GARDENS AND VERGES

Notice 2018 No 14

MAINTAINING GARDENS AND ROADSIDE VERGES THROUGHOUT THE SUMMERWOOD VILLAGE

Dear Member/Resident,

1. In terms of the Association’s Conduct Rules SW-E1, E2 and E3 residents are required within their property and on the adjoining roadside verges to maintain the lawns with their edges and gardens with their flower beds in a neat and tidy condition, ensuring that the areas are weed-free.
2. The Association’s Management Committee is very appreciative of the many residents who conscientiously ensure that the gardened areas of their property as well as the road verges meet the Summerwood standards and in fact that in a number of instances, they contribute greatly to the beauty and attractiveness of the village.
3. Quite a number of residents, in order to cut down on the level of maintenance and irrigation required by planted and manicured gardens and roadside verges, have opted to partially remove the grass and plants from the landscaped areas and have these replaced with areas of stone chips. In this regard it is necessary to focus the attention of these residents on the fact that garden areas within property boundary walls and on the roadside verges which adjoin the property boundaries that have been replaced with stone chips do not release residents from the responsibility of continuing with the adequate maintenance of these areas to neat and tidy Summerwood standards, i.e. that they are weed-free and that other garden refuse, e.g. fallen leaves, etc., are removed from time to time.
4. For those residents who are contemplating to replace the planted areas with stone chips, it is important to bear in mind that the Association’s Members at the Annual General Meeting on 12 October 2016 adopted the Management Committee’s recommendation that residents, in the process of re-landscaping their roadside verges, are not permitted to replace more than 50% of the original planted material with other materials such as stone chips. This prescription appears as an explanatory footnote to the Conduct Rules governing the maintenance of gardens in the village.
5. The Management Committee trusts that residents will view this notice as an urgent appeal being made upon them to please continue with their efforts to maintain the environment in the Summerwood village to the highest standards possible. These efforts will ensure that the level of the investments which have been made in our properties remain at the highest level possible.