Craig Richmond Landscape Architects

I have worked on a few projects that were never built in my career, but I was pulling for this one. A small congregation had bought a small house and wanted to convert it into a church. The neighbors worked hard to stop the project, so I believe they eventually gave up.

The Long Island neighborhood was the notorious gang MS13's territory. I take pride in doing projects where other landscape architects wouldn't set foot.

Proudly serving DC, MD, and VA
Call: 301-920-0424
landarch1.com

I must admit that I've gone full-bore on specifying native shade and understory trees across all of my commercial sites for about 14 years now, but I'm starting to rethink that approach. I love Ginkgo trees because they can grow in the worst conditions, and they have beautiful yellow fall color.

I understand that the native plant movement is still going on, and I'm curious where everyone else is on the journey. Is anyone out there committed to a plant palette using only natives?

I'm from Cleveland, Ohio, and generally speaking, brown lawns are not acceptable.

It's weird, but in the Midwest, we watered our lawns in the summer to keep them from going dormant. But in the DC area, brown lawns in the summer heat are the norm.

Between the established trees and the slope, this North Kensington, Maryland, home's lawn is dry as toast. It wouldn't be too hard to keep a small lawn area like this one green during the growing season.

Proudly serving DC, MD, and VA
Call: 301-920-0424
landarch1.com

This gets the job done. Architects and Landscape Architects prevent the built environment from looking like this. Kiss one today.

The Malverne House

This Long Island, New York, home was one of my first residential projects when I started my firm in 2008. The client was a retired police officer who did all of the construction, except for the roof and electrical on the house and the landscape, himself.

The project involved a complete gut job of the interior, new siding, and a new garage space beneath the house. So a risky excavation was needed to provide access to the garage. The excavation creates a situation where the drainage design and installation have to be spot on, or you could easily flood the new space. My design has remained sound for a long time.

Sorry, all I have is a Google image of the finished job.

Proudly serving DC, MD, and VA
Call: 301-920-0424
landarch1.com

I don't make it up to Damascus, Maryland, very often, but I wonder how this tree is doing. It was installed under the low limb of an evergreen, which knocked it sideways. Luckily, it wasn't my project; I was hired to do the post-construction inspection. Landscape contractors who do this kind of work give the industry a bad name.

I've been using a lot of groundcover roses, as well as shrub types, throughout my career. They're tolerant of salt and neglect; the deer aren't eating them yet, and they crank out loads of color for so long.

In commercial applications, they're a great barrier plant. Normal people are not going to walk through a thicket of thorns.

Much respect to the modern-day rose varieties. They're not the fussy, little princesses of the garden that they used to be.

These 'Pink Carpet' Roses are thriving at my client's home in a coastal environment with sandy soils and harsh storms.

Proudly serving DC, MD, and VA
Call: 301-920-0424
landarch1.com

For years, as I walked this stretch, I never noticed the ugly powerlines and the butchered street trees. It was because I was always so busy admiring the Star Magnolias on the right. Even when they weren't in bloom, they broke up the building's scale. But now, someone has sheared the Yews into blocks, the Azaleas into blobs, and totally mangled the Star Magnolias.

It's a shame that this landscape look has become the standard. I'd bet money that the people maintaining the plants couldn't tell you the name of a single shrub. It doesn't matter because every shrub will get the same treatment.

I love this view looking down the Potomac River to the Kennedy Center. The burger I had for lunch was delicious, too.

Sequoia DC, Georgetown, Washington, DC

Noyack is a sleepy little hamlet in the Hamptons of Long Island, New York. The client joked about their neighborhood being more down-to-earth than the rest of the Hamptons. He said, "We live in the 'hood of the Hamptons".

I designed the driveway, all the hardscape, and the plantings around 2004. It's one of my favorite projects because the client said, "We've seen your work, and we know you'll do a great job." And they let me do everything I wanted to do. Of course, I worked extra hard on the project to exceed their expectations.

It was a weird property because you pass the backyard and pool as you enter. The strange orientation is because of setbacks, topography, and soil structure. When the trees are in leaf, you don't notice you're driving past the backyard.

Proudly serving DC, MD, and VA
Call: 301-920-0424
landarch1.com