After completing a glassy, modern addition to their Potomac home, a couple tasked Richardson & Associates with conjuring a landscape that would match the spare refinement of the architecture. “A courtyard had been formed by the addition,” explains principal Joseph Richardson. “We created two separate spaces that offer views from the house.”

Spilling out from the new structure, a chipped-pebble terrace centers on a blackened, stainless-steel reflecting pool rimmed by Yoshino cherry trees. A couple of steps down, demarcated by garage structures, a bosque of eight zelkova trees is anchored at one end by a concrete-and-stucco fireplace. The owners specified mature plantings for the project. “We usually think of how spaces will evolve,” Richardson reflects. “But they wanted to think about now, not the lifespan of the yard. We picked size and scale for day-one impact.”

Addition Architecture: Merle Thorpe Architects, PLLC. Landscape Architecture: Joseph Richardson, PLA, ASLA, Richardson & Associates Landscape Architecture. Landscape Contracting: Thomas Tait Gardens, LLC.

Ideas You Can Use

• Water features can be simple or complex, so think carefully about time, energy and cost of maintenance during the planning stage.
• When planting trees, smaller specimens are better because they can be transported and planted more easily.
• Concrete, porcelain and limestone are popular hardscape choices. Bluestone, which can get hot, is falling out of favor.