Pick Your Neighbor: Resident Referral Program

Do you tell everyone about how much you LOVE our community so much so that they buy a house in Pomona?  We want to THANK YOU for spreading the word about our gem of a neighborhood which is why we are introducing our resident referral program!!!

Pomona Teen Advisory Board Positions Elected!

Elections were held and the following teens were voted into their leadership positions for our founding year of the Teen Advisory Board:

President – Destiny Osei

VP- Tyler Li

Historian – Kristian Gambrell

Secretary – Trinity Grays

Social Chair – Kailey Watson

Sports Chair – Jacob Johnson

Join me in congratulating our leaders and all of our founding teen members in their leadership and community involvement.  Moving forward, each and every member will help each other achieve their goal to better our community, as a team.  For Pomona's First Responder Car Wash on July 15t,h they were able to give back to those that take care of us when in need.  Brazoria County Sheriff's Department and Manvel Volunteer Fire Department were very appreciate of their efforts and enjoyed driving off in their clean vehicles!

GARDENING BY THE MOON: Weed, Weeds and More Weeds!

Recently, homeowners have been fighting weeds – lots of weeds in their beds and turf!  I have been told by many of you that you have followed all weed control recommendations and you still have weeds.   It is hard to understand why all these weeds keep coming.  Well, these weeds are in the soil.  Your neighborhood was developed in a native area.  There are many years of weed seed in your yard soil to keep giving you problems. 

The common areas are also experiencing the same weed problems.  Eventually, by following the schedule given below, your weed problem will become less and less and you will achieve control.

  • September 15 – Apply a pre-emergent weed control such as Preen or Halts. 

  • February 15 - Apply a pre-emergent weed control such as Preen or Halts. 

  • May 15 - Apply a pre-emergent weed control such as Preen or Halts. 

  • Treat any breakthrough weeds with Weed Control for Southern Grasses.

  • Fertilize your turf and beds 4 times per year to encourage healthy, vigorous growth of your plant materials.

All the above materials can be purchased at a local garden store, Home Depot or Lowes.

Unfortunately, weeds are a problem in new developments but don’t give up!!  You can win. 

Gardening by the Moon: Develop Your Own Green Thumb!!!

For the most part, I think having a green thumb is overrated.  Knowledge goes a long way in making people successful at gardening.  I have listed 12 facts that will help you be a good gardener.

  1. Know your soils.  A soils test is very helpful in knowing what to do for your plants and turf.  Just go online to http://al-labs-plains.com.  This is the website for A & L Agricultural Plains Laboratories.  On this site, you will find information telling you how to take a soil test and a form to fill out to send in with your test.  The results are the key to what needs to be applied for healthier and more vigorous plant growth.

  2. Know your hardiness zone.  At Pomona, you are in Zone 9 so do not fall in love with plants that will not survive in this area.

  3. Know proper plant spacing.  Plant accordint to a plant’s mature size.  Over-crowded plants are unhealthy.  Most labels on plants will give you the height and width of a mature plant.  If not, there is always the internet!

  4. Know what plants are native to your area.  Native plants will survive our hot summer, periods of drought and most of the time, any rapid temperature changes in the fall.  They are also more resistant to insect and diseases.  And most importantly, they like our soils.

  5. Know water requirements for your plants.  Do not overwater.  Your soils hold water!

  6. Know how to select an interesting plant pallette.  Do not plant too many of any one plant.  Mix your planting.

  7. Know how to mulch your yard.  Mulching with a brown, double-ground hardwood mulch will help to consesrve water and give your beds a neat appearance.  Maintain mulching depth at 2 inches.

  8. Know how often to fertilize.  Fertilize your turf all your plants growing in the soil 3 to 4 times per year in march, May, July and September.  Use an organic based, slow release fertilizer like Holganix.  Fertilizer your container plantings every 2 weeks during with growing season with Miracle Gro plant food.

  9. Know how often to apply a pre-emergent to help with weed control.  Apply to your turf and beds 3 times a year in February, May and September.  Use Preem or Halts to help prevent a weed invasion in your yard.

  10. Know how to correctly prune plants.  There are many books and information online for proper pruning of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, etc.

  11. Know to remove dead wood, dead leaves and dead plants from your landscape.  Do this removal as soon as dead appears.  Not only is this dead wood and leaves and spent blooms unsightly, by removing, you will know if the plant continues to decline and you will have time to react before it dies.

  12. Know how to identify pests.  Neem Oil is a very safe insecticide and fungicide.  It is orangic and affective, so be sure to apply before pests take over your plants.

Just a little knowledge in these key areas will turn you into a green thumb and your success will be based in knowledge and not just luck or chance!

Pomona's Teen Advisory Board Forms

Written by: Qualee Marshall

The teens of Pomona had their first meeting on June 20, 2017.  Needless to say the meeting was a success! Many Pomona teens showed up and received a HUGE surprise (courtesy of Lifestyle Manager, Lori Evans). The Mayor of Manvel, Debra Davison, came to advise us on how we too could be leaders, regardless of our age. We sought to find the answers to several questions. What makes a leader, a leader? What qualities do they possess? How can we become leaders in our own community of Pomona? We answered all of these questions in order to create a mission statement for our newly found group. However, before we could create our mission we had to come up with a name. I'd like to introduce everyone to the - Pomona Teen Advisory Board!!! Our mission is simple, to take ownership in our community and make a difference. Our next meeting will be July 11th at 10:30 a.m. and we will be electing the many important positions that will keep us on track in order to reach our goals.  We are excited for what the future holds!

Swimming Lessons for Pomona Residents

Please see below for more information on how you and your family can SAVE while enjoying the luxury of private swimming lesson at Camp Pomona.  In addition, Pomona residents also receive 10% off at Houston Swim Club.  Have a safe and wonderful summer!!!

Gardening by the Moon: Weedy Lawns?!?

Have you every wondered where all those weeds growing in your bermudagrass lawn have come from?  Well, look not further than the open farm land all around the Pomona Development.  Unfortunately, many of these weeds left seed behind to infest your yard.

To control these weeds, you have to attack back in two ways.  One, you can control them as they start to germinate by using a pre-emergent herbicide.  Pre-emergent needs to be applied in mid February for spring weeds, mid May for summer weeds and mid September for winter weeds.  You can find products called Preen or Halts for all of these applications.  When you apply any product, always read and follow label instructions for best results and proper handling.

If you have missed these application dates for spring and summer or if you did not get total control, you will need to control weeds with a post-emergent weed killer.  The product to be selected needs to target the weeds to be controlled.  Weed control can be broken down into these categories – grassy weeds such as crabgrass, dalisgrass and poa annua; broadleaf weeds such as dandelions, clover and dollarweed and nutgrass.

Grassy weeds can be controlled with any of the many brands of Weed Control for Southern Grasses, Poa Annua with Bayer Revolver, nutgrass with Image and broadleaf weeds with Bayer Advanced Southern Weed Killer for Lawns or Roundup for Lawn (note:  purchase Roundup that kills weeds not the lawn).  Again, when you apply any product, always follow label instructions for best results and proper handling.  Some of these products will control many kinds of weeds and reading the label will give you this information.

So if weeds are a problem in your yard, start with applying a pre-emergent at the appropriate time and attack current invading weeds with a post-emerge. 

Gardening by the Moon: Two Step Those Pesky Fire Ants!

In April, the common areas in the HOA will be treated for fire ants.  So the ants do not move and take up residence in your yard, now would be a good time for you to join with the landscape maintenance contractor and your neighbors to use the Texas Two Step Method for fire ant control.  By everyone treating at the same time, the fire ant population will be reduced in your neighborhood and you will not have to cohabitate with these pests.

Now let’s talk about the Texas Two Step Method.  No, I am not referring to the dance.  I do not recommend dancing or stomping on any fire ant bed.  The ants always win!  But if you use the Texas Two-Step method of control, you will no longer need to watch every step as you walk and work in your yard and garden and it will prevent mounds around your foundation where ants can enter your home. 

Fire ants start to become active in the spring when temperatures warm to 65 degrees and during periods of heavy rain to protect their beds.  Once temperatures warm, ants start building beds, foraging for food and producing young.  Purchase your control materials now so you can Texas Two Step with the Ants.

Texas Two Step Method for fire ant control - First step, apply a product containing a food source and an insecticide.  Spread the bait over the entire yard and the ant workers will carry the bait back to the mounds.  Second step, treat individual mounds that remain active.  Be sure to turn off irrigation system and avoid rainy weather during application.

For additional information and product recommendations, refer to the information given by the Texas A & M Cooperative Extension Service HERE. 

Gardening by the Moon PowerPoint Recap

For those who were not able to attend Gardening by the Moon this past Thursday, please see HERE for his PowerPoint.  It contains very useful information in regards to our soil type, how to maintain your landscaping, a watering schedule etc.  He also does home landscaping consultation when he is down at Pomona, once a month.  To get on his schedule to review your landscaping, please contact the GM, Donna Grice at donna.grice@fsresidential.com.

Spring Gardening by Dr. Robert E. Moon

The weather has started to change from winter to the promise of spring.  I saw my first Mayfly the other day and we have already experienced some temperatures in the high 80’s.  So it is not too early to begin preparing your yard for spring and summer.

Now is a good time to trim all the freeze damage off all of your shrub and vines.  This will allow the plants to grow back without any dead or discolored branches or leaves.  At the same time, if you have ornamental grasses in your yard, cut them back to a height of 6 inches. 

Fertilize all of your beds to encourage vigorous new growth. 

With the recent rains, keep your automatic irrigation system turned “off”.  No extra water is needed at this time.

  • Pull all weeds from beds and tree rings.  Add double ground, dyed-brown, hardwood mulch to freshen appearance.  By maintaining 2 inches of mulch, you will be providing great growing conditions for your plants, reduce water use and make it easier to remove those pesky weeds.  Remember, no red mulch.  Brown will provide a more natural appearance.

  • Since I do not know anyone that likes to pull weeds, before March 15, apply a pre-emergent weed control to your planting beds and turf.  This pre-emergent will help control all spring and early summer weeds.  Apply Preen to planting beds and Halts to your turf.  Follow all label directions when applying.  You will find that this treatment will help you avoid pulling all those weeds.

  • If you have planting containers in your landscape, cultivate the soil in the pots and add new soil so you can plant those flowering treasures to add color and beauty to your yard.

Take advantage of these early, beautiful spring days and get outside and enjoy your yard!

HomePro 101 Power Point

In case you were unable to make it to the HomePro 101 breakfast, click HERE to review the presentation.  This has great information for our residents in all stages of the building process and if you just moved in.  Clare offers a wide variety of ways to control your smart home.  Feel free to reach out to Adam Murty with HomePro at 713.446.1273 with any additional questions.

Gardening by the Moon: Plants vs. Extended Freezing Temperatures

The recent extended, extreme cold weather has been very hard on many of your plant materials.  The damages are severe because of the temperature fluctuation from warmer temperatures to extended freezing temperatures with no opportunity for plants to acclimate to the colder temperature.  Once this happens, tender foliage and stems die.   Plants turn brown, drop leaves, and often look like wet tissue paper due to cells in the plant bursting when the moisture in the plant cells turns to ice.

 

Do not panic because most of your perennial plants and shrubs are still alive.   They will need to be cut back but you do not have to rush to do this.  They will need to be cut back by the end of February to the middle of March to remove dead and damaged leaves and branches.  If you have already cut back these plants, that is okay.  I normally wait and give some time to be able to identify all the damage to the plant.  Many times you will see splitting on the stems and that is also freeze damage.  That will need to be removed in spring, if you see this damage.  If you are unsure about what to remove, wait until spring greenup and cut back to new green growth.

 

I have had questions about covering plant material during periods of extreme cold weather.  Covering only helps for a short period of freezing temperatures (four hours or less).  When temperatures are in the 20’s or below for an extended period of time and especially with high winds, covering does not help.  If you see that a period of freezing weather is expected, you should make sure plants are watered before the event.  But in the case of the recent cold weather, there was adequate soil moisture due to recent rains.

 

To encourage new plant growth, fertilize all plant material – trees, shrubs and ground cover – in February.  Unfortunately, living in Texas, we can always expect extreme temperature changes in the winter.  This year was just unusually cold and for an extended period of time with wind and no time to acclimate.

GARDENING BY THE MOON: Mulching Time is Here

There is a time and place for everything and if you have not cleaned up your planting beds from summer, now is a good time. 

First, if you have not switched your irrigation system to off, do so now.  There has been plenty of natural rainfall to keep your plants thriving.  Only leave your irrigation system on if you have recently planted new plants and only provide water to those new plantings.

Now for the mulching part.  Start by removing any weeds and unsightly plants from your beds and tree rings.  Once debris is cleaned, it is time to mulch to improve appearance of beds and tree rings during the winter months.    If you are asking why you need to mulch now, here are the best reasons!

  1. Mulch will help you conserve moisture in the soil to reduce watering.  It also evens out the moisture in your beds and helps save money all other times of the year.  It reduces surface evaporation and improves water penetration and air movement in the soil.

  2. You will really like this reason.  It discourages weed growth and makes weeds easier to remove.

  3. Mulch will provide winter protection for your plants by insulating the roots during periods of cold weather.  It also protects roots from extremely hot weather and prevents quick temperature changes to the roots moderating soil temperature fluctuations.  For plants that are shallowly planted, it protects roots from freeze damage and frost-heave.

  4. By mulching, you are improving the holding capacity of soil nutrients and as mulch decomposes, it improves soil structure.

  5. New, fresh mulch makes beds and tree rings look decorative.

  6. You can save valuable time and back pain by reducing bed care.

After cleaning beds, add 2 to 3 inches of bark mulch that is double or triple ground hard wood.  The HOA guidelines require brown mulch so stay away from the colored mulches.

Find your next pretty day and add another thing to do in an already busy season.  Mulch away!

We are Thankful

We have so many wonderful things to be thankful including our amazing community!  Check out what our residents are thankful for:

 

*Photos taken at our Fall festival held November 12, 2016.

Fall Planting

Looking to plant this fall?  Wondering which plants would be best?  Dr. Moon, Pomona's horticulturist recommends the following: Amazon dianthus, dianthus, snapdragons, pansies, violas, cabbage and kale.  All these plants can go through the winter.

In addition, if you need assistance from Dr. Moon on your front yard, please send an email to Lori Evans to get information from Dr. Moon on his monthly visit to Pomona.  Happy planting!

Trunk or Treat Tips and Ideas!

Halloween is around the corner and as you think about how you want to decorate your car for our Trunk or Treat event consider these suggestions: 

  1. Start with a Theme – Your theme will establish everything else you do. Start by choosing a theme and then add your ideas to it!
  2. Coordinate Your Costume – More than just decorating your car, consider matching your costume to the theme, too! If you have a Flintstone’s trunk – you could dress the whole family up as members of the Flintstone family! 
  3. Add an Activity – Many trunk decorators have added ways for the kids to earn their candy through some sort of activity. For some trunks, the kids must search through a treasure chest of gold at their pirate-themed car, or maybe they have to throw their fishing pole into the “sea” trunk to retrieve their prize. Kids LOVE this sort of thing!
  4. Get Creative With the Candy – Depending on your theme, consider giving away candy or prizes that match the theme. For example, the Cookie Monster-themed trunk could definitely give out some cookies! 
  5. Make it Personal – Think of your own favorite animals, children’s stories, movies, hobbies and more that YOU are interested!
  6. Finally, make sure decorations are family friendly and most importantly HAVE FUN!