Craig Richmond Landscape Architects

Imagine what our streets would look like if they were lined with trees older than 100 years. What if we gave trees priority over utilities and automobiles, and gave them enough space to grow old?

This office park in Bethesda, Maryland, is loaded with huge oaks. There are some areas that I would consider having a picnic at on the weekends. While the local parks are crowded, you could find a shady, grassy acres of manicured lawn all to yourself.

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I have to laugh at the landscape plans for small residences for county approvals. The plan shows a lot of text and calculations to plant four trees and eight shrubs, but I understand what Prince George's County is establishing a minimum standard for tree plantings.

The City of Baltimore has approved the permit drawings for Clare Court II, and construction is planned to start this summer. We located the apartment building and parking lot to avoid removing or damaging the healthy existing specimen trees.

Although this Blue Salvia isn't native to the Mid-Atlantic, it is an American native. It's a tough plant that I have used since I began my career as a landscape architect. This planting bed gets blasted with salt in the winter and never gets supplemental water, and the plants are healthy.

This area was redesigned a few years ago, and I think the County made a mistake. There are ambush points all over it. Many pedestrians walk past this area at night. Landscape architects are trained at the university to avoid creating dangerous pedestrian conditions.

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My old mentor used to say, "Don't put any more ink on the paper than is needed to communicate your ideas." I apply the same thinking to the modern digital world.

Proudly serving DC, MD, and VA
Call: 301-920-0424
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Just a friendly reminder. It's June and the Serviceberry (Juneberry) trees should be full of ripening fruit. Some folks like to make jam from them. I like to eat them straight from the tree (a little dirt won't hurt you).

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In the image shown, what you see is not black-colored mulch or topsoil; it's shredded hardwood mulch that was applied in the fall, cultivated (mixed up), and raked out in June. It looked as dark as new mulch until the upcoming fall.

This Zelkova held it's own for decades. It broke through the concrete curb that was poured around it's root flare and started to uplift the interlocking pavers surrounding it. But, salt, other pollutants, drought and restricted root growth is about to end its life.

On the first green roof I designed, the contractor had to bring all of the materials up in the freight elevator before the building's interior was finished. Now, most green roofs have the soil medium shot into place. This green roof is in the historical Anacostia Neighborhood in DC.

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I've always considered Oak Leaf Hydrangea a residential accent plant. Still, this group seems to enjoy life next to a parking lot on the Montgomery College campus in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Proudly serving DC, MD, and VA
Call: 301-920-0424
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You would think that a perfect specimen like this Willow Oak would be in the middle of a meadow, but no, this one is against a curb in a parking lot. This office park in Bethesda, Maryland, has some incredible large oaks.

Proudly serving DC, MD, and VA
Call: 301-920-0424
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Construction to begin this summer.

Even athletic turf needs some time to recover. People play on this field almost every day of the week when it's not raining or freezing. I guess the County just core aerated, seeded, and fertilized it and is now giving the field some rest. 

Blair Park, Silver Spring, Maryland/DC Border

Some of my clients never set foot in the landscapes I design for them, but I still try to create a garden environment that calls them. My job is to develop the decompression elements into their landscapes for if and when they slow down from their high-powered work lives.

I was amazed at how fast this aggressive vine—I believe it's Morning Glory—took over these concrete planters. It took about two weeks after the last frost to cover the existing plantings. In a short period of time, it could literally smother tens of thousands of dollars in landscape.

I knew native Ninebark was tough, but I learned that hybrid Ninebark is highly durable in Ontario, Canada. I saw it used in traffic medians, where it would get coated in salt and piled on by tons of snow, and then in the hottest, driest part of summer, it thrives with no irrigation. 

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Deep edging is my preferred method for maintaining a planting bed edge. It's becoming a lost art. There's no edging material on which someone could fall and get hurt. Save the money on edging material because it doesn't keep the grass out of the beds; it may slow it down a bit, but not much.

This is the grading and drainage plan for a Great Falls, Virginia, property.

Proudly serving DC, MD, and VA
Call: 301-920-0424
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No Pride

Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fancy-patterned brick pavers were covered by scattered mulch debris. Sadly, this kind of work is becoming the new standard. The landscape industry's lack of professionalism is depressing. Who needs professionals when you can wing it?

Silver Spring

During my walk through on my neighborhood on a beautiful Memorial Day I noticed a new historical marker. It reminded me how much the area was a hotbed for battles and other activities  during the Civil War. I'm always amazed that I walk on the same ground where history was made. 

Blair Park

I'm hoping that the US Secretary of Health and Human Services' ill-advised swim exposes the disgusting state of Rock Creek and brings about a change in conditions.

You would think the Federal government would have found a way to deal with toxic sewage overflows into the creek.

My primary goal is to make some scale adjustments and bring cohesiveness and seasonal interest to the Howard County, Maryland property. For example, I'd transplant the Clethra to different areas on the site where they can grow big.

Sometimes, my new clients look at me like I'm crazy when I excitedly examine their struggling landscape, especially older homes with features like natural stone or large specimen trees.

When I first arrive on a site, I see the property with all the design possibilities already in place.

The randomness of texture, color, shape, and size creates layering and visual interest on this street that a row of one type of tree doesn't accomplish.

Howard County, Maryland.  

Proudly serving DC, MD, and VA
Call: 301-920-0424
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I believe it was sometime in the late 1990s that Knock-out Roses became popular in the nursery/landscape industry. Landscape Contractors and homeowners planted them everywhere, and they even received the dreaded label of 'gas station' plant.