Three homeowners and two Raintree board members spent an hour Saturday morning to stake and tape plots for future stormwater control between the auxiliary parking area and townhouses.\u00a0 The plots will undergo several steps before becoming beautiful \u201cgardens.\u201d\u00a0 Ultimately these plots will be attractions for butterflies, birds and many pollinating insects.<\/p>\n
Our next step is to place a layer of newspaper over the outlined areas and cover with three inches of leaf mulch-compost.\u00a0 The combination of newspaper and mulch will allow the sun to heat up the plots and slowly kill the weeds, grasses and seeds.\u00a0 If you are interested in helping, contact Richard Sun (richard.sun82@gmail.com<\/a>) or Maureen Goodfellow (mmmteg@aol.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n When it is cooler (mid-September or later), these plots will be planted with plugs and potted plants.\u00a0 Our volunteers will plant right through the mulch and newspaper (which eventually decomposes) and combine soil and organic matter in the holes, plant-by-plant.\u00a0 The planting holes will be generous to enable young plants to root without problem. \u00a0We will choose mostly native plants that are hardy and meet recommendations.\u00a0 These plants will have root systems that extend well beyond or turf which extends 2-3\u201d deep.\u00a0 They will anchor the soil and slow the stormwater run-off.<\/p>\n Once the young plants are in the soil, they will need to be watered (usually daily if there is no rain) to keep the root systems alive.\u00a0 We will need two volunteers to make their backyard water available.\u00a0 Future information will be posted as well as explained during the monthly Board meeting.<\/p>\n For the smaller plots, some tried and true native species are:\u00a0 Rudbeckia, coneflowers (Echinacea), bee balm (Monarda), a couple native grasses and shrubs to anchor then and provide cover for birds.\u00a0 If you are interested in learning more about this project and other landscaping projects, contact Maureen Goodfellow (Landscaping Chair) (mmmteg@aol.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n The three photos show our volunteers early on Saturday morning.\u00a0 Anyone who may have a concern that dog walking areas are significantly reduced can see by photograph C, there is plenty of mowed area remaining.<\/p>\n\n\t\t