We all appreciate beauty. Our Homeowner's Association has established a standard for yard maintenance, to present our neighborhood as a whole in the best consistent manner. Not only is it required to maintain a weed free, well kept yard, but it gives our entire neighborhood a reason to be proud of our community. This does everyone a favor, by increasing the property value for every homeowner in our community.

Aside from our neighborhood Landscaping Company's responsibilities, the board is trying to maintain costs of dues to homeowners by recruiting volunteers to help with seasonal flower planting and pinestraw spreading in the entrances and common areas. This is a great opportunity for you to become involved in our community. Please contact the Landscaping Committee if you are interested in being a part of this.

Landscaping Committee
Eric Hash
Laurie Black

Who is responsible for maintaining the street trees?

It is each homeowner's responsibility to maintain the beauty of the street trees in front of their respective homes. Please attend to these areas often, keeping them weed free and a nice supply of pinestraw around each tree, to enhance the continuity of the entire neighborhood. Also, please keep the "sucker branches" and lower branches trimmed, to encourage healthy growth of the trees and maintain safety for pedestrian's using the sidewalks. NOTE: It will help to keep consistent size of all tree heights/healthy growth in the neighborhood, to make sure the lower branches are trimmed off. There have been many questions about who is responsible for the warranty on the street trees in front of each home. Questions on this should be directed to the specific builder, inside of the warranty period. Please see "About Lindenwood" page, to obtain contact information for each builder. If you have any problems, please contact Rosalyn Gilpin with Hawthorne Management or the Landscaping Committee, to assist in getting your dead trees replaced.

How high to mow your lawn?

Mowing Tips -Proper mowing can mean the difference between a so-so lawn and a great one. There are a few simple decisions to make when mowing that make a difference in your lawn.Grass generally performs best when mowed at one of the higher settings on your mower — especially in hot summer weather.

• Avoid scalping at all costs.
• Never cut off more than 1/3 of the length of the grass blades in a single mowing. If lawn growth gets ahead of you, mow it at a higher length, then lower blade and mow again a few days later.

Please visit Scott's Lawn Care page, for additional tips on mowing your lawn on the highest blade setting, for prime lawn condition. This helps to keep your grass looking lush, green and healthy.
Scott's also provides additional tips on aerating, seeding, fertilizing.

Lime is essential to the success of your lawn. Lime creates a balance of soil chemistry that allows the fertilizer to react with your lawn more readily. A pH level between 6.0 and 6.8 is considered desirable for nutrient availability. A quick "do-it-yourself" soil test is available at local garden centers. Based on soil tests done in our area, most lawns in Lindenwood have needed lime applied at the rate of approximately 80 lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft. of lawn area. After correcting pH level, lime should be applied 1-2 times per year at a rate of 40 lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft. of lawn area. Loosening of the soil is helpful in starting a new lawn or overseeding an existing lawn. Roto-tilling, aerating, slicing, or heavy raking are some of the methods that can be used. The compaction (tightness) of your soil will determine which method you should choose. Equipment can be obtained through local rental companies. Applying gypsum to your soil is also an excellent way to help loosen heavy clay soils. Gypsum improves soil porosity, which is the soil's ability to absorb nutrients. Gypsum will allow easier soil penetration for seedling grass. Gypsum should be applied at a rate of up to 100 lbs. per 1,000 feet of lawn area twice a year.

LINDENWOOD POND STORY

“Why is the pond brown?  It never used to look this way.  The ponds muddy color seems to coincide with the time the shopping center broke ground.”

These questions and comments are asked quite often.  Why, and what can be done?

These are the facts as we know them.  This is a natural pond, not builder created, and dates back to the 1950’s.  When Crosland, Lindenwood’s developer purchased the property, they did expand the outer edges to create a defined outlet on the backside.  This was done to establish a drainage outlet that flows into a natural creek.  Today, the pond’s primary purpose is to serve as a catch basin for drainage.

There was an existing drainage pipe that runs from the edge of the shopping center property, under Hwy 84 (Weddington Road) and connects to the Lindenwood pond.  This pipe has been in place for many years and its primary purpose is to funnel water from both sides of Hwy 84 into a common area for run-off.  In other words, for many years, the drainage has always been there and flowed into the pond.  Once the shopping center commenced development and started digging and moving around dirt, it only took the rains to begin washing/draining this dirt into the drain, through the pipe across Hwy 84 and directly into the Lindenwood pond.

The reason for the muddy color is the fine silt suspended in the water that refuses to settle.  Once we noticed a problem with the pond, we immediately initiated discussions with Aston Properties, the shopping center developer.  The multiple talks were productive and have yielded Aston’s commitment to correcting any damage borne on the Lindenwood development as a direct result of the shopping center development.

Working with an engineer at Aston, and through extensive water testing, Aston agreed to begin treating the pond with an environmentally friendly, gypsum based compound, avoiding any damage to the fish or other pond life.  The primary purpose of this treatment is to improve the appearance of the water.  The compound essentially coagulates the silt, forcing it to fall to the bottom of the pond.  The clearing process is slow and takes approximately five days.  Throughout the past year, immediately following a treatment, we have typically received extensive rain.  We must then repeat the same cycle again.  We continue to monitor the pond and communicate with the engineer at Aston Properties when treatment is needed.

Lindenwood will experience these issues until the shopping center development nearest to Hwy 84 is complete.