Due to recent inquiries about xeriscape lawns, the Board of Directors has prepared the following “preliminary” informational sheet. As the Board obtains more information concerning Florida Statutes and what exactly is required of existing homeowner associations, we will make revisions as needed.

The law that was passed in Florida in July 2009, states that Home Owner Associations may not prohibit a property owner from implementing Florida-friendly landscaping (aka: xeriscaping) on his or her land. HOAs may revise their rules to include Florida-friendly landscaping guidelines and continue to oversee homes within a development but cannot mandate that homeowners install Florida-friendly landscapes. A Florida-friendly landscape can be well maintained and HOAs can still provide limitations. HOAs may mandate that these landscapes be well maintained, free of debris, and weeds managed. Requirements can be made so that each homeowner is required to maintain turf or a low ground cover in a designated area in front landscape to maintain integrity of the development.

Florida-friendly landscapes are not out of control or full of weeds, but are lush compared to a traditional landscape. They protect resources by conserving water, reducing waste and pollution, creating wildlife habitat and preventing erosion. There are nine Florida-friendly principles, which include right plant/right place, water efficiently, fertilize appropriately, mulch, attract wildlife, manage yard wastes, reduce storm-water runoff and protect waterfront. You may find more information on Florida-friendly landscaping at www.fyn.ifas.ufl.edu or at www.floridayards.org. Another helpful publication is “Adopting a Florida-friendly Landscape: Steps to Converting a Traditional Development Landscape to a Florida-friendly Landscape” found at www.edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP396.

We now have had two requests for Board approval, both of which used master gardeners for design and installation, which did the required steps for installing such landscapes. These yards are designed in their entirety, with an overall professional plan including many plants, not just rocks and a few plants. We have also had two requests from homeowners who did not present professional plans, requesting an after the fact design approval by the Board. The Board hopes to allow creativity in that the various designs and plants may be individualized, but we will not allow parts of yards to be xeriscaped, because this will not maintain a unified look and integrity of the development. Without Board monitoring, the fear is that the development will become do-it-yourself yards of rocks filled with weeds. If proper screening is not placed under the rocks, weeds will continue to grow and will be difficult to kill. Soil testing is recommended so that types of plants used will be able to grow.

Our new legal counsel is currently reviewing our Covenants, Restrictions and Rules (CRR), and we will receive guidelines as to the best way to incorporate the change to allow Florida-friendly landscapes or xeriscapes. A revision must be made to our CRR, and at that time, it will be presented to homeowners at an annual meeting for approval, which will require a two thirds majority vote, in order to be added to the CRR.

All homeowners must present to the Board of Directors, a professionally designed Florida-friendly landscape plan that includes a diagram, drawn to scale, that shows the major elements of your landscape, including house, driveway, sidewalk, deck or patio, existing trees and other elements of the plans for the entire front yard. Show your new plants and type of mulching (rocks). Mulches, including rocks, should be applied 2-4 inches deep. Surrounding plants with rock should be limited, because it will make the area hotter, which is not the idea behind the Florida friendly landscape. Plants should be Florida plants that require little irrigation or fertilizer and are low maintenance and attract wildlife, such as butterflies. Address irrigation and maintenance of weeds to be used.

It is not our desire to be difficult to work with, but it is our desire, and our responsibility, to maintain a consistent aesthetic landscape design in Fawn Ridge. Florida-friendly landscaping is a major change to our development and the Board is concerned on behalf of all homeowners to protect our property values, and due to the need to study the long-term effects; the Board must be cautious implementing these interim requirements.