In 1995, another was constructed at Ridgedale Road and Salem Avenue as a do-it-yourself project; residents volunteered labor, skills and funds for the project. And, in 2012, after Colonel White High School had been razed and turned into green space, another planter was built on that site.
All six of the large 10-foot-by-16-foot planters are maintained by Mt. Vernon residents, and have required re-planting as well as watering, weeding and mulching. This year, several planters were refurbished with the assistance of grants.
A Keep Montgomery County Beautiful grant allowed residents to put down weed barrier cloth and mulch at the Colonel White site, on the corner of Wabash and Niagara avenues, and a city mini-grant helped to completely re-do the planter on Ridgedale Road.
“The plants in ours had become overgrown and out of control, so we formed a committee of Ridgedale Road residents in February and got bids on re-doing the planter,” said Peggy Borts, the neighborhood representative to the FROC Priority Board who wrote the grant. “Nothing had been done since it was built. It was unmanageable, even after we hauled 20 bags of weeds out of the bed this spring.
“We chose Siebenthaler’s — the cost to each of the 16 residents on the street would have been about $250. In order to defray the cost, I submitted the grant in the spring. It was awarded this summer, and paid for half of the project, so residents had to pay about $150 each.”
In late August, Siebenthaler’s cleared out the large planter and planted drought-resistant perennials — viburnum bushes to provide a noise barrier to Salem Avenue traffic, knockout roses, daylilies, sedum, lamb’s ear and low-growing hamlin grass with plumes.
“It’s now our responsibility to maintain it,” said Borts, who, with husband Dale, are the primary waterers. “It’s been a very cooperative project between the city and neighborhood, with residents sharing chores.”
But Borts and her neighbors still worry about the six planters’ upkeep. “We’re all getting older, and it’s harder to keep up with them.”
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