To: cfna@yahoogroups.com
Cc: board@centuryfarms.org
X-Mailer: AOL 7.0 for Windows US sub 10512
From: barbretc@aol.com
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2002 00:09:11 EDT
Subject: [cfna] Wildflower areas

Dear Century Farm Homeowners

You are invited to walk the beautiful wildflower prairie paths in this
neighborhood which is community property owned by all.  The entrance is off
William Penn on the east side of the middle pond.  Pro's Landscaping mow's
these paths for us weekly.  On your adventure you will see wildflowers,
wildlife and birds.  The pathways continue into an area behind Erb Farm Court
around several large trees and back along the smallest pond.

This prairie was planted in Spring 2001 by Kimball Hill after our association
received a citation for noxious weeds.  The original field consisted of weeds
and grasses without flowers.  It was mowed in the fall of 2000 for the first
time to knock down the weeds that were noxious.  The prairie planting plan
resulted for several reasons.
1. Keeping an area of weeds mowed the required 3 to 4 times a year would be
very expensive in the long run if done annually, and was never budgeted into
the original homeowners assessment fees.
2. The mowed areas would be unsightly and unusable to either wildlife or
humans because the mowed grasses were very course with many thistles.
3. Runoff of fertilizers and stormwater from homes and lawns around the pond
would not be caught and filtered by such grasses, thus increasing the
phosphorus and nutrients going into the two ponds which promote growth of
algae and weeds.

Therefore, Kimball Hill planted a prairie of grasses and wildflowers, and
gave the association some money to attend to the continued establishment
which typically takes at least three years to get full growth of desirable
plants  and control of noxious weeds.
Over the next several weeks you will see some areas mowed because noxious
weeds have taken hold.  This is completely normal and required for the long
term health and growth of the wildflowers. These areas will be reseeded
hopefully by next spring at the latest.  Anyone that is very excited and
interested in these natural areas should contact the board@centuryfarm.org to
sign up for the Ponds and Common Areas Committee.  We will need occasional
volunteers also for some weed removal and seed dispersal.  Community
involvement makes this a great place to live.
We may have a speaker at the June 26 meeting explaining the prairie
restoration process so please plan to attend.