The following issues deal with the management and preservation of the significant cultural landscape features of Dumbarton Oaks Park and provide a framework for the development of the three design alternatives. They encompass a wide range of program areas, from land use to interpretation, and lay out the problems and sometimes offer the solution or resulting action statement.

Land Use

When the Blisses gave the property to the National Park Service, the park was to be a destination for pedestrians only, who were meant to enjoy the designed historic landscape and not use the park as a cut-through trail. By once again making the park a destination, many of the incompatible uses currently imposed on the site would be eliminated. These incompatible uses have caused major damage to significant cultural and natural resources, which has created safety hazards. Dumbarton Oaks Park was designed for leisurely activities, such as strolling, reading, and contemplating, appropriate for an estate garden. The undesirable or incompatible uses include bicycle riding, horseback riding, and unrestrained (unleashed) dogs.

Interpretation

At present when visitors pass through the Lovers’ Lane Gate Entrance, there is no indication they are entering a National Park Service site. Other than a short narrative in the Montrose Park brochure, Dumbarton Oaks Park lacks acknowledgment as a entity separate from Montrose Park or as a landscape associated with Dumbarton Oaks Gardens. The general lack of entrance signs and other interpretive devices leaves visitors unaware of the significance of the historic designed landscape and the National Park Service regulations which serve to protect this resource. An interpretive plan needs to be developed which embodies various interpretive devices, such as signage, brochures, and docent tours, appropriate for a private estate garden setting.

Structures

The damaging effects of encroaching vegetation, weathering, and vandalism, have caused the structural features to deteriorate. Over the years, routine maintenance has been deferred and the structures are now in various states of decay. To preserve all significant structural features, including dams, walls, and garden structures, they should be stabilized and included in a routine maintenance program. As part of the stabilization program, all drainage systems should be maintained in working order (i.e. Lovers’ Lane drainage channel, pebble stream, Spring Grotto, and Old Pump House).

Access and Circulation

In addition to the Lovers’ Lane Entrance, two other pedestrian entry points lead to Dumbarton Oaks Park, lessening the prominence of the Lovers’ Lane corridor. In other areas of the park where the historic path system has been abandoned, social trails have developed. To support the historic alignment of the circular walk, the non-historic entrances and path systems should be abandoned where possible in favor of the original entrance and alignments. An accessible path should be provided within the park to meet the present day standards of Universal Accessibility.

In the past, maintenance vehicles have been driving freely within the park, causing damage to the landscape. Because of the fragile nature of this historic designed landscape, these vehicles should be limited to the farm track only. Design options are necessary for new handicapped parking at the Lovers’ Lane entrance gate and an improved gated entrance at the top of Lovers’ Lane and R Street. No other vehicles should be allowed in the park.

Vegetation

Since its initial design, the vegetation has evolved. At the extremes there are areas where the canopy is denser, or where there is no longer a canopy and invasive vines and shrubs have smothered the historic vegetation. In other areas, the original plantings have "naturalized" within the stream valley as Farrand intended. In all cases, invasive and exotic plants run rampant within the park and have changed the character of the original planting design. A vegetation management plan should be developed to guide the routine maintenance, preservation, and replacement of Farrand-era plants, and the removal of non-historic and invasive plants.

Small-Scale Features

Careful attention to detail is evident in the design and selection of materials within Dumbarton Oaks Park. The cast-stone benches and birdbath, marker and edging stones, and gravestones are all an integral part of this fabric. These features are usually the first ones lost due to natural weathering and vandalism. All small-scale features should be preserved and maintained in their historic locations.

Water Systems