Landscape Design for Virginia, Maryland and DC
On behalf of a contractor client I’m working with a great couple who are building a new custom home in northern Virginia. As part of the landscape design, they wanted to incorporate a paver front walk and a paver driveway. When they saw the proposal, they were surprised by the cost of the driveway and [...]
You’ve decided to use flagstone in the landscape. Good call! You may not be done making decisions, however. If the stone will be used in an application where you see the edge of the piece (step treads, wall caps, etc) you’ll have to think about the finished look. Thickness The first thing to consider is [...]
Ok, your framing is up and you have the solid foundation for a deck. Now you have choices – what decking to use, and what type of railings? Decking I break decking up into four categories: pressure treated, composite, exotic hardwood, and other. Here’s a little more info on each: Pressure-treated lumber: this is the [...]
Last week I talked about the ledger board and the footers, the first steps in building your deck. Today I’ll cover the next steps. Posts The standard spec for a deck is for it to be supported by 6″x6″ pressure-treated posts. Not only are these sturdier than 4″x4″ posts (the old standard), they’re big enough [...]
When I took this business full time in 2008 two of my first clients were Pat and Allyson Kearney, owners of Old House Vineyards in Culpeper. In the intervening years I’ve done a lot of work for them, including landscaping their home, a new wedding pavilion at the winery, and most recently the tasting room [...]
My name is Dave Marciniak, landscape designer and owner of Revolutionary Gardens, and I use jargon. I’m deeply sorry. However, the fact is that when it comes to building everything has a name. It’s easier to use the technical term than a long-winded explanation. A great example is the French phrase “l’esprit de l’escalier.” It’s [...]
As modern humans, we spend our days surrounded by solid, imposing “stuff”. We live in big brick and wood houses, drive two-ton steel vehicles to work on concrete and asphalt freeways, and go work in big concrete and steel buildings. It makes sense, then that we carry this through to the landscape. Need to block [...]
I’m still recovering from Halloween – 538 trick-or-treaters is a LOT Of kids – and it’s still framing how I look at things. Of the nearly $200 we spent on candy we have a bowlful left, and as I was pawing through the bowl for a mid-morning snack I kept encountering Milk Duds. Boxes and [...]
As I’ve said many times, being a designer is all about soaking up inspiration wherever you can. On our recent trip to Maymont, I was also awed by the pavilion/colonnade combination in the formal garden. I was only half-joking in my title for this post; it seems like everyone has a different name for a [...]
The answer to the question in the headline is “absolutely”. Real bentgrass putting greens are a maintenance hassle, and the synthetic putting greens available today are NOT the ones we had available a decade ago. If you’re picturing that nappy green indoor/outdoor carpeting Uncle Pete had at his hunting camp, you’re in for a treat. [...]
