Do-it-yourself: Neighbors care for medians

Some Green Valley HOAs, tired of the overgrown weeds that have sprung up in medians near their homes, are using rakes, shovels and pruning shears to take matters into their own hands.

Several homeowners associations have “adopted” their neighborhood medians as part of an offshoot of the Green Valley Community Coordinating Council’s MedianGreen program, founder Susanne Blodgett said.

MedianGreen gets county funding for major landscaping work on the large medians along La Canada Drive and Esperanza Boulevard before care of the medians is handed over to volunteers who sponsor them. “Adopt-a-Median” is for residents who simply want to meet periodically to spruce up the appearance of their neighborhood, Blodgett said.

One group of 20 residents from Desert Meadows I has committed to taking care of the five medians in their neighborhood, which run along Abrego Drive near Continental Road. They plan to weed, prune, pick up trash and take care of drought-tolerant native shrubs and succulents. They eventually want to plant in the medians, though they’ll need county approval first.

All HOAs will receive traffic safety training from MedianGreen, Blodgett said.

Pamela Fauxbel, who co-chairs the Desert Meadows I group with Laura Del Peschio, says their goal is to “keep Green Valley clean and beautiful” — especially now that Pima County has cut back on median maintenance.

Tom Ward, special assistant to Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll, says MedianGreen was created after the county opted a few years ago to reduce maintenance of medians to just four to six times per year. Medians throughout Pima County now receive even less maintenance because of county cutbacks this year, he said.

Del Peschio, who founded the Desert Meadows group, was spurred into action when family members visiting Green Valley noticed the embarrassing two-foot weeds taking over the median in front of her home.

That’s when she got together with neighbor Fauxbel, and their volunteer group was soon up and running.

On Tuesday, appreciative neighbors brought coffee out to the volunteers, decked out in hats, sunglasses and reflective safety vests. Others stopped by to thank them for doing their part to raise property values by beautifying the neighborhood, volunteer Mary Tufto said.

Fauxbel urges other homeowner associations to get involved with the upkeep of their neighborhood medians, sidewalks and parks.

“It’s about taking pride in your community,” she said.

For more information, call Susanne Blodgett at the Green Valley Community Coordinating Council, 520-648-1936.

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726