Trees can add to the curb appeal of a home and a community. They’re common elements to add charm to your HOA and improve the landscaping, but they’re also another item that needs to be regulated and taken care of. How your association manages trees matters, so take a look at how you should be handling those shade-giving, oxygen-creating community residents.
Define What’s Allowed
It’s important that your HOA spells out what is and isn’t allowed, even when it comes to the trees in the community. It’s also important to outline any fines regarding damages in governing documents.
It’s especially important to discuss that if a tree is located in a common area, a homeowner cannot cut, trim, or remove the tree. Governing documents should outline the potential consequences of making changes to trees and the reasoning behind the rule, i.e., if a homeowner trims a tree without the authority to do so, they risk becoming injured or causing harm to others.
Educate Your Association on Tree Maintenance
The responsibility to keep home value’s up often falls on the HOA. This means that it is up to the HOA to encourage, educate, and enforce rules in the governing documents about maintaining the home and the landscape. If a homeowner has a tree in their front or backyard, it’s crucial that they take care of it and keep it from becoming a nuisance or an eyesore. To educate homeowners on tree maintenance, your association can:
- Host events centered around landscaping like a volunteer fall leaves cleanup day or an Earth Day celebration.
- Send out friendly reminders about when to trim back a tree, how to check if your tree has a disease, etc. These reminders could come in the form of a flyer, bulletin posting on a community board, email newsletter, social media post on the community profiles, a blog post on your community’s website, and any other way you find is useful in communicating with residents.
- Invite an arborist or landscaping company to present on tree maintenance and give residents time to ask questions and have meaningful discussions on landscaping.
How your association manages trees matters, and it can have effects on the home values in your community as well as the overall morale of your community. Outline restrictions and educate your community members to have a happy, thriving, tree-loving community. For more tips on how to help your HOA, contact Prism Realty Management. Give us a call at 512-676-5842 — we’d be happy to talk to you about who we are, the services we offer, and our process.