The Washington times., 1923-03-21
COMMONS
PLAN IN
FAVOR
Neighbors to Cooperate for
Identification Of Entire
Blocks in Harmony.
Bx GEORGE FRANKLIN.

Neighborhood landscape garden
ing, with entire blocks involved il
the operations to beautify lawns
and front yards, is seen by neigh
bOrhOod association leaders to be
the ultimate result of Engineer
Commissioner Keller's order pro-
hibiting the erection Of fences
and planting Of hedges on private
property along street lines.
At the office OF Col. G. o.
Sheriff., in charge of public
buildings and grounds, it was
learned that while the Federal
office is not officially connected
with the proposed improvements
to be effected through the action
taken by Colonel Keller, neverthe-
less the officials are In sympathy
with the plan and will unquestiOIl-
ably lend any assistance possible
In assuring its success.
Sees Little Difficulty.
with the growth OF neighbor-
hood spirit and the tendency on the
part OF property owners to cooper
ate IN identifying their home SUR
roundings, there should be little
difficulty in preventing the erection
OF fences ard planting Of hedges in
residential sections in the future"
Of the Brookland Neighborhood As
s0ciation. ts
ssOf course. it would be possible
for the Commissioners to fix GER
tain standards to govern the build
ing OF fences and the planting and
care OF hedges. but, after all, the
advanced thinkers on the city
Beautiful have conceded that prop
erty partitions Of the kind are
rarely necessary and seldom ornas
mental.
Recently there has been consid.
cradle agitation for rleighborh0od
treatment of front yards carried
on In publications devoted to beau
trying homes and their surround
angs. The neighborhood co-opera-
tive plan hae been tried out sue.
eessfully in several localities and
seems to me to Offer the greatest
possibilities. si.,, g.,sr. S
q Look 70 General Effect.
& According to this plan, the resi-.
dents. or property owners of a
block enter into an agreement to
treat the front yard section as a
common area Trees are transplant
ed. shrubbery placed, and flow.
er gardens planted with an eye to-
the general effect as seen from the
street and the various homes. In
some instances the individual walks
leading from the sidewalk to house
entrances are removed and sys-
tenn OF paths substituted carrying
out the park land idea. In this
manner OF treatment lies the Sc
cret.. it IS insisted, of securing to
the greatest extent the atmosphere
az privacy without In the least in
ferfering with actual privacy while
the possibility of obtaining beauti-
full VISTA effects is materially en-
HANGED: In numerous instances, q
AZ is renorted, an Improvement OF
this kind has resulted in materially
increasing the selling value OF
homes without adding TO their tax
assessment. AS was said today 1t
IS one OF the rare instances where
s'you get something for nothing.
The effects possible in zones made
mp or the homes Of families IN
moderate circumstances, where the
individual holdings are too small to
lend themselves readily to garden
DOSSlDllAL1GS G4CCpL ~ NA4I AAANSS
limited sense, in the neighborfo0d
landscape plan are declared to be
OF the greatest value. 1t can even
be extended, it is contended, to the
most congested sections of the city
with the certainty that marked inn
provement in appearances can be
secured.
Several Plan Trial.
Several OF the neighborhoed asso-
Citations, 1t is understood, are plan