beautifully and deserved better than to be thrown into the dump. I had decided in early spring that we needed to have something different, something spectacular and something that would grab attention. Of course the weather in Texas always presents a challenge. We have to put in the spring plantings early enough so that their roots get established before the hot and dry weather. We are faced with potential
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heavy rains and wind in the spring which can beat new and tender plants down followed by the scorching Texas sun from the west in the afternoons that can burn them up. I hit the landscaping books, rode around looking at other neighborhoods, and visited all the nurseries. Then I happened by the Four Seasons in Las Colinas, and I was struck by the unique beauty of the bronze leafed rubber plants, crotons, sansevieria and begonias which they had planted at their main entrance. Jason (our HOA common area landscaper) and I quickly checked the species out with some experts and found that all but the sansevieria would work. Shortly after, Jason was able to get the plants into the beds, and we were delighted. But not for long! It turns out that wildlife is partial to the east bed on Shady Oaks. In the winter rabbits ate the kale from the east bed, and we had to fight them off with fox urine. Now, with the spring plantings, the east bed had huge tunnels caused by moles which resulted in the crotons being damaged. I know some of you must have thought I was dancing in the east bed several times a week, but I was really stomping down the mole tunnels and replanting plants that the moles had dug up. Then I called Jason and cried for help! Jason quickly went to work to rid the beds of the moles.
After our struggles, the plants survived and looked great so we planned the giveaway. Mic Deakin and Howard Wixon notified the neighborhood of the date and time. We met along with Jason at the entrances on a Saturday morning in November. Brook Meadows residents showed up with pots and dirt and happily took the beautiful plants to their new homes. There was not one rubber plant, croton or rose bush that didn’t find a home that morning. We gave the roses away due to the fact that they were being killed gradually from the chlorine that was leaching from the fountain. Some of the sick roses were taken by one of the master gardeners in our neighborhood for nursing back to help. In place of the roses, we recycled the Japanese sweet flag that we had planted in the east and west Shady Oaks beds in the spring. Another “green contribution”! The new plant owners were very excited with their acquisitions, and the landscape committee was thrilled to be able to recycle some of our plants to neighbors and reuse others instead of throwing all of them away. To quote Martha Stewart, “IT WAS A GOOD THING”!
Brook Meadows Homeowner's Association Newsletter - January 2012
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