The NDHA hopes you had a chance to enjoy the warm temperatures that extended into September this year! As the leaves change color and fall to the ground, you will see ULS on site dealing with leaf pick-up and preparing our community parks and pathways for the winter.
Also during the fall, your NDHA board will work with ULS to assess the community and prioritize summer projects for next year. This will include targeting locations for shrub replacements and other remediation projects. Unfortunately, as of this writing, we have little information from the City of Calgary regarding rejuvenation of the pathway area beside and below Griffith Pond. As previously reported, the city has identified these switchback pathway shrub beds as being within their “natural space” boundary, which means that only City crews can work on them. All concerns about the condition of the landscaping or asphalt pathway in this space should be directed to 311.
Tree & Shrub Watering – help them survive! Summer and Fall 2023 brought drought, heat, and forest fire smoke. It also brought watering restrictions. These weather conditions have persisted for several consecutive years and caused extreme stress to all plants, including trees and shrubs. Many have died after years of strong growth. Our dry winters haven’t helped. We encourage all owners with yards to deep water your foliage, especially the trees and shrubs, right up to freeze-up. This will give your plants the best chance of surviving our long, dry winter. Obviously, park trees cannot be watered using the heavy tanker truck. If you notice a park tree near you that is young or seems to be struggling, please do not hesitate to water it. This will give it the best chance of winter survival and give you a beautiful tree (rather than a dead one) to enjoy. Thank you in advance for helping out!
Drainage Swales – For owners with a concrete drainage swale in your yard, you are responsible for ensuring the swale is kept clear of debris. This is especially important when the leaves are falling and filling the swales. Runoff and snowmelt must easily drain into the storm sewer system via the swale, so please have a look to ensure yours is clean and unobstructed. This is a City of Calgary bylaw.
We are quite proud of how our community looks and hope you are as well. If you happen to notice an area that might need attention, please let the NDHA know. We are always happy to hear from our members; please access our website at ndha.ca to send an email or call us at 403-237-9595.