The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1916-10-19

lHe StfeeJS JnaJ were cuTDeu dnu
asphalted, a fine plat of ground
offers an ideal place for planting
In the past an open ditch took the
place that the trees should have
had but now that this ground is
filled in and leveled the proper
time has arrived for the planting
of Marian avenue and Taylor
street This planting should not
be left to the disposition of each
individual property owner on the
street, or trees will be planted
anywhere but on a line, some too
close together or too far apart to
serve the purpose of utility or
beauty, while others serve neither
i purpose and are useful merely as
firewood or for their timber.
In this grass plat between the
walks and curb are two sewer
lines and in planting trees these
two lines of piping should be con-
sidered, for it doesn't pay you nor
your city to have these pipes pri-
ed open by hungry roots hunting
for food and drink. Not only can
these roots pry open the pipes and
crack them but they can fill them
so full of roots in year or tive
that nothing can pass through
them. Every eucalyptus or rub,
ber tree that is planted closer than
so feet from a sewer line will do
this in the course Of short time.
The only way that the planting
of city streets can be carried on
intelligently is to have this mat
ter taken care of by a board of
commissioners who have arbitrary
power given them in selecting the
trees to be planted, the planting
of them, their care after they are
planted and the removal of trees
that do not fit into the scheme of
utility or beauty California has
many of these boards and as re-
suit their streets look like beauti-
full parkways, assuming "a beauty
they could never possess if left to
the ignorant selection of property
owners who make no study of the
problems entailed in this plant
ing.
Many Florida towns have begun
this systematic planting of the
streets by an appointed board who
keep their office for S or more
years unless their service be un-
satisfactory. Fort Myers, our
sister town, has such a board con-
sisting of 3 members. They are
men who have a knowledge of
landscape planting and they are
given the power to select the trees
that shall be used on each street
and they have the privilege of re-
unsightly trees that don t
fit into the scheme of beauty and
they may do as they desire with
the removed tree. The town
council gives them 81, 900 per year
to carry on this work, but at the
present time they are not given
any reimbursement for their work.
The coming year they hope to
have another thousand dollars ad-
ded for more extensive planting
and as the years go by and the city
grows, a greater amount can beSet
aside each year for this purpose.
There is no reason why Punta !
Gorda may not begin this same
work in modest way on the two
streets that are ready for it: We
can have three commissioners ap- /
pointed to carry out this work
and after deciding on the trees
that are to be used, the property
owners along these streets should
be solicited to pay for the trees
needed in front of their property
and when these trees arrive they
should be planted under the direc-
ton of the commissioners, who
shall decide upon the place they
shall occupy in the plat and such
trees as do not belong in the plat
should be removed. Unless this is
done the whole scheme will re-
semble a crazy patchwork quilt,
which went out of vogue nearly
20 years ago
1t may be known to some of our
people that a tropical nursery has
been in existence in our town for
the last two years and among the
specimens of tropical and semi
plants that it contains are
some extremely rare and beauti-
full. Indeed, so rare are they that
you cannot find them in another
place in the United States for sale, |
and in fact, even with the knowl- |