In addition to her current efforts on FM 1960 with Green Sides, Barbara Schlattman led the program to decorate medians in the area, called Green Medians.[/caption]

When local grass-roots community leader Barbara Schlattman sought to improve the aesthetics of FM 1960 over a decade ago, she hoped to restore it to the green corridor she remembered from when she moved to the area with husband, Randy, in 1973.

“As an interior designer for 41 years, I have spent most of my life bringing improvements and aesthetics to my clients’ projects,” Schlattman said. “We watched growth gradually nip away the natural beauty of our area into a series of signs and buildings—some attractive and some not. I wished I could make a difference.”

Schlattman co-founded the Green Medians Committee to improve the FM 1960 landscape after learning the Texas Department of Transportation’s plans to add medians in 2004.

“Sadly, we discovered that the plan was asphalt or concrete and no maintenance,” Schlattman said. “We could visualize weeds growing through cracks and unsightly piles of trash.”

TxDOT approved the committee’s wish to plant on the medians if the group could provide landscape construction drawings, maintenance and water, and pay for the landscape project, she said.

"This was our one-time opportunity to make a difference.”

- Barbara Schlattman, interior designer

“They thought they would never see us again,” she said.

The group followed through and raised more than $555,000 to fulfill TxDOT’s requirements and plant the medians, earning her the 2010 Citizen of the Year award from the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce.

One of the medians Schlattman is proud of is on Cutten Road. The median was provided by Cy-Champ Public Utility District and Municipal Utility District No. 191.

Schlattman, who owns Barbara Schlattman Interiors, a residential and commercial interior-design firm, said her design background taught her that the middle of the road should be the focal point for improvements.

“If that looked bad, then no matter how good the sides looked, the area would look rundown,” she said. “This was our one-time opportunity to make a difference, and we had to go for it.”

The committee first hired an architect for landscape drawings and form a steering committee. The Green Medians Committee joined forces with the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce and made the chamber’s foundation the receiver of donations.

The next task was to guarantee maintenance and water, she said. Members of the committee formed a joint-powers board with 14 water districts on FM 1960 to provide maintenance to the medians.

“Fundraising was done by word of mouth, and I gave over 150 speeches to anyone who would listen,” she said.     

“We got every rosebush and tree we wished for,” Schlattman said. “All donations went to the medians and none to overhead.”

Green sides

After the Green Medians project was completed in 2011, Schlattman said she asked people to continue to work on neighborhood improvements.

At the conclusion of the eight-year median project, the chamber foundation created Green Sides, which will plant trees in parking lots along Cypress Creek Parkway—a section of FM 1960. Schlattman is chairwoman of the group.

The trees will be donated and planted by Trees for Houston, and businesses will provide water by irrigation or water truck for the first two years until the trees are established.

The “green spaces” identified in the parking lots will not interfere with the businesses’ advertising or overhead wires, Schlattman said.

The project has not yet begun and has no timeline yet, but Schlattman said it will be an ongoing project.

“Most community improvements are led by volunteers who stand up to make a difference,” she said. “My wish is that every person volunteers to make our area a better place.”

“Barbara Schlattman gets things done,” Jack Cagle, Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner said. “Especially when it comes to partnering on projects which improve our community and improve our neighborhoods, Barbara understands the ins and outs of working what is sometimes a divide between constituents, private entities and government.  Her perseverance in tackling projects is part of what makes her so effective.”