Courtyard Caller
November 2021
Volume 17, Number 11
Fall has finally arrived! We hope you took the time to cruise slowly around the Courtyard to see all the creative and clever Halloween decorations. Among the festive decorations, we had blow-up dragons spitting (air) fire, a 20-foot giant skeleton, and a giant white head with crazily rotating eyes as big as volleyballs!
We also hope everyone made it to the Courtyard Halloween BooFest held at the Tom Wooten Drive island on Halloween, October 31. A special thank you to Joany Price and Jen Harold for organizing pizza, snack bags, and volunteers for our annual pre-Trick Or Treat gathering. As we head into the holiday season, let’s all be thankful that we live in such a beautiful and friendly community with beautiful trees, access to Bull Creek, a wonderful playground, and a lovely park for all to enjoy. Please continue to keep the gate code to private, and do not share the code with friends or workers. Through community effort, we have successfully reduced the number of non-residents in the park, and this makes the experience better for all of us.
Please continue to take the appropriate Covid-related precautions as we receive that guidance from the City and the CDC. We wish for all residents a very safe and HAPPY THANKSGIVING! As always, PLEASE DRIVE SLOWLY IN THE COURTYARD!!! Copyright © 2021 Peel, Inc.
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CHA BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Denise Hogan.......denise.1.hogan@gmail.com, 214.403.4454 Vice President Konavis Smith........................................... konavis@gmail.com Treasurer Jim Lloyd.........................jlloyd@austin.rr.com, 512.231.0855
Tuesday, December 7, 2021 The Courtyard Book Club will forego a book discussion in December but will instead meet for a holiday potluck luncheon and book swap on Tuesday, December 7 at 1 p.m. at the home of one of its members. Each attendee is asked to bring a food dish and a gift-wrapped new or gently used book she thinks will be of interest to members of the book club. Details about foods for the potluck luncheon as well as the location of the gathering will be emailed closer to the time of the Dec. 7 meeting. The club meets the first Tuesday of each month and all Courtyard residents are welcome to participate. To receive book club emails, contact the chair of the book club, Lou Blemaster, at LouBlemaster@gmail.com.
Secretary Waneen Spirduso......................................spirduso@utexas.edu BOARD MEMBERS-AT-LARGE Janet Wright ........................ ..............mightywrights@me.com ..........................................................................469-387-5632 Meredith Massey-Kloetzer......................meremass@gmail.com Henry Mistrot....................................................512.459.7313 COMMITTEES Environmental Control (ECC) Diana Apgar ................................ ..............fd1966fd@aol.com Community Park Terry Edwards......t.edwards54321@gmail.com, 214.392.4627 Welcome Erik Maye ......................erikmaye@gmail.com, 512.626.2404 Social & Decorating Joany Price....................joanyprice@gmail.com, 512.775.8942 Landscape & Decorating Ed Ueckert.........................................................512.345.6137 Security Jim Lloyd.........................jlloyd@austin.rr.com, 512.231.0855 Communications, Editor – Courtyard Caller Jen Harold.......... harold.jennifer@gmail.com, 281.773.2880 Compliance Denise Hogan................................denise.1.hogan@gmail.com Kayak Jim Vence .......................jimvence@gmail.com, 512.436.5678 Fire Safety Richard Stelzner................................... arebeess42@gmail.com Area Development and Zoning Liaison Denise Hogan....... denise.1.hogan@gmail.com, 214.403.4454
SUB-HOA CONTACTS Center Court: Amanda Gilliland... mandagilliland@gmail.com, 512-927-7118 Travis County Courtyard (aka "Backcourt") Terry Edwards .............................. t.edwards54321@gmail.com Villas at Courtyard: Thomas Hoy..........Thomas.Hoy@freescale.com, 512.231.1270 Wolf Court: Susanne Doell.................... Drdoell@gmail.com, 512.454.3400 4
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Courtyard Caller Throughout the year the Fire Safety Committee focuses almost exclusively on wildfire. As the weather turns cooler the wildfire season recedes, but that should not end the activities that build resistance to wildfire. The Fire Safety Committee concentrates on wildland fire threats because we live in the W i l d l a n d Ur b a n In t e r f a c e , the WUI, surrounded by and intermixed in acres of woodlands. The Courtyard is a member of the Firewise Alliance and in cooperation with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the Austin Fire Department Wildfire Division and the Texas A&M Forest Service there are things that can and are being done to potentially decrease the threats. Although Texas does not have the same climate and weather as western states, it is not immune to wildfires. Texas has experienced significant droughts in the past with resulting destructive wildfires close to Austin, most notably Bastrop and Steiner Ranch. Periodic weeks of droughts do occur with high temperature and low humidity during late spring to early autumn. Just in September there were three wildfires that consumed over 2,000 acres, but fortunately were brought under control within days. Fires require three components: Fuel, Heat and Oxygen. Without any one of the components, the fire cannot begin or continue. Weather can have a major effect on wildland fires. Drought dries grasses and bushes and diminishes the moisture in trees creating Fuel. Heat from dry lightning, careless outdoor camping and cooking, or even a spark from a golf club hitting a rock in the rough, when combined with Oxygen and dry Fuel can cause a chain reaction that results in wildfire. Winds blow embers ahead of the main fire causing spotting that starts additional fires in dried fuel sometimes jumping firebreaks, roads and even rivers. Those windblown embers are the most formidable threat to the community. The Texas A&M Forest Service uses prescribed burns to clear overgrown grasslands and forests to decrease the amount of fuel load and to slow wildfires. The Travis County Fire Marshal issues Burn Bans when weather conditions raise the threat of fire. And the Firewise Alliance promotes education and training in establishing defensible space around homes to decrease the fuel that embers can ignite. The homeowner’s actions are a significant part of the overall effort. Disposing of dead vegetation, cleaning gutters and roof tops, pruning bushes and trees away from roofs and sides of the 6
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house, adding non-combustible materials five feet from the outside walls and maintenance of ground vegetation, bushes and trees 30 feet away from the house are some of the practices that have been shown to defend against wildfire. The Fire Safety Committee offers free Home Ignition Zone Evaluations to help in reviewing how to implement these protocols along with other recommendations to harden a home against wildfire. Most actions are low cost and simple, while some may require a greater commitment. The HIZ recommendations are encouraged not obligatory. The actions are up to the homeowner to implement. Resources with information and recommendations about creating defensible space, use of fire resistant plants, bushes, trees and ground cover along with the status of wildfire risks can be found in the “Fire Safety” section on the Courtyard website (www.courtyardhoa.org/hoa). Visit the website to keep up-to-date on recommendations and practices to best defend your home against wildfire and to take advantage of a Home Ignition Zone Evaluation.
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Crape myrtles are a popular landscape tree in parts of Texas, prized for their beauty. While this tree has been relatively maintenance free for years, that is no longer the case now that crape myrtle bark scale (CMBS) has been found in Texas. Crape myrtle bark scales are small, wingless insects, pinkish in color and covered with a white, velvety covering. When looking at the bark of an infested tree, check for round to oval shaped white velvety insects. If you puncture one with a toothpick, it will exude a pink substance. When inspecting crape myrtles for CMBS, look along trunks and limbs, as well as smaller twigs and branches found towards the top of the tree. You’ll want to look for scale insects and sooty mold. Sooty mold is a black colored fungus that grows on honeydew. Honeydew is an excretion from scale insects (and other small, soft-bodied insects such as aphids and mealybugs). Heavily infested crape myrtles have CMBS that produce copious amounts of honeydew on the tree and surrounding area which leads to growth of sooty mold, turning landscape plants and the surrounding area (or items underneath infested trees) black. Infested crape myrtles produce fewer and smaller blooms which may be difficult to tell unless you have an uninfected tree to compare. Only male crape myrtle bark scales fly. Females and immatures are wingless, but can be dispersed by wind, birds, other insects, or landscape maintenance equipment to nearby areas. Long-distance transport occurs through infested material. Once CMBS are in an area, they can move onto nearby trees. Control options are varied for CMBS. There are predators and parasites that attack and eat CMBS, such as ladybugs, but this may awhile for you to see control and the scale insect population may outgrow the population of the predators. Try to avoid bringing home infested material by inspect plants and other landscape materials before buying. Pesticide treatment for crape myrtle bark scale can be done with either a contact spray or a systemic. Studies from TAMU discovered that contact sprays should be used when pest numbers are peaking (crawler/ nymph numbers peak mid-April through May), and two treatments should be done with the second treatment taking place 2 weeks after the initial treatment. Insecticides with bifenthrin as the active ingredient tend to work best.
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Courtyard Caller Continued from Page 7 Systemic treatments should be applied earlier when crape myrtle leaves are budding out. Systemics such as imidacloprid and dinotefuran are best used as a soil treatment in March so they are taken up by the tree and in place for the crawler population that emerges in April-May. These products should be used when trees are NOT in bloom to protect pollinators. If you notice crape myrtle bark scale infesting your trees late in the season (approximately July and on), then you can use a high-pressure water spray to knock the scale insects off the tree. Another option is to get a scrub brush and dip it into a bucket of soapy water and wash the insects of the trunk and branches of the trees. For a video on how to treat crape myrtles for CMBS, you should go to this link: https://citybugs.tamu.edu/2018/08/28/how-to-treat-yourcrapemyrtle-for-bark-scale/ For more information or help with identification, contact Wizzie Brown, Texas AgriLife Extension Service Program Specialist at 512.854.9600. The information given herein is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service or the Texas A&M AgriLife Research is implied. The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service provides equal access in its programs, activities, education and employment, without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity.
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At no time will any source be allowed to use The Courtyard Caller Newsletter contents, or loan said contents, to others in anyway, shape or form, nor in any media, website, print, film, e-mail, electrostatic copy, fax, or etc. for the purpose of solicitation, commercial use, or any use for profit, political campaigns, or other self amplification, under penalty of law without written or expressed permission from Peel, Inc. The information in The Courtyard Caller Newsletter is exclusively for the private use of Peel, Inc. DISCLAIMER: Articles and ads in this newsletter express the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Peel, Inc. or its employees. Peel, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of any facts stated in articles submitted by others. The publisher also assumes no responsibility for the advertising content with this publication. All warranties and representations made in the advertising content are solely that of the advertiser and any such claims regarding its content should be taken up with the advertiser. * The publisher assumes no liability with regard to its advertisers for misprints or failure to place advertising in this publication except for the actual cost of such advertising. * Although every effort is taken to avoid mistakes and/or misprints, the publisher assumes no responsibility for any errors of information or typographical mistakes, except as limited to the cost of advertising as stated above or in the case of misinformation, a printed retraction/correction. * Under no circumstances shall the publisher be held liable for incidental or consequential damages, inconvenience, loss of business or services, or any other liabilities from failure to publish, or from failure to publish in a timely manner, except as limited to liabilities stated above.
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