Congratulations 3207 Silkgrass Bend for Winning June Yard of the Month!

by the “Garden Gals”

The Yard of the Month winners for June should be the stars of their own reality show on HGTV—it would be called “Extreme Yard Makeovers”!  Jeannie and Scott Morman, of 3207 Silkgrass Bend, removed or replanted much of the vegetation in their lawn in order to create a wonderful landscape that was more suited to some of our native plants and trees.  

A section of their lawn is a xeriscape bed that includes drought-tolerant plants such as yucca, Texas sage, and Mexican feather grass.  The live oak that sits in the middle of their lawn is no longer crowded and will be sure to get the sunlight and water it needs.  Jeannie and Scott have also planted a variety of blooming plants that are perfect for Texas landscapes, such as crape myrtle, blue plumbago and turk’s cap.  The blue plumbago plant’s indigo blossoms, turk’s cap’s crimson blooms, and the rose of sharon’s fuchsia hibiscus flowers will be sure to attract an array of brightly-colored butterflies and even hummingbirds.  They might even have to set up tours of their butterfly garden!  

They didn’t tear out and discard their nandina bushes, but rather they transplanted them to a more desirable location in their yard.  They also took on the task of laying all new sod in their front yard.  In order to provide water for their new garden, they tapped into a natural resource—rain water!  They installed new gutters on their house and connected them to a rain barrel to collect water for their yard.  

As for feeding their vegetation, they turn away from artificial fertilizers and instead use natural compost with turkey manure from the Natural Gardener store.  Those turkeys can sure help us grow some nice lawns!  After we spoke to Jeannie and Scott who graciously showed us around their property, it was clear that they are passionate about creating a beautiful yard as well as helping the environment by using “green” methods of keeping their garden green!  

Wow-- just writing about all the hard work they put into creating their new yard makes us tired!  Thanks to Jeannie and Scott for allowing us to share this with our neighbors.  Be sure to take a look at the newsletter online so you can see these photos in color at www.peelinc.com.  Select “Communities”, then “Austin”, then “Cherry Creek on Brodie Ln.” to get to the menu of newsletters.  

News From the Board

Dear Neighbors:

Our thanks to all the folks who attended our Annual Meeting back on February 26th and a big thank you to all the new volunteers who stepped forward.  Ed Neuhaus will be joining the board and will take over as our treasurer, a job that our current treasurer, Kristy Brown, has handled so well for the past several years.   Kristy will remain on the board.   Valerie Learman has also agreed to join the board.  Other new folks who will be working with committees are Beth Bernstein, Rebecca Eaton, and Mona Higgins.  

The main topic of discussion at the meeting was the need to get the front entrance area back in shape and the lights in working order.  We also planned a work day for everyone on March 26th at the front entrance.  Those of you members who were not able to attend the meeting, we will be contacting you by email or phone to fill you in on upcoming plans.  We should also have the new Facebook page set up by the time you read this.  

Everyone with young children be sure to mark your calendars for our 3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt to be held on Saturday, April 23, 2011 at 10:00 AM  in Cherry Creek Park (the park near the front of our subdivision where the marquee and internal mailbox are located).  Please let us know if you are interested in helping with this social event.   We will need volunteers to stuff plastic eggs with candy the week before the hunt and to help hide the eggs before the hunt begins on Saturday morning.

More good news is that we will be resuming our Yard of the Month program.  The first YOM winner will be selected for the month of May, so get out there and get those spring gardens growing !

Am pleased to report that as of March 9, we had 56 member families who paid their dues for 2011.  

Again, a GIANT thank you to all who have recently joined, paid their dues and volunteered by joining the board or a committee.

Sincerely,

Barbara Statum for the Board

Fire Ants are Back

I was working in the yard pruning roses last week and I got stung by my first fire ant of the season.  While I knew it was inevitable, I was hoping that it would occur a bit later in the year.  But, it’s true.  Fire ants have begun to yet again, dot the landscape with their mounds.

Spring time is when people see fire ants swarming.  Swarming is a reproductive process that usually occurs on warm spring days after a rain event.  Winged males and females leave the mound and fly into the air to mate.  After mating, they fall to the ground where the males die and females break off their wings.  Females then begin to search for a location to establish a new colony.  They dig a small chamber in the soil, lay a few eggs and rear those young until they become mature worker ants.  At that point the workers take over colony functions and the queen continues to expand the population of the colony by laying more eggs.

While searching for a new colony location , many mated fire ant queens are killed by lizards, birds, spiders, other ants, and often my shoe stomping them.  The queens that survive can be managed by broadcasting fire ant bait over your entire property.  New colonies are usually very small and may not have substantial mounds that you would be able to locate to treat individually.  The worker ants forage for food, so they would have the opportunity to locate fire ant bait and carry back to the colony to share with others.

For more information or help with identification, contact Wizzie Brown, Texas AgriLife Extension Service Program Specialist at 512.854.9600.  Check out my blog at  HYPERLINK "http://www.urban-ipm.blogspot.com" www.urban-ipm.blogspot.com

Carmen Martin

President's Corner

Dear Neighbors:

Hope you are all enjoying the new flowers and other plantings at the entrance to our neighborhood.  We really appreciate all the folks who turned out for the two Work Days back in March.  The hard work has definitely paid off and in fact we have discussed having a Work Day  

quarterly from here on out.   We'll keep you posted on future dates.   

We also lucked out in that a City of Austin Code Enforcement team happened by with their truck and hauled away a pile of old real estate signs that had been languishing up front for many years !

It's hard to believe, but we will be wrapping up another school year soon and want to remind everyone how important it is for us drivers to SLOW DOWN when driving into and around the neighborhood.  We are all aware of the bottleneck at the entrance, but it is equally important to be aware of children who are out and about on foot, on their bikes or skateboarding, as well as the many residents who walk their dogs in the mornings and evenings.  One moment of inattention could have dire consequences.  I'm sure many of you heard about the accident back in April when a speeding car rolled over at the  

intersection of Silk Oak Drive and Lightwood Loop.   Please let's not  

have any more crashes.

Also want to thank all you who have been clipping and donating your Boxtops for Education.  I am always happy when I check the Cherry Creek mailbox on the marquee and find several envelopes or baggies  

stuffed full !   And speaking of the internal mail box, please  

remember that it is for internal mail only.  Over the past few months we have found letters, bills and cards meant for the USPS, which we have mailed, but we don't check that mail drop unless the flag is up ... so, please use the outgoing USPS mailbox slots in the various mail stations throughout the subdivision.  Would hate for someone's bills to be paid late !

As we go into the summer months, remember we have our Annual Fourth of July Parade and Picnic coming up, so please make plans now to join us.  Again, details will follow and we're always looking for volunteers and new ideas to help with that event.

We are also happy to announce that Yard of the Month is back beginning this month.  Many thanks to our newest board members for volunteering for this committee.

Hope you all have a Happy Mother's Day !

Sincerely,

Barbara Statum for the Board

THANK YOU

THANK YOU

THANK YOU

THANK YOU

THANK YOU

Pilar and Rolando Rodriguez

Becky Briley

Bonny Edwards

Valerie, Zane, & Talon Learman 

Ed Neuhaus

Ken Trautwein

Carmen Martin

Barbara Statum

Thank you to my wonderful volunteers that took time

out of their busy lives to help make the front entrance 

 of Cherry Creek on Brodie a neighborhood we can 

be proud of.  Also, Thank you to those that wanted to

be there to help but couldn’t due to other commitments.

Carla Trautwein 

Congratulations to 3202 Grasshopper for Winning our Yard of the Month Award!

During my strolls, I always stop to admire the many lovely green lawns and colorful flowering plants of the houses here in Cherry Creek on Brodie Lane.  It was a very hard decision, but after walking the neighborhood and careful deliberation, my fellow “Garden Gal” and I have come up with the first Yard of the Month winner for 2011.  Congratulations to Evangelina and Luis Mata, Jr. of 3202 Grasshopper!  

Their yard is beautifully maintained, and splashes of blossoming color abound in the front and side yards.  There is a whimsical swan planter in the front with loads of pink petunia blossoms spilling over the sides, and a vine-covered, arched trellis in the side yard.  I am sure the White-winged doves who use the cute, angel-themed birdbath enjoy the beautiful blooming fuchsia Knockout roses, blushing impatiens and vermilion geraniums.  We loved the adorable animal statues—wide-eyed owls and happy frogs adorn their garden.  

This yard beckons me to sit on their front patio bistro table, sip chamomile tea, and enjoy the springtime view...but they probably would have thought this was odd since they didn’t know me at the time we first spotted their fantastic greenery.  After we spoke to Evangelina (Eva) and Luis, who graciously showed us around their property, it was clear that they are passionate about creating a beautiful environment around their home.  

Eva is inspired by her parents who always do a wonderful job maintaining their yard—her green thumb is in her genes!  One tip that Eva shared with us was to use crushed egg shells to fertilize the flowers.  First, crush the egg shells and leave them overnight to dry.  Then, add them to a gallon of water and sprinkle plants liberally with the mixture.  I will for sure be trying this at my house—come on over for an omelette and help me try to improve my yard!  

Thanks to Eva and Luis for allowing us to share this with our neighbors!   

by the “Garden Gals”

Austin Energy Tree Trimming Notice

Austin Energy Tree Trimming Notice

Neighbors, Austin Energy is going to be in our neighborhood doing some tree trimming around power lines. Please read the attached document (pdf linked through Google docs) for more information.

Front Entrance Landscaping

Many thanks to all the folks who took the time to come out and work hard this past Saturday morning. Your efforts really improved the look of our front entrance! A special thanks to Ed and Valerie for picking up the mulch!

2010 Christmas Lights Contest

Christmas is right around the corner!  Please click on the following link to view and print a copy of the new ballot.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=60607531

Wildflower center’s new arboretum to become scientific hub for arborists, researchers

Read about the exciting new project underway at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center: Wildflower center’s new arboretum to become scientific hub for arborists, researchers