Free Home Tour Ticket for Docent Volunteers!!! /  by Woodland Heights Civic Association

The tour requires a lot of willing hands to make it a success. Special thanks to all the committee chairs who have been laboring long – even longer than normal this tour, with all the virus-related delays.

SIGN UP FOR A 3 HOUR SHIFT | Afternoons of Saturday, March 26 and Sunday, March 27

Click here to docent

You’ll be provided with a script and instructions. You will be guiding visitors through the home while sharing bullet points on history and décor. It’s a great way to support the neighborhood and meet interesting folks.

For Questions Contact Louis Moss, one of our Co-chairs | limoss@comcast.net | 713.703.1412

Curbside native tree project - Trees on sale! /  by Lori Bigler

Invasive Tree Removal

City of Houston will remove invasive trees at no cost to the homeowner. WHCA will provide a native tree when one becomes available through donation. Select Invasive Tree Replacement at checkout and we will contact you.

Review the HPARD Invasive Plants list to see if you have any on your curbside.

2021 Curbside Tree Project

26 new trees ranging from live oaks, red buds, red maples, shumard oaks, loblolly pine to pecans were purchased from Trees for Houston. Some were placed on homeowners' property while some were donated. Donated trees were planted curbside on blocks which lacked shade plus some were donated to St. Mark's Methodist Church for planting along Redan.

Big shout out of gratitude and thanks to:

Emily Guyre who recruited four St. Thomas High School students: Jackson Guyre, Philip Gallagher, Landon Croker, and Pablo Ramirez. Ben McClure and Eric Nelson rounded out the team. This crew was incredibly hard working and fun despite the rain.

Thank you to those that donated trees on behalf of neighbors and to Nuro, whose donations sponsored trees along Redan at St. Mark's.

Last but certainly not least, we want to shout out a huge thank you to Ms. Saldana, principal of Hogg MS, for graciously allowing us to use their parking lot for drop off and staging of the trees, mulch and stakes! We appreciate it!

- Allison Hartzell, Director of Beautification

Heights Garden Club plant & Seed Swap /  by Alaina Hebert

 
HGC Plant and Seed Swap

We are excited to welcome spring by hosting Heights Garden Club's (HGC) Plant & Seed Swap. We will be set up at the South end of the Norhill Esplanade. WHCA will be setup for Home Tour ticket sales and Constable Patrol sticker pickup.

  • You don't have to be an HGC member to participate but it's open for all to join at https://heightsgardenclub.org/.

  • Bring labeled seeds, clippings, and plants.

  • Bring a chair and your family out to enjoy the day. There will be tables but you may bring your own if you have lots of plants to share.

  • Take plants that will expand varieties in your garden.

  • Native plants are preferred to non-native or invasive plants.

See you Saturday, March 26 from 10-12pm at Norhill Esplanade.

And don’t forget to get your Home Tour Tickets.

 

March WHCA Member Meeting - Postponed to April /  by Alaina Hebert

WHCA March 2022 Member Meeting

Please join us for the March Bi-Monthly General Meeting.

We’ll give updates on the 2022 “Past Meets Present” Home Tour, hear from guests, and take neighbor Q&A. We are also seeking Board Nominations for the May 10, 2022 Elections.

We will have 2022 Constable Patrol stickers for pickup and be looking for Home Tour volunteers.

Bring a chair and a neighbor and we’ll see you on Tuesday, March 8, at 6pm on the South side of Norhill Esplanade.

Check out our curbside tree project and purchase a tree below.

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Travis Foundation invests in Hügelkultur /  by Alaina Hebert

Rachael Cahan with the Travis Foundation came out to the February WHCA Member Meeting to answer the pressing question. What are those strange mounds?

Has the Travis Spark Park been infested with giant gophers? No, it’s hügelkultur. What? Mounds or raised beds of organic tree material mimicking the fallen debris on a forest floor. Why? The soil surrounding our playing field is in poor condition with many exposed Cypress knees causing a serious trip hazard. Hügelkultur is the long-awaited soil remediation project the Travis Foundation is excited to have had installed during the winter break.

Hügelkultur are mounds constructed to provide a natural, self-fertilizing, slow-release composting soil remediation technique which requires minimal irrigation. Due to its raised nature, hügelkultur are more flood resilient and the answer to our soil and erosion problem.

Clear Perspex has been installed at the end of the mounds so you can take a closer look and watch the magic of decomposition. If you look, you will see distinctive layers of different types of dead tree material. Last year’s big freeze has provided a plethora of material including the bamboo located outside the cafeteria. It has all been put to great use feeding the soil and our beautiful Cypress trees. These mounds will eventually be covered in plants, but this will not happen until after winter, so until then, the plastic fencing will remain.

The Travis Foundation would like to thank all its donors for making this project happen. It has been years in the planning and would not have been possible without them.

For further information or questions, please email contact@travisfoundation.org

Nominate for 2022 Board Elections /  by Alaina Hebert

In accordance with the WHCA bylaws, an election will be held at our Annual meeting on the second Tuesday of May. The WHCA is now accepting nominations for seats on the Woodland Heights Civic Association Board.

An election will be held at our 2022 Annual meeting on Tuesday, May 10, 2022 for the following Board of Directors positions:

  • President

  • Dir - Beautification

  • Dir - Communications

  • Dir - Deed Restrictions

  • Dir - Security

Go to the 2022 Nominating Form and nominate yourself or a neighbor - woodland-heights.org/board-elections



Friends of Woodland Park - "Totally Turtle" Campaign is 100% Funded! /  by Alaina Hebert

WE DID IT! "Totally Turtle" Campaign is 100% Funded!

The Friends of Woodland Park are excited to announce that we have achieved our fund-raising goal for the Turtle playscape sculpture by Dylan Conner. We are thrilled and humbled by the generosity of so many park enthusiasts and we look forward to working with Dylan to bring this permanent play structure to the park in Fall of 2022. As a small recognition, we have a special thank you page on our website for all of our donors.

For those who have not donated and wish to have their names or honorees included on the donor plaque, we are keeping the fundraising campaign (and name-the-turtle contest!) open until the end of January 2022. No donation is too small, and all donations above $250 will be honored on the Donor Plaque. Any donations above the turtle project needs will be used for park improvements and educational messaging. So if you want to be permanently recognized for contributing to this community park improvement, please be sure to go to our website.


Our next Woodland Park Bird Survey will take place on Saturday February 19 at 7:30 am. All welcome and bring binoculars if you have them.

Woodland Heights Historic District Design Guidelines Project /  by Lori Bigler

The City of Houston Planning Department recently published draft design guidelines for the Woodland Heights Historic District. A webpage has been created with the draft guidelines, as well as a series of modules that will allow you to review and comment on the modules. Your participation is important and your feedback will be used to refine the draft guidelines.

1. Draft Woodland Heights Historic District Design Guidelines

You may review the document in its entirety here. You can view excerpts from the document while answering the workshop questions, so you will not need to have this document open during the workshop.

2. Online Public Workshop Presentation and Questions

3. One-time Live Question and Answer Session

A live online question and answer session will be hosted by the City of Houston Office of Historic Preservation to answer questions about the Draft Woodland Heights Historic District Design Guidelines

Reach out  to deedrestrictions@woodland-heights.org if you have questions about how this may effect you.