MLPA Newsletter - Spring 2002

Selected articles from the newsletter.  Click here to see the whole newsletter in PDF.

Greenspace Map

Key:

Medians

1 Barclay Median
2 Lanier Boulevard Median

Traffic Islands

3 Amsterdam & Courtenay
4 E. Morningside & N. Rock Springs
5 Lenox & Johnson
6 N. M’side/N.Pelham/E. Rock Spring
7 N. Morningside & Lanier
8 Sherwood & Cumberland
9 Wildwood & Rock Spring Roundabout

Markers

10 Amsterdam & Monroe
11 Amsterdam & Virginia/Highland
12 Daniel Johnson
13 E. Rock Springs
14 Lanier Blvd.
15 Lenox Road
16 Morningside & Piedmont
17 Piedmont & Pelham
18 Rock Springs
19 Wellbourne Drive
20 Wildwood Road & Lenox

Parks

21 Beech Valley
22 Daniel Johnson Nature Preserve
23 Hickory Grove
24 Homestead
25 Lanier Boulevard Park at University
26 Lenox/Wildwood
27 Morningside Nature Trail
28 Noble
29 Sidney Marcus
30 Smith
31 Spring Valley/University Corner
32 Sunken Garden
33 Wildwood Gardens
34 Wildwood Urban Forest
35 Zimmer Park
36 Reeder Circle

Other

37 Morningside Recreation Center

Morningside:  Atlanta's Best-Kept Secret Garden
Compiled by Susan Drake

The willow is weepin', the dogwood is droopin'-who ya gonna call?  The answers to these and many more "green" questions have arrived!  Here at your fingertips are just a few of the resources every green thumb needs, from botanical gardens for inspiration to garden clubs for fellowship. So clip this list, put it on your refrigerator door and peruse it the next time you're tending to your own little corner of Morningside Atlanta's best-kept secret garden.

Atlanta Botanical Garden
1345 Piedmont AV NE
404.876.5859
www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org
The Garden is open Tuesday through Sunday 9am to 7pm.  A stunning array of gardens awaits you-Camellia, Conifer, Herb, Japanese, Rock, Rose and Woodland, to name a few.  That valuable resource, the Museum Shop, offers gardening books, bulbs and seeds, as well as unique gift items.
Plant Hotline
404/888-4769
Step right up and call this number to leave your plant and gardening questions.  A volunteer Master Gardener will investigate your query using the Research/Reference Library at the Garden and return your call promptly!

City of Atlanta
Sandra de Witt, Arborist/Bureau of Parks
404.817.6814
The City of Atlanta offers Morningsiders a double-pronged approach to tree care.  The Arborist/Bureau of Parks maintains right-of-way trees, those trees in front of most of our homes between the sidewalk and the street.  Call Sandra de Witt if your tree needs care (she can put in a work order for the Forestry Division) or for permission if you yourself need to plant, prune or remove a right-of-way tree.
City of Atlanta Arborist 404.330.6874

The Arborist/Bureau of Buildings deals with trees on private property.  Call City of Atlanta Arborist when you need a permit to remove a tree or if you wish to file an appeal under Atlanta's Tree Protection Ordinance (for Ordinance wording, see www.treeeagle.org).

Morningside Garden Club
Betty Layng, Member Information
404.875.0041
In 2000 the Garden Club celebrated 20 glorious years of making their gardens grow!   Members marked the occasion with a ten-day trip to Sissinghurst, Great Dixter and other notable gardens in Kent, Sussex and the Cotswalds.  These marvelous hands-on ladies also maintain the landmark traffic island at Lenox-Johnson Road.  And they invite intown gardeners to join their meetings the first Wednesday of every month. 

Morningside/Lenox Park Association (MLPA)
Pat Gardner, Cochair/Beautification Committee
404.873.6208
Kerry Brown, Cochair
404.685-1685
www.mlpa.org
The Beautification Committee deals with dig-in-the-dirt enhancement of our neighborhood green spaces.  They support sponsorship of these spaces by local merchants, recruit Morningsiders to care for them, and provide reimbursement for flowers and other materials.  The Committee works with the City of Atlanta so that every pocket park in Morningside is cared for by either a business sponsor, resident volunteers or the City.  The Beautification Committee maintains our familiar urn-and-column monuments as well.
Charlotte Gillis, Cochair/Parks Committee
404.876.4021
Clara Mont-Claire, Cochair
404.872.6170
www.treeeagle.org.
In need of a free tree?  Just visit www.treeeagle.org and sign up for 2003!  Maintaining this website and providing free trees are just two of the many ways in which the Parks Committee undertakes to keep Morningside forested.  They also deal with governmental issues such as permitting and serving as liaison with city and county agencies.

Park Pride
City Hall East - 8th Floor
675 Ponce de Leon AV
Atlanta GA  30308
404.817.6761
www.parkpride.org
Park Pride boasts a long history of activity in Morningside.  As a 501(c)3 nonprofit they've served as a Fiscal Partner with numerous community groups, for example holding monies raised by neighbors in the successful effort to create a playscape at Sunken Garden Park.  As an Adopt-A-Park sponsor they facilitated the adoption by Harry Norman Realtors of Smith Park (at the intersection of Monroe and Piedmont) and of the park at Pelham and Piedmont.  And this winter these intrepid folks are holding beautification days at Lenox-Wildwood and Sidney Marcus Parks.  

Piedmont Park Conservancy
P.O. Box 7795
Atlanta GA 30357-0795
404.875.7275
www.piedmontpark.org
Founded in 1989 and headed by Morningsider Debbie McCown, the Conservancy is currently engaged in a ten-year, $25-million effort to restore the park.  Become a member for $35 a year!  Come join your neighbors in tilling one of 70 plots soon to be available in a one-acre Urban Garden off Monroe Drive.

Rock Creek Watershed Alliance
Charlotte Gillis, President
404.876.4021
Ken Jones, Membership
404.876-9322
Founded four years ago, this nonprofit group is "a coalition of community stakeholders dedicated to the restoration and preservation of the ecological balance and beauty of Rock Creek and its tributaries."  As a certified Adopt-A-Stream sponsor, the Alliance works with their partners in the business community to carry out water quality testing and performs cleanups of Rock Creek twice a year. They can even teach you and your family how to be a Creek Keeper Home!

Trees Atlanta
96 Poplar ST NW
Atlanta GA  30303
404.522.4097
www.treesatlanta.org
This nonprofit citizens group is "dedicated to protecting and improving our urban environment by planting and conserving trees."  Their admirable handiwork is much in evidence along the thoroughfares of Morningside:  over the last sixteen years Trees Atlanta has planted 434 bald cypress, dogwood, fringe tree, ginkgo, green ash, redbud, tupelo, and an assortment of maples- florida, red and trident-in our neighborhood.  Add to that number the 270-plus Trees Atlanta has placed in Piedmont Park.  President Marcia Bansley declares, "We love working in Morningside.  If everyone were like the folks in Morningside, Atlanta would be flat out amazing!"

Wildwood Urban Forest
Rochelle Routman, Membership
404.892.3661
www.whidco.com/Wildwood
Acquired in 2001, this 31-acre parcel of urban forest is Morningside's newest green space!  Now in the comprehensive planning phase, WWUF faces the task of creating a space in which neighbors can take pleasure without harming the ecosystem.  WWUF "anticipates that the final Wildwood Forest Master Plan will include passive recreation, vehicular and pedestrian access points, and a hierarchy of trails that will move park users through a variety of habitats and microclimates."