By David Pendered
It takes thousands and thousands of flowering plants to keep the Buckhead business district looking like a million dollars.
These penny orange violas are to warm the appearance of Peachtree Road through landscaping work planned by the Buckhead CID. Credit: fleursannuelles.com
Just last week, the Buckhead Community Improvement District went to market with a request for proposals to maintain all the greenery in public spaces within the CID. Proposals are due Nov. 18 and, keeping in step with the times, questions are being accepted only by eco-friendly email.
The greenscape request for proposals provides an insight into the level of detail the Buckhead CID pays to its common spaces. Consider the requisites for only the seasonal color on the segment of Peachtree Road from Maple Drive to Peachtree Dunwoody Road:
- Angelonia Carita – purple, 4 inch, 569;
- Caladium – Aaron 4 inch, 765;
- Duranta – Gold Edge, 4 inch, 656;
- Lantana – New Gold, 4 inch, 1,128;
- Penta Graffiti – Rose, 4 inch, 867;
- Petunia – Wave Purple, 4 inch, 787;
- Scaevola – Blue, 4 inch, 787;
- Ipomoea – Goldfinger, 4 inch, 304;
- Vinca – Cora Upright Red, 1,402.
Lavender splashes of Angelonia Carita are to brighten section of Peachtree Road through work planned by the Buckhead CID. Credit: linders.com
And that’s just in the springtime. The list for the autumn color calls for:
- Pansy – Karma Yellow, 4 inch, 2,664;
- Pansy – Delta Marina, 4 inch, 2,196;
- Viola – Penny Orange, 4 inch; 2,664
- Viola – Penny White, 4 inch, 864;
- Viola – Penny Blue, 4 inch, 1,152.
Of course the flower beds have to be blanketed with pine straw and mulch.
The proposal calls for 133 bales to be spread across all areas, twice a year; and 272 cubic yard of mulch to be spread once a year, in January. The type of mulch is not specified.
Keeping everything tidy is expected to take a lot of work.
The proposal calls for Peachtree Road from Maple Drive to be done weekly, including: “Four fungicide applications for ground cover and includes landscape maintenance and blowing of the sidewalks, beauty strips, curbs, concrete islands and center islands.” Hand weeding is required of any weed taller than 4 inches.
Charlie Loudermilk Park is a place unto itself.
The grounds are to be cleaned, “Every week to include a full chemical weed control and fertilizer program for the turf.” No mention was made of polishing the statue of Loudermilk. Nor is there a reference to the planned clock tower that’s to be installed in the park.
In addition to these specifications, the RFP calls for a wide array of aesthetic expectations.
The Buckhead CID has precise ideas for the mix of plants, ground cover along Peachtree Road. Credit: constantcontact.com
Grass is to be maintained at a height of 2 inches to 4 inches. Edging is to be done with a power edge every other week during the grass-growing season. Clippings are to be recycled, if possible, or removed for disposal.
Even as the Buckhead CID looks ahead to a three-year grounds keeping contract, the board is moving ahead with hardscape projects.
Last week, the board approved plans to upgrade a stretch of Peachtree Road south of Pharr Road. Part of the project involves improving streetscapes in the spring of 2014 so they are attractive when the Buckhead Atlanta development opens in the summer, according to its current schedule.
This past summer, the CID approved a proposal by urban designer Peter Dray to re-envision landscaping of the bridge at Lenox Road and Ga. 400. Dray designed the 14th Street bridge, which serves as a gateway to Midtown. Dray also is working on a bridge design in Gwinnett County, to create a gateway effect at the bridge of Jimmy Carter Boulevard over I-85.
The projects by the Buckhead CID are intended to bolster the physical attraction of the region’s leading address for shopping, fine dining and offices. The area is home to gleaming structures including Phipps Tower, where Carters Inc. has located its headquarters in a move that involved terminating a lease later this year at Midtown’s Proscenium building.
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