News
Musings on Mistletoe: Over the years, much has been said about the extensive growth of mistletoe in our Cimarron Foothills Community. Should its proliferation be promoted or discouraged? One of the mandates of your Home Owners Association Board is to maintain and preserve the value of our properties as a community through sensible enforcement of our CR&R’s. The Board however cannot set a condition or mandate that all mistletoe be eliminated from our community but we can offer some history and guidance regarding how we as neighbors can manage our mistletoe.
Mistletoe represents different things to different people. Some view it as the parasite that it is; slowly and literally sapping the life out of defenseless, otherwise healthy trees. Many find deep meaning in its cultural heritage for encouraging the kiss of a loved one and its association with fertility and vitality. And yet others still defend its right to live in the natural world; justification being that some animals depend on mistletoe for food. In western North America the berries are eaten and distributed by the Phainopepla, the most northerly representative of the mainly tropical family Ptiliogonatidae, or the silky flycatchers. Its name is from the Greek phain pepla meaning “shining robe” in reference to the male’s plumage.
Three years ago, the Board paid to have all the mistletoe removed from vegetation in all of Cimarron’s medians thinking this may inspire homeowners to do the same on their own property. It is the Board’s decision to encourage our homeowners to remove mistletoe from their properties in an effort to minimize its’ ability to spread. Ripe berries are eaten by the Phainopepla and spread from tree to tree by mistletoe seeds that do not fully digest, then germinate from the birds droppings on the trees where they land.
I have successfully removed mistletoe from some of my infected trees by spraying it liberally with a product called FLOREL that can be found at our local Ace Hardware at Swan and Sunrise. Where possible it should first be cut out of the tree by removing infected limbs and then if it begins growing back, spray with FLOREL.
Bob Linsell
Driveways: At the 2019 Annual Meeting, homeowners were asked to check that their driveways are in a good state of repair. Many driveways in Cimarron are not up to standard. The Board requests that those who have driveways that need repairing do so this year.
Cimarron Directory:
The online directory includes: lot numbers, names, addresses and phone numbers. The directory does not include email addresses.
All lot owners will be listed in the directory, however, if a homeowner does not wish to have their phone number listed, they can contact the webmaster. Due to recent abusive phone calls to Homeowners, the directory is available only on request.
