General landscaping question
 

What restrictions are there concerning what kind of landscaping you're allowed to do? Does everyone take care of their own lawn?

The declarations in our part of TV specify that the yard must contain 51% grass, the rest can be in trees, shrubs, etc. The grass can't be the artificial kind. And yes, we are responsible for maintaining our own yards.

Also, removing a tree with a trunk more than 4" in diameter without architectural approval is prohibited.

There are a few condominiums in TV, very few, where the outside maintenance is done by the condo association.

There are restrictions regarding the placement of trees and shrubs, so you need to get an approval before changing things around. The reason: There are often multiple underground utility pipes and cables. When planting a tree or woody shrub, you need to stay 3 feet away from both sides of these underground utility lines. If lightning hits a cable, for example, and burns it out, the utility company needs room to do the replacement work.