December is here and almost gone! We have seen a beautiful fall in our forested Lochmere home. Did you know that a representative from NC Forest Service was talking with an attendee at Cary's Harvest Fest on Nov 15th and said that Lochmere was a positive example of good tree stewardship for best practices with tree care! Go Lochmere!
Weight reduction pruning on trees along Loch Highlands Drive was done the week of December 1.
To those of you have asked: Yes, we are keeping our HOA leaves. Our ground crews are trying to blow our fallen leaves into the mulch circles under the trees where they have fallen. If the leaf coverage over the grass is light, they will mulch in place. Thank you for NOT dumping your leaves onto nearby medians or HOA common spaces. The TOC will not necessarily pick them up. Leaving these leaves under their trees will curious the soil in which these trees grow as the compost.
Please note that we have 14 planted medians including 6 completely newly designed and planted medians where Holly trees and scrub shrubs were removed. ***please, if any of you live near these islands, consider "adopting" an island---let us know and we can discuss how to help keep them weeded and watered as needed.
We also have now a total of nine entrance medians planted for the fall/winter by Ruppert, our landscape company. Some of these are irrigated and some are not. Give them time to grow and show their beauty. Some of these plants are perennial and will last many years.
Neighbors and friends, please do NOT allow your pets to pee or poop in our medians as you walk by! This burns the plants, necessitates replanting and is a waste of your money!
This is a wonderful time of year to plant in the NC piedmont area. We will be posting for your view, suggested plantings for your property. If you are hoping to plant shrubs or trees to screen orenhance your property, please look under our Landscape page for NON-invasive and perhaps native plants.
Spring Plantings:
As many of us will begin planning for spring planting soon after the holidays, the Landscape Committee would like to bring to your attention the growing list of invasive, non-native plants in our area. These plants are ones that have been introduced to our region and replace our native species. (Examples are English ivy, privet, multiflora rose, Bradford pear, and Asian wisterias.) As our wildlife is reliant on native plants for food and shelter, it’s important that we take time to consider what we plant and the potential impact on our ecosystem. If we all take a moment to review the invasive plant list before choosing new plants for our gardens, it will go a long way to reducing the unintentional spreading of invasive plants! Here’s a great resource from the NC Native Plant Society https://ncwildflower.org/invasive-exotic-species-list/. For additional resources, take a look at Lochmere’s Native Plant Recommendations Guide.
