LAWN CARE

CREATING AN ECO-FRIENDLY GARDEN AND LANDSCAPE

There have been many gardening trends from trying to eliminate all bugs in the garden to full-blown organic gardening. Eco-friendly gardening is a sensible approach to encouraging sustainable gardening practices that encourages healthy plant growth with minimal insecticides and fewer chemical fertilizers. 

Eco-friendly gardening strives to: 

1. Eliminate wasting water Not all plants need the same amount of water. Turfgrasses that we use for our lawns take far more water than most trees and shrubs. Chemicals we use such as weed killers, insecticides, and cleansers that are not used properly wash into our watersheds. How much pollution do you think an area the size of the DMV uses that ends up in stormwater overflow and eventually into our watersheds and then our drinking water? Remember Montgomery County ordinances bans the use of most synthetic pesticides, including “weed & feed” and pre-emergent products, used for lawn care. Only organic pesticides and herbicides can be used in the County. Violations could result in a fine.

2. Propping up failing plants with chemicals

All plants have the needs required to thrive. Some plants need more sun than others and some need more shade. Some need more iron and others more phosphate. Plants planted where they will perform well needless or don’t need chemicals to thrive. If you are constantly having to treat a plant to get it to grow, it may be planted in the wrong place. 

3. Our county offers lawn waste recycling weekly Please don’t dump lawn waste or anything else on our common land. We see many people using paper lawn waste bags to dispose of their lawn waste. A more economical and eco-friendly way to is to purchase a reusable plastic trash can for lawn waste. They will last for many years, save you money and reduce the resources used to make paper bags. The county will pick up yard waste each week on your trash day. As always, please store your yard waste cans out of sight except on your pickup day.

COVENANT INSPECTION UPDATE

We are approaching the end of our biennial covenant inspection process that started one year ago. We are down to 3 unresolved violations that have been sent to the to the HOA attorney. The HOA is in the last steps before we initiate legal action against those owners to compel them to correct their violations. The violations include unkept landscaping, dead trees, paint, and dirty siding.

TOWN HOME ROUNDUP (HELPFUL INFORMATION FOR TOWNHOME OWNERS)

Snowden's Mill Townhome Association #1 (Tufa Terr and Tourmaline Terr)

Just a reminder to keep our neighborhood looking FABULOUS! When you mow your lawns, please collect clippings for trash pickup in the designated paper bags purchased from the hardware stores. Also please continue to check on your quarterly payments to ensure you are up-to-date on your SMTownhome Association #1 payments. We continue to show several past due accounts. If you notice any problems, please let us know at snowdensmillhoa1@gmail.com or email Charles Laskey.  

We would like to beautify the neighborhood with flowers and landscaping. Your ideas and input are appreciated. Email us anytime and Happy Summer Neighbors!!

Board:

• Anna Douglas, President
• Wes W. Wolgemuth Vice President
• Marc Chasen, Treasurer/Secretary
• Ermiyas Mengesha, Member

EMAIL ADDRESSES

Snowdens Mill HOA Board of Directors

smhoa.bod@comsource.com

Snowdens Mill HOA Covenant Enforcement Committee

smhoa.ce@comsource.com

Snowdens Mill HOA Managing Agent (Charles Laskey)

clasky@comsource.com

SPEED LIMITS ON OUR STREETS

Please be careful while driving in our neighborhood. Maximum speed limit is 25 miles per hour in our neighborhood. For the safety of all concerned, please observe this speed limit. 

IMPROVING SAFETY ON TOURMALINE COURT

WE STILL NEED YOUR HELP WITH THIS.

The homeowners association (HOA) has asked the county to build a sidewalk along the west side of Tourmaline Ct.  There are times when the street is not safe to walk on due to auto traffic. A sidewalk would increase pedestrian safety on the street. We have proposed to have the sidewalk built along the west side of Tourmaline Ct. No tree’s will be removed in the construction of the sidewalk. But we aren’t there yet. To move forward with this project, we need your help. If you haven’t indicated your support for this project, please do so now. It's relatively easy to do. As with most requests, the number of submissions showing support will help to prioritize this project. Please find instructions below.

1. Click here to display the MCDOT Sidewalk Installation Request page. 

2. Type, "Tourmaline Court" in the search bar and select, "TOURMALINE COURT" under Sidewalk Requests. 

3. Click the magenta line that is displayed on Tourmaline Court and a pop-up will display that says, "From East Randolph Road to Olivine Way." 

4. Click, "Support this Sidewalk," and complete the form with your information. 

We thank you for helping to make our neighborhood safer. We thank those of you who have already gone online to express your support of this sidewalk project.

SUMMER FOOD

We hope that you enjoy the recipe section of our newsletter. We have received many positive comments. If you have a recipe that you would like to share with your neighbors, please send it. For fall food we have:

SUMMER SQUASH PASTA

Ingredients

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 pounds summer squashes/zucchini, sliced
• Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper seasoning
• 12 ounces ziti, or other round pasta
• 2+ounces grated Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ½ cup basil leaves

Instructions

1. Bring water to boil and cook pasta. (save pasta cooking liquid for latter step)
2. While your pasta is cooking, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, cook until lightly browned around the edges about 5 min.
3. Add squash with a little salt and increase heat to medium. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until squash is tender about 12 min.  
4. Add Aleppo-style pepper
5. Transfer pasta to skillet with squash using a slotted spoon or and add ½ cup pasta cooking liquid. 
6. Cook pasta, adding 2 oz. parmesan in stages along with more pasta cooking liquid as needed, until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente. Toss in lemon juice and most of the basil.
7. Serve

(These recipes are contributed by your neighbors.  If there is a recipe that you would like to share with your neighbors, please send it to us.)