Then FDS tries to ensure that the neighbor will agree to maintain the lot after volunteers start the process. The idea is to give them as much help as possible. The major cleanup of the lot takes place in one day. Students also help out with the cleanups. Abigail Vare Elementary School, for example, cleans the Dickinson Square Park twice a year.
Neighbors maintain the lot until volunteers have an opportunity to begin landscaping.
Fences and street cleaning are both essential in keeping dirt out of the recently cleaned lots. The city cleans the streets on a regular basis, and FDS workers place fences around the lot after they put soil and chips on it. They ve learned that people seem to respect the wooden picket fences more than the institutional, metal fences. A quality of life issue While the intent is to create as low-maintenance a lot as possible, many residents are willing to put effort into beautifying the spaces in their neighborhoods. Some have planted seasonal flowers donated by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.