Landscaping

Mark Draper, 16, expected to sweat - a lot - on his $4-an-hour summer job. But he never expected the nasty wasp and the even nastier, screaming motorist. Or the vandals. In landscaping, especially urban landscaping, all this and more comes with the territory, or more likely, the flower bed, as Draper and a few other Lincoln High School students found out. For the last nine weeks, seven Lincoln students and one recent graduate raked, trimmed, pruned and nurtured various spots in Fairmount Park.

A Fallsington landscaping firm will fill in the final details as a community vision for a park in Falls Township becomes reality. The township supervisors Thursday night awarded a $13,800 contract to Mark W. Shablin Landscape Designs, the lowest of four bidders to put the finishing touches of green on Vermilion Park. In an interview, Shablin described what the township wants his firm to do at the 36-acre park in the Vermilion Hills section. The landscapers will build up a grassy berm as a buffer between the playground area and the homes across from the park on Vermont Street.

At the end of this month, Rita Stevenson will be moving into the Orangewood Park Apartments in Levittown for the fourth time. In fact, she will be moving into the same unit in which she lived the last time she resided there. "I really feel at home at Orangewood Park," said Stevenson, whose moves each time were attributed to changes in her lifestyle. Pat Broillet, who started as a leasing agent and has been the property manager at Orangewood Park for the last 22 years, doesn't find it unusual to have former tenants coming back to this 320-unit apartment complex that was built in 1967.

Some of you may remember Harding's Run. Or Upper Crust. Both were attempts to guess what it is that a Main Line diner expects of a restaurant that shares quarters with a lineup of tennis courts. For reasons I found unfathomable, Upper Crust had windows overlooking sweating bodies in endless pursuit of whatever it is that tennis players pursue. With admirable taste, the next restaurant at the location - Harding's Run - chose to change the focus to the serene landscape surrounding this big, barnlike building in the heart of Radnor corporate country.

Burlington County officials said landscaping efforts are now being planned to make the controversial recycling station in Delran more attractive, but township officials and community leaders said they are still hoping the county will move the station. The station, for recycling aluminum, glass and newspapers, has met with fierce resistance since it was proposed three years ago. Residents complain that the station will bring traffic, pollution, noise and possibly insects and rodents.

Rolling acres of neatly landscaped lawns and mature trees provide a quiet backdrop for the garden units at New Kent Apartments. "I like the ambience, the quaint Colonial feel . . . that the buildings are spaced out nicely . . . and that my apartment has lots of closet space," said Lisa Haldas, 36, a tennis instructor who has lived at New Kent for a year. "The landscaping is terrific, and everything is kept up nicely," she said. "The pool here is maintained extremely well . . . the staff is very hospitable and conscientious.

Tom Livezey was helping a few of his workers spread wood mulch in front of a Whitemarsh Township office building one morning last week. The crew had already rolled two huge boulders from his landscaping firm's truck onto the ground in front of the office and planted small clumps of ornamental grass around them. By next summer, the grasses will have grown tall to soften the look of the new building. Two years out of Pennsylvania State University, the 25-year-old has his own small business in Schwenksville, Montgomery County.

Convenience is key at Mount Vernon Garden Apartments in Glenside. With public transportation and shopping - not to mention miniature golf, and plenty of fast food - all within a half-mile, the 35-year-old garden complex holds appeal for a variety of tenants, and its owner/management company. "The Roslyn train station is just one-half mile away, and the SEPTA bus is in front of the property," said Jerry Sullivan, of Ark Properties, which acquired the complex three years ago. Also nearby are major roadways, including Routes 309, 611 and 73, and the Fort Washington interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The Gateway Shopping Center off Route 202 at Valley Forge Road has been getting a lot of attention lately, but it has nothing to do with big sales or grand openings. The center has come under attack by township officials and residents who see the 26-acre strip as an eyesore. At a recent Planning Commission meeting, members and township officials criticized the center, its overgrown landscaping, and its lack of maintenance. Commission member Trish Gallen Kreek said in an interview that the problems included a sagging overhang above part of the sidewalk and damaged columns and walkways.

Benjamin Franklin never said the penny saved had to be your own, did he? So, he might have appreciated the enterprise of middle-schoolers who could be seen the other day scooping up coppers from Franklin's grave near Independence Mall. Now if only someone could have convinced them to donate those coins to a worthy cause - say, the makeover of the sprawling mall itself. Even with the money in hand to finish the new Liberty Bell pavilion and National Constitution Center, there's still a $17.7 million shortfall for a planned transformation of the outdoor public spaces of the mall.