As we move further into spring, the common area plant material at Marley Park continues its transition to the warmer climate.

Last month, DLC’s aeration crews completed aeration on your common area turf, which will allow the roots of your Bermuda grass to better receive water, nutrients and oxygen. During this time, turf areas may appear dry or off-color as the winter Ryegrass dies off and the summer Bermuda begins to grow. We will continue monitoring and managing the irrigation needs of the turf to help it through this seasonal change.

While working through your community, the onsite crew came across vandalism damage in the common areas. We noticed irrigation controllers in Veranda Park and Bumblebee Park had been opened and programming changed. They have since been locked in an effort to prevent further issues. We also had to replace two trees in your Community that were vandalized.

Besides our regular maintenance work, we have other news and projects at Marley Park that have been completed.

• We began managing the common areas in the new section of Marley Park located east of Bullard Avenue.
• Summer annual flowers, including Angelonias and potato vine, were planted around the Heritage Club.

Throughout May, our crews will continue to address the various challenges that arise from the changing seasons and spring growth. We’ve been reviewing sightlines throughout your community and reducing plant material spreading beyond its growth space. In addition to landscape upkeep, we will proceed to treat weeds as we encounter them.

Caring for Young Trees

Did you take advantage of our early spring this year and did some new spring planting? Did you add new trees to your home landscape? Sometimes we think when we install a new tree, nature will take over in caring for it. But really, new trees need special attention, especially as it tries to establish itself during the first few years of growth.

During the First Year

In the tree’s first year, we encourage leaving as many limbs on the tree, along the entire length of the trunk, for as long as possible. Keeping these extra limbs provides more leafs for the tree to use to make more nutrients to grow stronger more rapidly.

Little pruning may be required during the first year; this may include removal of dead or broken branches, a competing leader, any branches touching the ground or any sprouts (also known as “suckers”) growing directly out of the base of the trunk. Otherwise, trees are best left un-pruned during this time.

Visit the DLC Learning Center to learn more about how to care for your young tree including proper watering. Just go to dlclearningcenter.com and search for “young tree” in our hand search function located at the top right of the home page.

Turf Transition Continues

The natural progression to summer Bermuda grass from winter Rye grass continues in your common areas. During this time, the Rye grass dies and the turf may appear to be yellow or have some areas that look dry. This is a temporary condition that improves at the Bermuda grass fills in. Transitioning from Ryegrass to Bermuda grass is, ideally, a gradual process that typically lasts from the beginning of April through the end of May.