January 15, 2026 | Mark Luis Foster

Here we are in mid January with the usual dose of extreme cold and forecasted snow descending on Minnesota like the buzz kill that cold and snow are.  So why in the world are we worried about HOA trees this time of year?

The answer is we should be worried about trees all year long. If you’ve been attending our chapter meetings this month, you’ve seen an excellent presentation from Ron Zillmer of Legacy-Trees, one of our fine sponsors of the HOA Leadership Network. This man knows more about trees than anyone I know, and moreover, he’s very passionate about them. Trees are often overlooked as an asset to cities, neighborhoods, and HOAs, and without a solid plan to care for them, replace them they die, and budget appropriate for all of that maintenance, some HOAs could see major tree loss in less than a decade.

Trees are an amazing asset. They provide shade and beauty, and while I haven’t seen a reliable study on this, I suspect they boost property values. When it comes to HOA board governance, trees should be a major part of your maintenance plan.

Ron’s presentation includes some video clips that we shot last August when he did a walk-around at the HOA in which I live in Lakeville. I’m including the link below just in case you can’t make the chapters — or you want to see the video that he features in its entirety.

If nothing else, you can watch and pretend it’s warm, green and wonderful outside.