Neighborhood News

August Yard of the Month goes to the Bermudez family at 8065 Claremont Dr.
They have been here since 1997 and have made a beautiful home for themselves.

The pink pentas and mandevilla compliment the red accents on their home nicely. Their white rock mulch along the foundation goes great with the white trim and really brightens up the shade from their mature trees.

Rock mulch is a good option for high traffic areas in the shade where it is difficult to maintain turf but should be avoided in full sun because it retains heat and increases soil temperature.

Their stunning red oak provides deep shade that took a little trial and error to find the right plant for their foundation planting.

They suggest just try things and see what works.

Variegated aucuba shrubs provide a great pop of color in the shade and require almost no maintenance. Aucuba isn’t native here but is well adapted to our wild weather and isn’t considered invasive.

They also brighten up the shade with colorful containers, furniture, and front door.

The formal plantings and high contrast color scheme make this home and garden really pop.

Maintaining such a tidy yard is no small feat and this dedicated gardener can often be seen pulling weeds after work still in her scrubs.

She recommends trimming shrubs and groundcover in the spring to encourage new growth.

August yard of the month goes to Lula Ross on Cabrera. She has been a resident in our neighborhood for 29 years.

According to Ms. Ross, if you prepare your beds correctly, then maintenance is easier. Hard work at the beginning, then plant, and water.

Her tip is to prepare beds with a mixture of sand, cow manure, and Miracle-Gro. This will help the roots to establish in our clay soil.

She had a great garden tip for us: Her Zinnas are absolutely gorgeous! She takes the dried Zinna flowers, put them in a cardboard box until next season. Then she crushes them and replants.