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Cleaning out and sprucing up your yard and flower borders are good low-cost alternatives to major home improvement. Whether you hire a professional or have the skills and tools to do it yourself, here are some tips to improve your lawn, landscape, and borders:

• Weeding, edging, planting beds and mulching go a long way toward improving a yard's look.
• Planting colorful annuals in beds or pots around the house and patio, if your documents allow, makes a house look cared for and cozy.
• To solve problems or add interest, as a Board of Directors consider planting new trees and shrubs to create focus areas, or to camouflage foundations or block unsightly views.
• Have your trees and shrubs professionally pruned, fix brown spots in the lawn and remove and replace diseased plants.  

Homeowners who want help with their yard should seek an evaluation by a professional lawn or landscape firm. A professional can assess the health of the lawn, plants, trees and shrubs and offer recommendations for improvements. Determine who will be responsible for the work, the homeowner or Association and fully disclose that to the homeowner.

All of these steps are contingent on what your co-owners are responsible for maintaining within your association. As a Director you should be mindful of any activity going on and encourage co-owners to submit Architectural Requests where appropriate before moving forward on any landscaping project. Encourage co-owners to go the extra mile in maintaining or upgrading their borders when appropriate. Hold a contest, or schedule a garden tour to get the whole community involved.

For more on landscaping and border maintenance check out this month's Blog entry here. 

Association members are welcome to read official association documents. There's nothing secret about the business of the association. In fact, you should already have copies of key documents like the bylaws or rules. Other common documents that are open for members to review include:

· Board meeting minutes

· Insurance policies

· Financial statements and audits

· Master Deeds and bylaws

· Rules and regulations

Here are some common ways this information is requested by co-owners:

· Send the board a request in writing specifying exactly what records you wish to review, the date of those records and the purpose of your request.  

· A request is made by phone call or in writing (either hard copy or electronically) to the management company.   

· The County Register of Deeds holds all legally recorded documents that pertain to an association. Requests can be made, usually for a small fee at the office of the Register of Deeds.   

· Online within your Community's Web portal. Click here for access. 

Some requests might be denied if they involve ongoing legal or contractual obligations that might expose the association board or manager to liability.

As board members it is important to realize that all of the business you conduct on behalf of the association is recorded in the meeting minutes. All co-owners have a  legal right to these minutes and agendas so take care to keep the recording of those documents "official".