I was fascinated with your article (Leslie McGuire?EUR??,,????'?????<
We have had very interesting responses already. One in particular sounds like a replica of Belvedere Castle in Austria with gardens requiring many statues and fountains. The landscape architect was thrilled to have found us through your article. Many, many thanks, Lynette G. Proler?Proler Garden Antiques, Inc.
Pacific Palisades, Calif.
I am always suspicious of groups that use inflammatory words to describe generally benign objects or materials. To use the phrase “vicious” in conjunction with Kentucky bluegrass is almost laughable if it were not for the effect it has on the general public. In most cases, the use of such terms are employed not to enlighten the public, but to scare people into believing the advocates are right.
Finally, the author infers that there is something negative about Kentucky bluegrass because its origins are from Europe. I suspect the author himself probably has a European heritage.
Chris Beasley
sales manager
Tuckhoe Turf Farms
Canton, Mass.
Death, taxes and lawsuits"?oeYou can try to avoid them, but you can never totally prevent them from happening.
Trees take many years to grow and make a significant and important contribution to the beauty of the adjoining roads cape. I certainly hope the residents of Alabama are up in arms about this. Preventing injuries and potentially deaths is certainly important but perhaps there is a better solution than destroying a scenic resource that is not easily replaced. The DOT engineers should look at practical solutions. When you approach an overpass column or bridge abutment they often put a compressible buffer around it to avoid injuries, should it be struck by an errant driver. The same concept could be applied to significant trees in the landscape. Plant dense 3’-6’shrubs around the base of larger trees so that a car that runs off the road would be slowed up safely by a cushion of smaller flexible plantings and never even strike the immovable object"?oethe tree. These plantings would add beauty, screen headlight glare for adjoining properties and avoid costly lawsuits while preserving the beauty of the Alabama landscape. This is safety engineering at its best! Please pass this idea along to the Alabama Department of Transportation and landscape architects who practice there. I hope common sense prevails before the irreversible damage is done. Thank you for your consideration.
Edward J. Kleckner
Landscape Architect, #244
Menasha, Wis.
