I commute along Florida Road, and I love the landscaping, especially the bunches of ornamental grass near Chapman Hill. But it looks like some clueless road maintenance person cut down a huge swatch of grass just past Folsom Place and then stopped, as if his supervisor came along and said, “what the heck are you doing.” Sign me, Karl Foester
Action Line offers accolades for the most excellent nom de plume, especially when it involves plumes of grass.
For those in the know, Karl Foester was a famous German botanist who championed the naturalistic, wild style of gardening, especially using large grasses.
He won the gardening equivalent of an Oscar posthumously in 2001, when the Perennial Plant Association awarded the title of Plant of the Year to Calamagrostis xacutiflora ‘Karl Foerster.’
That plant is better known as Karl Foester Feather Reed Grass. It’s now the most popular ornamental grass in the world, and it’s the species growing along the side of Florida Road just east of Folsom Place.
Many ornamental grasses grow straight and tall with tawny seed heads. That’s what makes them so attractive.
It also blocks the view, and the 4-foot-high grass bordering Florida Road created a verdant but dangerous screen for the driving denizens of the funky Folsom Place enclave.
“It was crazy. You couldn’t see oncoming bikes, small cars, anything,” one well-known Folsomite fulminated. He didn’t want to be named, so we’ll call him Reed, in honor of feather reed grass.
“I liked the grass, but it was a problem. It’s good they gave it a haircut,” Reed said.
For the fulsome Folsom foliage, the blades of grass met the blades of shears in the name of public safety.
As most residents of the Republic of Durango, we don’t have air conditioning, and leave our windows open on summer evenings. We enjoy a diverse group of neighbors except for an unknown person who smokes a lot of marijuana. The unwanted smell wafts into our home. It’s strong, disruptive to the kids, and irritating to all including my newly adopted dog who is being trained to become a drug sniffer. While I would like to call in SWAT to locate and extinguish the offender, I don’t think it would be a good use of tax money. I’m uncertain of my options. Please advise. – Matt
There’s not much you can do, given Colorado’s recent reefer madness.
State voters last year opted to decriminalize weed. So now, any resident 21 years or older is allowed to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana and grow up to six plants.
More importantly, you can smoke grass legally in your home.
That’s the state law. The feds see it differently; they put pot in the same category as heroin and LSD.
Washington and Denver need to work things out. Perhaps they could have a Beer Summit – hash out pot issues, so to speak, over a couple of cold ones.
As the bumper sticker stays, “Alcohol Is My Anti-Drug.”
But in all seriousness, this might be a great time to give your kids The Talk. Especially since the likelihood is high, again so to speak, of legal retail pot shops springing up in January.
We’re not talking “dispensaries” of “medicinal wellness.” We’re talking full-on adult marijuana merchandisers. That’s what the new state laws allow.
Anyway, the secondhand smoke situation from your third-rate neighbor is at the forefront.
Try to find the incinerating interloper. Ask for some discretion and consideration for your kid’s sake.
But given the state of affairs in the Centennial State, this might be similar to being a vegetarian and living next to a guy who grills a lot of hamburgers.
Email questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. You can request anonymity if the grass is greener on your side of the fence.
