We would like to take a moment to recap all the positive changes in the Village's over the past 6 months and inform you on what to expect in the months ahead.

Improvements include:

1. The consistency of a two-man crew - twice per week. Ben and Miles were hired by Redword to service Red Mountain Ranch specifically and we regularly see the owner, Ryan, out working alongside the crew when warranted.
2. Weekly hand mowing.
3. Redword has mapped and audited the full irrigation system throughout the Villages. They continually work to replace broken sprinkler heads and work with the Board to plan for major repairs as the budget allows.
4. Savatree has provided a full tree inventory of all trees in the Villages. Priority 1 trees were trimmed in July. All dead trees were removed and stump grinding is scheduled to be completed the week of September 12th. All trees that were not trimmed in 2022 are scheduled for trimming the first quarter of 2023.
5. Redword has provided a 5-week landscape maintenance rotation map for the Villages. 

What's next

Below are the Fall/Winter Maintenance Objectives for The Villages:

September

• Cut back all Bougainvillea throughout the community. This will reduce plant size and allow for some re-growth over the next couple of months and keep the plant material small throughout the winter months.
• Pre-emerge with an added herbicide in all turf areas throughout the community. This will kill any weeds that are currently in the grass eliminating competition and preventing future weed growth in the winter months.

October

• Cut back Bird of Paradise and Purple fountain grass. Again, this will reduce plant size and allow for some re-growth over the next couple of months and keep the plant material small throughout the winter months

November

• Evaluate possible candidates for turf to granite conversion based on the conditions that prevent successful turf growth

December

• Start renovation pruning of the non-frost sensitive plant material. This would be the Sage and Oleander species

January 2023

• Continued the renovation pruning of non-frost sensitive plant material. This would be the Sage and Oleander species.
• Complete any above 10ft tree trimming needed throughout the community. This will help reduce leaf litter and help with reducing the time it takes to air sweep each front yard.

February 2023

• Start the renovation pruning of all remaining plant material throughout the community

Once the renovation pruning and cutting back of all plant material has been completed, the community will look well-trimmed. All plant material will be small and will allow for moving through the trim cycle map while keeping the property in a cleaner condition. The proper cutbacks were not done in the winter of 2022, causing an immense amount of overgrowth and debris.

We would like to share some exciting news for the Villages. Since partnering with our new landscape contractor, Redword, the Villages has saved over 3.5 million gallons of water! 

Important News about Turf in The Villages

We wanted to remind the community that turf in The Villages will not be overseeded this year.  

After careful consideration and consultation with our landscape team, it was recommended and approved that this year’s usual cycle of overseeding be eliminated in order to enhance the quality of the Bermuda grass.  

Here are some important facts that you need to know about this decision:

1. Growing grass in a desert environment is complicated and requires a cycle of transitioning between two types of grasses. 
2. We have been overseeding The Villages lawns every year for the past 25 years.
3. Allowing the turf to lay dormant enables the Bermuda grass to come back stronger in the Spring.  Bermuda grass needs approximately 100-120 days of good growing conditions without competition from Rye grass to flourish.
4. Allowing the perennial Rye grass to transition naturally decreases the health of the Bermuda grass.
5. Best practice is to allow the Bermuda grass to “rest” every 1-2 years to reinvigorate summer lawns.
6. This practice also allows for the application of a “pre-emergent” to eliminate weeds and unwanted grass.  This step cannot take place when overseeding.

Further benefits of choosing  not to overseed are both financial and environmental.  Rye grass requires significantly more water than Bermuda grass. Our community saves water resources as well as labor and material. Resources that would be spent on maintaining the turf during the winter months will be reallocated to allow for such important projects such as irrigation repairs, xeriscape conversions, debris clean up, and cutbacks. The positive impact on the environment by not overseeding is realized in the reduction of water,  fossil fuels, yard waste  and emissions from lawn equipment. 

If you have additional questions, please contact Angie Torrez at 480-981-6480 or email atorrez@ccmcnet.com.