Update on Common Area Maintenance Project and Meeting on May 6

Dear Stonefield Community residents,

     In order to address numerous complaints from Stonefield property owners about an increasing number of dead trees along Stiles Bee and behind the patio homes due to overgrowth, vines and the overall unkempt look of the area along with their encroachment onto private property, the Stonefield board unanimously decided to move forward with clearing the vast amount of overgrowth, remove damaged limbs and remove the dead trees.  Removing just the dead trees was impossible and not as cost effective due to the extensive overgrowth. 3 estimates were procured from landscaping professionals, with another unanimous vote to move forward with the least expensive landscaper who also happens to have a longstanding relationship with the neighborhood as our landscaper. The available budget was and will continue to be a key limiting factor to this project.

     A secondary goal of this work is to once again make this common area a usable recreation area for the community that can be maintained in our regular landscaping schedule with walking trails and open areas for community members to use and enjoy.  It was never the intent of the board to completely clear this portion of common area. Here is the quote with a description of the proposed work.

     Unfortunately, the removal work found far more dead and damaged trees and less viable vegetation than estimated. Many dead trees were completely covered with vines. This has left more open area and less privacy screening for patio home residents. While we worked with the contractor to ensure live and viable trees were saved, there were far fewer healthy trees than expected.

Moving forward

We have outlined the following options moving forward:

1)          Plant native tree replacements only; leave for regrowth

If we only do this, it is very likely that we will not be able to keep out invasive species, including invasive vines  and existing and new trees will have a high risk of a limited lifespan.  This approach will be extremely hard to maintain long term unless strict oversight over the landscaping company is kept, which is put at risk by annual board changes.

2)      Bring the area back to a maintainable green space: short term option (medium to high cost)

       a.       Plant native trees to begin the long-term process of bringing shade and privacy to this space and its adjoining residents (fall 2017)

       b.      Hire contractor to finalize clearing, leveling and replanting space with grass, & add to landscaping scope for maintenance of grass

       c.      Plant native shrubs for screening (fall 2017)

       d.      Optional: Add wood chip walking trails through area (no cost)

       e.      Optional: Add berms behind homes without privacy fences to provide noise reduction for patio home residents

*                     * This can be done at no cost with wood chips, allowing the wood chips to break down to dirt over time at which point they can be planted with native shrubs or grass.

·                         * Optionally we can also bring in dirt to build berms at additional cost, allowing us to plant earlier.

3)      Bring the area back to a maintainable green space: long term solution (lower cost)

       a.       Plant native trees to begin the long-term process of bringing shade and privacy to this space and its adjoining residents (fall 2017)

       b.      Bring in wood mulch to cover entire affected area to keep weed regrowth down, the mulch will break down and amend the soil, allowing time to finalize full additions based on resident input.

       c.       This option allows the budget to be rebuilt.

       d.      Plant native shrubs for screening (fall 2017)

       e.      Anticipated hiring of landscaper to hydro-seed grass (Fall 2017/Winter/Spring 2018).

       f.        Optional: Add berms behind homes without privacy fences to provide noise reduction for patio home residents

*                     * This can be done at no cost with wood chips, allowing the wood chips to break down to dirt over time at which point they can be planted with native shrubs or grass.

·                         * Optionally we can also bring in dirt to build berms at additional cost, allowing us to plant earlier.

In addition to one of the above options to move this space forward, additional ideas are being gathered from residents. Ideas submitted already include adding community gardens, butterfly gardens, disc golf baskets or a barbeque/pavilion area.

We hope this has addressed some of your concerns and questions regarding the common area.  We have planned a community meeting for Saturday, May 6^th at 2:00 pm at Fort Johnson Baptist Church located at 1473 Camp Rd.  We ask that you bring your ideas for the future of this particular portion of common area.  We plan to begin the slow and thoughtful process of creating an inviting and usable space which all of us can enjoy in the near future.

For references relating to the use of berms as noise reduction and the nitrogen concerns when using wood chips, please see below.

Sincerely,

Stonefield Board of Directors

 Lesa Jones, President
Jordy Snyder, Treasurer        
Ben Neely, Secretary
Zach McGuin, ARB chair

 References:

 Berms as noise reduction:

ref 1

ref 2

 

Use of wood mulch

Using Arborist Wood Chips as Landscape Mulch (Washington StateUniversity Extension fact sheet):

Wood chip mulch: Landscape boon or bane?

ref 1

ref 2

“Wood chips need not be composted. As mulch, their primary function is to suppress weed seed germination, which they do quite well. Additionally, wood chips reduce compaction, moderate soil temperature, hold water, release nutrients slowly as they decompose, prevent erosion, and discourage nitrogen-seeking insects such as termites.” (Wood Chips: fact and opinion, Fluvanna Master Gardeners)

 

Here’s an opinion of a trusted assistant parks and recreation director (outside of Charleston) familiar with the neighborhood who has a BS in outdoor recreation: leadership and land management and minor in biology:

“My expertise is in public recreation in city parks.  Experience has taught me that property values in urban areas and subdivisions such as yours are usually significantly increased by creating more of a manicured public space.  If your properties backed up to a 300 acre old growth forest I would suggest leaving it untouched with the exception of creating a few trails.  As it was described to me, this space was caught in between those two worlds and therefore was potentially a burden to property values. 

Regarding nitrogen uptake of wood chips, nitrogen uptake is incorrect.  The real issue is nitrogen binding, a derivative of the chemical process of breaking down the wood chips. This process locks some of the available nitrogen into the compounds being created by the chemical breakdown.  This is actually where the concept of nitrogen uptake has come from over the years and many professionals were taught this and still believe this is the case.  The reality is that this is a very temporary effect with minimal impact on the plants, evidence of which is growing as many botanists, professionals, gardening enthusiasts and others are finding success with mulch based plantings.  The larger issue here is that wood chips alone may not be sufficient depending on your soil underneath and the depth of the wood chips.  You may need to move existing topsoil into a berm shape or have some soil brought in.  In South Carolina, this process will be significantly accelerated because of the hot summers and adequate rainfall.  If a berm were comprised of 1/3 soil and 2/3 wood chips, you would be able to plant once the wood chips had compressed to a 1 to 1 ratio with the soil.  Planting prior to this might result in issues with some species establishing at their ground level and having root mass exposed after compaction.  Trees especially have a root collar that should not be buried and should not be much above ground level. 

In short, you and your board will have to decide if you want leave the common areas to nature, allow everything to grow up very slowly and in the manner that would occur in the wild, or move toward a more manicured common space that is more similar to a back yard, city park or recreation area.  Beyond that, the DNR typically does not advise on manicured spaces, so if it is the desire of the board to move in the greenspace direction with possibly trails through the commons spaces for mutual enjoyment, I would suggest seeking the opinion of a local landscaper, or doing some trial runs.

The last point is that whatever you do, I would highly suggest that you work to create walking trails throughout this space.  Trails are the fastest growing recreational asset within the United States and have proven over and over to improve property values.”