Our Colorful Pathways In Hickory Ridge

As autumn days shorten and cool, trees stop producing chlorophyll, revealing yellow and orange carotenoids and prompting red and purple anthocyanins. Native plants create a vibrant, layered habitat from canopy to garden bed, while evergreens provide contrast.

The Top of the Canopy

• Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera): This tall tree changes early, its tulip-shaped leaves turning golden yellow.
• Oak (Quercus spp.): Native White and Northern Red Oaks turn red, copper, and bronze in late autumn and produce acorns for wildlife.
• Maple (Acer spp.): Native Red and Sugar Maples blaze scarlet, orange, and amber.

Middle Canopy & Understory: Spring Favorites with Autumn Color

• Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida): Its foliage turns crimson and burgundy, while glossy red berries feed migratory birds.
• Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis): Its heart-shaped leaves turn canary yellow and golden bronze.
• Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.): Native hawthorns add gold, orange, and reddish-purple foliage, plus red berries that persist into winter.

Compact Yard Accents

• American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana): Yellow-bronze foliage and violet-purple berries feed songbirds.

Contrasting Evergreens

• Native Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) and Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) contrast with autumn colors and shelter songbirds and small mammals in winter.

For further reading, try Lois Ehlert’s children’s book Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf or Richard Powers’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel Overstory. Find local guidance from the University of Maryland, Extension and the Maryland Arborist Association.

Managing Autumn Leaves: Waterways and Wildlife

Managing fallen leaves requires a balance between protecting local waterways and supporting yard ecosystems. You can keep leaves away from curbs, driveways, and storm drains, where they can clog infrastructure and release excess nutrients into the Chesapeake Bay watershed. At the same time, you can leave a layer of leaf litter in garden beds or areas of your yard to shelter beneficial insects, pollinators, and other wildlife through winter.

What’s in your yard and neighborhood? Do you have a favorite native autumn tree?

Volunteer - join the Resident Architectural Committee!

Are you interested in the housing styles and architecture in Hickory Ridge? Join the Resident Architectural Committee (RAC)! The RAC reviews exterior alteration applications for homes in Hickory Ridge. Get to know community members and learn more about the Village you live in! The RAC meets on the first and third Wednesdays of the month in a virtual meeting at 7:30pm. In addition, RAC members visit 1 – 4 neighborhood properties in the week before the meeting as part of the application review process. Interested? Email Tania at applications@hickoryridgevillage.org.

Who Takes Care of What??

The Village office receives anonymous reports of concerns about a lot of different issues. Often, they are concerns that can be addressed by the Village, but we also get reports of issues that we cannot address.

The Village Covenants empower the Covenant Advisor to address problems like unmowed grass, peeling paint and bulk items in a yard. However, the Covenant Advisor is limited by the Covenants as well.

Some issues that ARE NOT included in the Covenants, which would be addressed by other agencies are:

• Pet issues (off leash, waste etc.) - Howard County Animal Control
• Trees between the sidewalk and the street - Bureau of Highways
• Street issues like pot holes or a sign down -Bureau of Highways
• Columbia Association Open Space (paths, bridges, tot lots, playgrounds) - open.space@columbiaassociation.org
• Street light outage - BGE reporting tool

Some issue are on HOA property. If you live in a townhome or condo community, your HOA would handle the following:

• parking issues
• mailbox issues
• trash or trash cans on islands/collection points
• carports
• common property of the HOA

Find contact information for HOAs on the Hickory Ridge website here.

Columbia Association Mapping & Geographic Information Systems

Check out the new Mapping & Geographic Information System (GIS) Resources page for Columbia Association! You can download maps, discover interactive apps and use the information provided to explore the Columbia community. Find tot lots, fun activities, pool information and more! Find out information about Open Space projects and download maps and other information.