Drainage

GRANTVILLE, Pa. -- The winterization of the racing surface at Penn National Race Course will be completed in about two weeks, track superintendent Bob Beaubien said."

Spirea `Pink Parasols' (Spirea fritschiana) This improved spirea has more to offer than its extra-large pink "umbrellas" of flowers in early summer. At only 2 to 3 feet in height and a generous 4 to 5 feet wide, it can be grouped for a tall groundcover or used singly as a specimen plant. Its neat blue-green foliage turns vivid orange and red in fall. Put this plant in just about any soil type, give it full sun, and it will reward you with a low-maintenance shrub that is also deer-resistant.

Several residents of Hawk Ridge Farm are asking the Sykesville Planning Commission to address their concerns before allowing the developer to build nearly 100 new homes in the subdivision.The commission reviewed preliminary plans last night for four final sections in the development at the north end of town.Before the builder could discuss his plans, the commission heard a barrage of complaints.Jim Boyer's driveway repeatedly floods and becomes a sheet of ice."I get water and it runs across five other yards," Mr. Boyer said.

A large sinkhole in Spout Hill Road prompted Sykesville officials to close the road Friday afternoon."The county has been ultra-cooperative and is sending emergency crews," said James L. Schumacher, town manager.He said the emergency crews from Stambaugh's Inc. were to arrive about 5 p.m. Friday to dig out the hole, which was as deep as 4 feet, and fill it with stone. Workers were to make a temporary patch over the 10-foot-wide by 16-foot-long opening.Until the opening is permanently patched, the road will remain closed.

The first of three county Board of Appeals hearings on how the owner of a leaking hazardous waste landfill on Solley Road can reseal its dump will begin Friday night.John Blumenthal, an adjacent property owner, has challenged Browning-Ferris Industries' grading permit, alleging among other things that chipped tires and sludge are inappropriate for the site.Mr. Blumenthal is proposing to build 738 homes on his land next to Marley Creek, and has been embroiled in fights with the Houston-based waste giant for several years.

BUILD A new road and you must control water runoff pollution from the project. Rebuild a road, and such obvious water quality protections are not required.That's a legal pothole that needs to be filled. The question of who should pay for the project is another matter, but the pollutant controls must be established.Take the recent dispute in Westminster, where city officials and Carroll County commissioners are arguing over whether to include a needed storm water management system in the reconstruction of Lucabaugh Mill Road.

SOMETIMES WE sort of slip into a column topic -- as Randy did while trying to negotiate a customer's driveway last week.The steep, bumpy driveway can be a challenge on a sunny day, but this particular evening was dark and foggy. Randy's battered old 2-wheel-drive pickup just would not make it.Shifting into first gear gave him just enough traction to keep from sliding into the woods, so he gave up -- parking in the grass and walking the rest of the way.The customer had heard him thrashing around on the driveway and asked if Randy had seen the excavation.

Container gardening: The fun art of creating and maintaining a self-contained garden. Annuals, perennials, compact shrubs, ornamental grasses, herbs, vines and even veggies, solo or in combination with each other, are what containerized gardens are made of. Creating one of your own isn't difficult; you just need to consider all these parts: Container This can be anything your imagination can muster up. Ideally, it should have bottom drainage holes and...

Rugged but artful dry streambeds can look as old as the hills, but they turn tricky drainage problems into handsome elements in any garden design. Dry streams are really just above-ground drainage channels lined with rocks and placed to look as though nature had done the work herself. When it rains, water that would otherwise cut a muddy swath through a yard splashes along the stones in a streambed designed to handle the flow. When it's not raining, the dry streambed is a striking decorative feature, a rock garden around which plants naturally thrive.

The towering sign at the corner of Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard andDorsey Road warns that "Light Rail is Coming Your Way." But not any time soon.The first light rail stop in Anne Arundel County won't open until May 1993. And the line won't reach that spot at Dorsey Road and Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard until the following August, said John Von Briesen, the Mass Transit Administration's project manager.Meanwhile, Ferndale and Linthicum residents can watch the line take shape from their front porches.