[linandvin]

Are the courtyard villas the only houses with no lawn maintenance? We are looking for the smallest house with the biggest garage and no lawn to take care of. hahahaha. Wish list. Thanks!

[graciegirl]

It seems that nature has a way to make you pay attention. Our neighbors put rock in their foundation planting beds. Beautiful. Expensive. Low Maintenance.

But STILL the pesky weeds found their way to grow.

[duffysmom]

linandvin, you are wise to limit your landscaping. We have a large corner lot and have to hire people to take care of the weeding, the lawn, pruning, feeding, adjusting sprinklers, on and on. Also, I'm so sad about pouring pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers into our acquifers. I haven't even mentioned how expensive it is to maintain and look halfway decent. Forget flowers, the Summer is too hot and the last two Winters killed everything, even palm trees. I see on HGTV that they have perfected artificial grass so that it looks real and although it is expensive it would save money in the long run but I'm sure that it would not be allowed and if it was allowed, it would be the talk of the town. I'm working on convincing Mr. duffysmom to downsize to a CYV. I also love the privacy and pet friendly lifestyle of CYV's. Good luck on your hunt and keep us posted.

[starflyte1]

You might check on the townhomes near SS. I think your monthly fee includes lawn care.

[rjm1cc]

There are a lot of over 55 communities in the area. I think several include lawn care. I think Top of The World includes all ourside maintenance, including the outside of your home. When compairing cost be sure to make up a budget that includes all housing costs, otherwise you might think a community is more expensive that it really is.

[linandvin]

Thanks, all! Duffysmom (that dog is ADORABLE!!!) you are right about taking care of everything, including our environment! We have a house near the ocean and just returned from some time away. Needless to say, we are not thrilled with all the upkeep upon our return.

We wanted to stay in the newer sections, which would probably eliminate SS and wanted to be in the Villages. TOTW is probably similar to where we are now.

Perhaps the next sections will address the "reduction of upkeep" needs. Thanks, all!

[brostholder]

we have recently purchased a cyv, but are not full time residents yet. Most of our neighbors have replaced the small patch of grass in the front with lovely rock landscaping. We plan to do the same as soon as we get settled. The small backyard has grass and trees and shrubs and does require care.

[Russ_Boston]

Originally Posted by duffysmom

Forget flowers, the Summer is too hot and the last two Winters killed everything, even palm trees.

Could anyone elaborate on this further? Seems to me I saw lots and lots of homes with beautiful flowers, palms and other landscaping when we were there two weeks ago. We went to a landscape seminar with Jim Davis at Colony and he indicated it had mostly to do with picking the right plants for the area we live in.

How difficult is it to keep up a healthy landscape assuming you want to put in the time and effort?

Thanks for the info.

[Ohiogirl]

Originally Posted by Russ_Boston

Could anyone elaborate on this further? Seems to me I saw lots and lots of homes with beautiful flowers, palms and other landscaping when we were there two weeks ago. We went to a landscape seminar with Jim Davis at Colony and he indicated it had mostly to do with picking the right plants for the area we live in.

How difficult is it to keep up a healthy landscape assuming you want to put in the time and effort?

Thanks for the info.

I'd be interested in any responses to this too. I've been to one landscape seminar by a county extension agent, and plan to go to some of the master gardener sessions that I think happen twice monthly.