Urban neighborhoods are bustling spaces with hard concrete and slick glass, but they’re not always known for plants.
Level Green Landscaping landscape designer Tom Adams is changing that, with areas of cool shade, pops of pretty color and pocket parks that offer welcome respite from the bustle of urban life.
“Plants make a place relaxing,” Adams says. “Almost like a sanctuary.”
How do plants shape urban areas? They offer vibrant pops of color in a gray cityscape. They improve your mood and reduce stress. They produce oxygen and add a valuable cooling effect. Plants create habitats for wildlife and pollen for pollinators.
Adams shares how landscaping in urban development can elevate a busy city space.
Let’s learn more about urban landscaping design, including:
First, what exactly is placemaking?
Placemaking is transforming public spaces into vibrant, community-centered areas where people want to spend time. It focuses on creating places that aren’t just functional, but are appealing spaces where people linger and enjoy.
Bringing a slice of the natural world to an urban cityscape is a great way to achieve that, Adams says.
“No matter where we are, we want a natural space to just enjoy,” Adams says. “A place to disconnect and reconnect.”
Designing urban spaces with plants creates tranquil havens amid the bustle.
Plants provide blissful beauty in the concrete jungle, offering a host of benefits:
The Boro, a Level Green client, is a great example of an urban property where green space shines.
Characterized as a “world-class urban village,” it’s a premier mixed-use development in Tysons, Virginia, where the landscaping is a crucial part of the welcoming vibe.
Towers of shimmering glass and hard concrete are softened by drifts of cascading ornamental grasses and fluffy mounds of bright pink begonias, planted by Level Green crews in masses that stretch in front of storefronts and restaurants in long raised planters for huge impact.
Seasonal rotations of bright, impressive flowers are a highlight of the landscaping, surrounding residents, workers, shoppers, and diners with beautiful blooms in beds, planters, and hanging baskets.
Crisp white Adirondack chairs and picnic tables nestled on expanses of soft green grass offer a place to relax or enjoy lunch beneath cooling shade trees.
The landscaping offers beauty, respite, and a definite sense of placemaking. People want to be there.
When Adams designs landscaping elements for an urban area, he draws on his own happy experiences with the natural world.
“I grew up in the country, where there were acre plots for every house,” he says. “I grew up surrounded by pastures and fields and patches of woods and creeks. My happy place is in nature.
“I want to bring a bit of my personal happiness to every design I work on.”
He knows he’s not alone. Everybody appreciates connecting with nature.
When Adams worked on the landscaping team at the University of Maryland, a mallard duck built a nest in a campus flower bed.
“The students thought it was great,” he said. “Many of them weren’t used to wildlife being two feet away. They were really intrigued by it.”
He loves including fun surprises in his urban landscaping.
“I like to come across something unexpected in the landscaping,” he says. “You turn a corner and bam, there’s green and color. You’re drawn to it.”
How does he bring the vitality of the outdoors to bustling urban properties?
“I always try to provide shade,” Adams says. “If there isn’t room for a large shade tree, I at least want something to block the sun for people sitting or walking through.
“It gets hot here,” he says. “The air doesn’t move. But get in the shade and it’s 10-15 degrees cooler, which is nice.”
Shade helps lower temperatures by blocking sunlight from hitting buildings and pavement, which are both major heat absorbers.
Shade lowers energy costs, too — buildings shaded by trees or structures need less air conditioning, which saves energy and reduces utility bills.
Plus, shade just plain feels great on a hot day.
“If you provide shade, people will sit and linger for a bit,” he says. “People want to be comfortable.”
He tells of an older school in Washington DC that has big shade trees on the property. Then they added an addition to the school but didn’t add any trees.
“You can see that the wear and tear in the turf is where the trees are,” he says. “That’s where the kids want to hang out.”
“I love using plant material to bring birds and pollinators in,” he says. Birds, bees and butterflies bring an instant bit of nature to the urban landscape as they flit and flutter among city plants.
Meet bee balm. Tom loves it for urban landscaping.
“It’s a powerhouse for pollinators,” he says.
Beebalm, also known as monarda, is a fragrant perennial in the mint family that attracts pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds with tubular flowers in shades of red, pink, and purple.
He loves using itea to attract pollinators, too. Also known as Virginia sweetspire, it’s a native deciduous shrub Adams can use in a variety of ways, from hedges to mixed beds to rain gardens or containers. It’s great for adding vibrancy to the urban landscape through all of the seasons with flower spikes from late spring to early summer, and brilliant fall color for multi-season appeal.
Many urban properties are tight on space. No problem, Adams says.
“You can make a small pollinator garden in a planter,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be big.”
People pass through urban areas during all four seasons, Adams says, so he keeps that in mind when creating his designs.
“So, no matter when people are walking through or visiting or going to work there’s something different to see,” he says.
He has a few favorites for year-round interest:
A four-season winner, this medium-sized tree offers pretty white flowers in spring, bird-loving berries in summer, fiery foliage in fall, and silvery bark through the winter.
The stems of this stunning shrub turn bright red when the foliage drops in autumn. It offers white flowers in spring and berries that ripen from green to white by the end of summer. The variegated variety has pretty green and white dappled leaves.
This low-maintenance shrub is known for its colorful changing foliage, which emerges greenish-yellow and darkens to a reddish-purple with a golden center. It produces white and pink flowers in late spring and bright red fruit in the fall.
Urban properties can take a beating. Adams has to consider a host of challenging situations as he plans urban property designs:
Adams knows the benefits of placemaking with plants, and his urban landscape designs incorporate everything from cooling shade to bright bursts of color to plants that invite pretty pollinators to brighten the urban landscape.
“A pocket park or even a small sitting area can change how you feel,” Adams says. “It’s re-setting.”
Level Green offers urban landscaping services in DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland.
Our clients include commercial, office, mixed-use, retail, HOA, condominium, municipality and institution properties.
We’d love to hear from you. Call us at 202-544-0968, or request a free consultation online to keep your commercial property looking great.