We hope everyone is having a great February and start to the year. As you know, we have been busy with a few projects around the neighborhood and want an update. Firstly Trail Cleanup, Our contractor has done a fantastic job clearing the space between the two Bridges, and we’re looking forward to organizing a fun neighbor workday soon to tackle some of the spots his equipment couldn’t quite reach. The work has opened up the space. Please take a walk and check it out. Secondly, our picnic tables at the park needed some light refurbishment and a group of volunteers flipped and repaired some of the board and now our tables look new again. Thank you, Donn Gray, Michael Clennan, Don Mitchell & Dwayne Free.  Also, the exposed wiring and broken lights at the front entrance were repaired, and a new light and photocell were added.  Look below for some before and after pictures.

Trail Cleanup Work Day:

Trail Before:

Trail After:

Picnic Tables:

Entrance Lights Old: 

Entrance Lights New:

Landscape Tips:

Do not be fooled by these warm days as winter is not over and here are just a few highlights to help with your landscape needs this time of year.

• Hard to believe but the window for applying pre-emergent (crabgrass preventative) is upon us. February and March are the time when lawns need pre-emergent spring to keep crabgrass and other weeds from germinating. If you have a lawn service, it is likely they have already applied. If you are a do-it-yourself kind of gardener, then now is the time. Apply pre-emergent with some fertilizer if you have a cool season, fescue lawn to enable the lawn to green up nicely when temperatures do come around. If you have a warm season lawn like Bermuda or Zoysia apply a pre-emergent with NO fertilizer.  
• This is a suitable time of year to do a soil sample and have evaluated by UGA Extension Service. This test reveals any deficiencies that need correction to have a lush, healthy lawn. The Extension Service has sample bags and methods for gathering a representative sample of your soil to give the best results. You can call your local University of Georgia Extension office at 1-800-ASKUGA-1 to get details on how to order sample bags and get sample results.
• It is time to cut back the ornamental grasses.  Giving your ornamental grasses a crew cut is the thing to do this time of year. This gets the plant ready for spring flush and eliminates the messiness of the dead. Cutting grasses back to 12-18” anytime in February or March is good timing.
  • Pine straw or hardwood mulch installation in your landscape beds is good for plant health and just makes your landscape look nicer. Make sure not to install more than 3” of any type mulch and keep the mulch from the base of your plants to prevent disease or rot.

A helpful website is Walter Reeves a Georgia Gardener-https://www.walterreeves.com/

We hope these ideas are helpful to an early spring.

Neighborhood Updates:

The HOA is excited to kick off 2025 with several improvement projects planned for the year. Stay tuned for updates on timelines and progress. Despite the chilly start to the year, we hope everyone, especially the kids, enjoyed the recent snow day! Your HOA has been hard at work since the holidays, coordinating and organizing plans to enhance our neighborhood. To ensure consistent upkeep and improvements, we have formed a dedicated landscape committee that is already getting to work. At the end of this update, you will find our 5-year plan and also link to our 2025 Budget.

Our first priority is improving the trails. Many areas have become overgrown and require cleanup. Starting Jan. 28th, a crew will begin clearing the main trail, and the work is expected to be completed within a week. In addition to the cleanup, we plan to name the main trail and add signage. Also, An exciting discovery was made by one of our neighbors—a potential “Trail tree” along the trail. We have reached out to an organization for more information about this unique feature and will keep you updated (The tree may be a good Trail name). These trail improvements are part of a larger effort to beautify and add value to our community, and we can’t wait to see you on the Trails!

Lawnscape Tips:

As we wish for warmer days here are a few landscape tips for January that can help your home’s landscape look its best come spring and summer.

• Winterize your irrigation if you have not done so already-this includes shutting off the water supply to your irrigation by turning off the isolation valve. The isolation valve prevents irrigation water from entering our domestic supply. This helps prevent broken pips when it is time to start your system up in late spring/summer.
• Blow leaves off your lawn. Ideally this should have been done in the fall but blowing leaves from the lawn and into your landscape beds/natural areas prevents turf disease. The leaves make a great compost material for your garden as well.
• For your Bermuda/Zoysia lawns also known as warm season lawns (the ones that are brown not green) a pre-emergent, crabgrass and weed preventive product should be applied at manufactures recommendations once you notice Forsythia blooming-typically mid to late February. This application is critical to prevent crabgrass and other broadleaf weeks in your warm season lawn.
• Do not forget to winterize your lawn mower by using fuel additive like Sta-bill again at manufactured rates to prevent the fuel from separating and causing issues when you go to use the lawn mower in spring.
• For Fescue lawn, also know a Cool season lawn (the ones that are somewhat green now) late winter fertilization provides nutrients available to lawn once the weather begins to warm and provides that early season green up, we all love to see.
• If you have not mulched your landscape beds now is a great time to get that done. No more than 3” of either pine staw or mulch products are needed and placing them directly over the leaves you blow into your beds is just fine. One side note is to keep the mulch away from the truck of the plant/tree to prevent the base of the plant from rot due to excess moisture at the base.
• Lastly, time to prune the Crape myrtles-please avoid Crape Murder by hard pruning these plants. Ther are many resources for proper crape pruning.

We hope these ideas are helpful and more to come.

Links:

• 2025 Budget
• 5-year Improvement Plan

As we begin November and look toward the joy of the Holiday Season, we also welcome our new HOA board members. After last month’s election, the new board members are:

President: Shane Koehler

1^st Vice President: Stuart Wall

2^nd Vice President: Dwayne Free

Secretary: Heather Scott

Treasurer: Louise Schweigert

Following our initial HOA leadership meeting, we will be sharing our 2025 annual budget along with a list of key priorities that the Board aims to address in the coming year. As we move forward, we’re also focused on enhancing neighborhood involvement by forming committees dedicated to improving our community’s aesthetics and communication.

And let me remind you, again, that we’re looking to personalize our new website by adding photos from our own community. We encourage you to submit photos of your yard or home—showcase your creativity! Selected images will be featured on the website to highlight the unique charm of our community.

In addition to the website launch, we have our annual HOA meeting on October 13th. This is a great opportunity to hear updates on our projects and to receive a detailed report on this year’s budget and expenses. Plus, it’s election time! We’ll be distributing ballots to elect next year’s HOA board members. If you’re unable to attend the meeting, don’t worry—ballots will be sent to those who miss it. We encourage everyone to get involved and help shape the future of our community. Let’s work together to make Copper Ridge the best it can be!