Landscape Design for Virginia, Maryland and DC
Winter and I have a challenging relationship. I don’t love the way business slows down for a few months, I’m not a fan of the fact that it causes my construction jobs to take longer, and let’s be honest – I’m not a fan of being cold and wet. Winter in this industry often leads [...]
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 [...]
While we were exploring the Japanese garden at Maymont in Richmond, MJ and I fell in love with the stepping stones laid out for crossing the pond. How fun are these? Functionally, I love that they force you to slow down. They’re spaced irregularly yet comfortably. For a public garden like this, I think it’s [...]
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. [...]
I can’t be in denial any longer. The nights are cooling off and leaves are flinging themselves from their trees. Fall is coming! With fall comes an initial blaze of color as the trees turn, followed by a whole lot of brown and gray. Luckily we have a gorgeous plant for fall color: Winterberry holly, [...]
I received a call from a homeowner for a landscape design in Bristow, Virginia. They were looking to make a lot of changes, and after they signed the landscape design proposal and I started the site analysis, I noticed something we hadn’t talked about: their storage space left a little to be desired. That’s quite [...]
Waaaaay back in February (was it really that long ago? Jeez!) I wrote about texture as an element of landscape design. While walking around the National Mall in Washington, D.C. I encountered this great example of contrasting textures: That’s Mahonia bealei (aka Oregon Grape Holly) in the back, with variegated Hosta in the front. Stunning!
