u/AMercifulHello

We live in a townhome and the landscaping is "managed" by the HOA. Tbh, we live in a HCOL state but in a MCOL community, and I say that because I believe the HOA reflects the MCOL in their quality of maintenance. I've been out for the past 2 weeks plucking dandelions in my lawn (shared with both neighbors front and back) as well as treating my own mulch bed (which the HOA docs clearly state are the HOA's responsibility). I've cleared tons and tons of weeds - no mulch has been put down yet. As I understand it, this is happening tomorrow. However, while I've been patiently awaiting this, another concern has raised my eyes. Recently, I've seen carpenter ants around my unit and specifically followed one up into the siding in the garage (I have a pest control company coming today at 2:30 to take a look). This also led me to notice that some of the wood in this area is dry and rotted and I also noticed a bush in the front yard that has been hollowed out and I saw smaller ants climbing in and out of the holes a couple nights ago.

All that said, that's not why I'm here! What I want to know is what I should do up against the side of my house. You will see in several pictures (especially to the right of the garage) that there is not much clearance between the ground and the framing. It seems like an issue with my building specifically since our neighbors (shown in the last pic) has plenty of clearance from their mulch bed to their framing. The reason I bring this up is because I am assuming the HOA and the hired landscaper will handle our building the same as any other: throw a couple inches of mulch in the bed and move on. But it seems like that's the lazy/negligent approach given our particular situation, no? I feel like (having no idea what I'm talking about and being an enthusiastic learner/DIYer) I should be putting river rocks or something else closer to the foundation and then the mulch on the outer edge of the river rocks?

We have had tons of issues with basement leaks in the shown areas, specifically on the side where the bushes are (not necessarily in the garden area), but that's besides the point and a separate issue (unless someone really knowledgeable in this is able to comment) - but my point is maybe the river rocks could help with that, too?

Bonus question: why are there so many big rocks on the side of our house/in the back garden? Is this a functional thing or just aesthetic? I've also been digging a bunch of them up as I've been removing weeds and am not sure why they're buried underground in some places either. I understand the stepping stone ones for the bulkhead and other access points (like electrical meters), but the other randomly places boulders are confusing me. Looking to learn here, so any education is welcome!

In any case, my major concern is making sure the wood isn't able to rot from moisture and pests don't find that rotted wood attractive. What would you all do in this scenario?

Front of house to the right of the front door.

Area of concern where I saw a carpenter ant. If you zoom, you will see rotted/damaged wood, and I had raked some of the dirt away from this area which was touching it.

Front view of garage. Ant area is on the right.

Side view of house demonstrating not much clearance between \"mulch\" bed and siding. Also, random rock between plants.

Similar photo to above but different angle. Random rock still shown.

Back yard garden. Random rocks shown under gutter.

Same as above but angle from the back of the house instead of the side. Random rocks under gutter shown here again, too.

Neighbors \"mulch\" bed showing much more foundation clearance than ours.

We have just a few windows we're looking at getting white blinds for. We have 2 double windows (52 1/2 x 57 1/2) with a stile in the middle (so not sure if we'd break this into two separate blinds or if they would be one single blind - I mention this due to weight) and 3 regular windows (27x52). One of the smaller windows is in a bathroom with a shower. I was wondering if there is any reason to choose wood over faux wood when going with standard white blinds? I understand the appeal of wood, and it's honestly what I really want, but am leaning against it because of the bathroom window. I'm also not really sure there's any reason to choose real wood if we're just going to stick with plain white blinds anyways - can you even really tell the difference? Curious if anyone has chosen one or the other and has any regrets or are completely happy with your purchase? Has anyone chosen wood for a bathroom and realized it was a mistake?

We have just a few windows we're looking at getting white blinds for. We have 2 double windows (52 1/2 x 57 1/2) with a stile in the middle (so not sure if we'd break this into two separate blinds or if they would be one single blind - I mention this due to weight) and 3 regular windows (27x52). One of the smaller windows is in a bathroom with a shower. I was wondering if there is any reason to choose wood over faux wood when going with standard white blinds? I understand the appeal of wood, and it's honestly what I really want, but am leaning against it because of the bathroom window. I'm also not really sure there's any reason to choose real wood if we're just going to stick with plain white blinds anyways - can you even really tell the difference? Curious if anyone has chosen one or the other and has any regrets or are completely happy with your purchase? Has anyone chosen wood for a bathroom and realized it was a mistake?