Summit Drive in Latonia will get a makeover from the neighborhood this weekend.
Located on the edge of the Licking River opposite Frederick’s Landing, Summit Drive sports a grassy island down the center of the road. Some of the street’s residents, Rob Fischer and his daughter Mary Fischer, planted some flowers in the island this spring, and “they took off,” Rob Fischer said.
“The neighbors all commented on how great they looked,” Fischer said. “Well, then it got all the neighbors talking about, ‘Hey, why don’t we tear out all the nasty stuff in the park and replant it, give it a facelift?'”
As a result, neighbors from around the area will come out to Summit Drive on Sunday to plant flowers and clean up the island. Fischer said much of the greenery on the island was in poor shape, and that he spent last Sunday and Monday preparing the area.
“We’ve got it tilled,” said Fischer. “We cut out all the yucca plants, and we’ve got new plants. Some of them are planted already, but we’ve got a bunch that still need to be planted.”
“My mom and dad claim that I inspired the idea,” said Mary, who’s 8 years old. “[My area] will be different colors of flowers: daisies, black-eyed Susans, lavender and sunflowers.”
“Everybody’s kind of gotten involved,” said Fischer. “My sister started a Facebook group for Summit, specifically for the cleanup party on Sunday.”
Elizabeth Velazquez-Noll, a physician at St. Elizabeth, is Fischer’s sister. The City of Covington Division of Urban Forestry has delivered several of the plants mentioned above to her for Sunday’s event.
Samuel Greenhill, who works at the Latonia branch of the Kenton County Public Library and who’s heading up the rehabilitation of the nearby 30th Street and Decoursey Park, has also stepped up to advise and provide resources.
“I’m working on a park,” said Greenhill. “I’ve learned a lot about how I bit off more than I could chew.”
Greenhill’s already identified ways to get free mulch, as well as ways to get native pollinator plants and pre-designed gardens. He was also trying to come up with a way to provide irrigation to the island, but he was still in the process of ensuring it would be compliant with city regulations when LINK nky spoke with him this week.
He’ll also be planting trees on Summit.
“I have little trees that I’ve been raising by the side of my house…,” said Greenhill. “It’s variety of oaks [and] birch.”
The event will begin on Sunday at 8 a.m. Check back next week when LINK nky reports on the results of this weekend’s cleanup.