Old Greenbelt is surprisingly affordable, especially its historic housing cooperative (GHI). If you can’t swing the required 10 percent down payment, are priced out of the single-family homes in Old Greenbelt, or just aren’t ready to buy, renting is still … Read More
Appropriately on Earth Day this year, Greenbelt Homes Inc dedicated its largest-ever rain garden, located in 20 Ridge Road. That unlucky court is where large quantities of rainfall were gathering and rushing into nearby Still Creek, causing erosion and harming … Read More
Greenbelt is one of three New Deal-era “greenbelt” towns created to provide housing and jobs during the Great Depression. It was recognized as a National Landmark Historic District. for its architecture, planning, landscape, and community attributes, but here we’ll focus … Read More
Since moving to Greenbelt I’d become interested in Radburn, the New Jersey development that was America’s first garden city and the predecessor to Greenbelt. So I visited Radburn this past October, and had the good fortune to be connected … Read More
GHI members and visitors will remember this main entrance to the office on Hamilton Place, where old, overgrown Junipers encroached on the doorway and were then sheared back with electric tools. This is the view leaving the building’s other entrance, … Read More
Last fall I wrote about the jungle-to-garden make-over I’d just started at the corner of Westway and Ridge Roads. To refresh, here’s what it looked like. I passed it every day and let’s just say it didn’t help my mood. I … Read More
I was asked to write a short article for the GHI Communicator about what to do in the garden, for their April issue. So I enlisted help from the gardeners in GHI’s Yard Solutions Task Force, and then boiled it … Read More
Gardeners are always being recommended plants that provide “winter interest,” so we don’t get TOO depressed in the winter. Last month I went looking for winter interest around Old Greenbelt and snapped these examples of plants that provide color, texture … Read More
Much has happened at the corner of Ridge Road and Westway since I posted “Corner Make-over in Old Greenbelt” just three weeks ago – thanks to the removal of two massive trees there by Pepco. I posted this “after” photo to … Read More
Did you ever notice this weedy mess at the corner of Westway and Ridge Road, diagonal from Mishkan Torah? Weed shrubs were blocking driver visibility – MY visibility, since this corner was on my regular route home. Walking by, I … Read More
Walking down Ridge Road from Westway to my house, I stopped to admire and capture what may be the smallest and prettiest “court” in all of GHI: 8 Court Ridge. Just four homes, and their front gardens are a delight. (I … Read More
UPDATE: Click here to read Franklin’s blog post about his visit to Greenbelt. Franklin Vagnone is the genius behind Twisted Preservation, a “cultural and museum consulting firm.” Just not your normal consultant. He’s a preservationist with a manifesto – for a more … Read More
I remember being advised, when I first moved into my small GHI home, that I’d better keep the walls all white so the rooms would look larger. I may have mumbled I like color but quietly I was thinking “Boring!” … Read More
Does anyone have problems in their GHI yard, or solutions to suggest for others? Then leave a comment here or even better, come to this weeks’ Board of Directors meeting to comment on a task force being proposed to explore … Read More
The term “Plant Swap” may not convey what actually happened yesterday outside the GHI offices – the popular event organized by GHI’s Woodlands Committee. Above wearing a baseball cap is Mary-Denise Smith, who organized the event with help from committee … Read More
