Park Potomac: Celebrating Luxury and Community in a Vibrant, Mixed-Use Hub

If you plan things right, you could move into Park Potomac and never have to leave.

The popular mixed-use development of townhouses, condos, apartments, office buildings, a shopping center, and restaurants offers everything you need, day and night.

You could live in The Perry, the development’s luxury apartment community, and there are plenty of places to work, from a financial services company to a veterinary clinic.

Buy your clothes and groceries here, get your watermelon margarita fix at a fun Mexican restaurant or head to a Zumba class on the lawn.

Grab an oat milk latte from the coffee shop, watch your pooch frolic in the enclosed dog park, meet up with friends to feast on fresh oysters at King Street Oyster Bar, maybe enter a bocce ball tournament for fun.

You get the idea. Once you’re there, why leave?

“We’re trying to create and maintain a sense of community at Park Potomac,” says Jim Crawford, property manager of this site managed by Foulger-Pratt. “People work here, play here, dine here, shop here.”

There’s a lot going on all the time, so the whole site has to look great, right down to the grassy green lawns, the wide beds of cheerful yellow daylilies, and the pretty hanging baskets of blooming pink begonias.

That’s where Level Green Landscaping comes in, tending to the green growing needs of this bustling, high-end property.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” says Dave Briggs, the Level Green account manager who has handled Park Potomac for several years.

Here’s a look at how Park Potomac’s landscaping adds to the wow — and what it takes to keep it looking great.

Creating That Sense of Community

This high-end, mixed-use community is in Potomac, Maryland, strategically sited at the intersection of I-270 and Montrose Road in the heart of Montgomery County outside of Washington, DC.

Characterized as a “world-class urban village” it’s become a popular destination to live, work, and play. In addition to luxury high-rise condominiums and brownstone townhomes, the community also offers Class A office space, fine dining, and boutique shopping in one upscale setting.

Creating that sense of community Crawford loves includes a full calendar of events that attract crowds to Park Potomac’s grassy lawns, tidy paver patios, and a bustling center court area with a tented stage, bocce court, dog park, and putting green.

Families and groups of friends gather here for everything from painting sessions beneath the big white tent to live music and comedy to girls’ nights out as women cluster around flickering fire pits for movies, wine, and s’mores.

Adding to the festive atmosphere is an impressive fountain that adds splash and ambience in the center court area, strings of twinkling lights overhead, and huge planters brimming with beautiful blooms.

“That area is really occupied on weekends and evenings by people who live there, people going to the restaurants and bars,” Briggs says. “I see people out there having lunch out front, gathering together, happy. It’s quite a public space.”

“It’s a focal point of the property and it’s used extensively,” Crawford adds.

It has to look great all the time, but the slew of special events adds extra eyes on everything.

“Jim might call and say, ‘Hey, we have a car show this weekend,’” Briggs says.
“So I’ll go over beforehand to make sure everything looks great.”

Expectations are high.

“This is Potomac, Maryland,” Briggs says. “It’s high dollar.”

Dozens of Details Matter

Ask Briggs about his landscape maintenance goal for this place and he makes it sound simple: “Keep everything looking great.”

But there’s a long list of eagle-eye details to make that happen. There’s a lot to tackle here, from aesthetics to safety. Meticulous weekly maintenance is crucial.

Crews cover the property, mowing, trimming, weeding, edging, pruning, deadheading, always on the lookout for potential safety issues.

• No tree limbs hanging down to snag pedestrians. No grasses flopping over onto walkways. No loose or missing pavers.
  
  
• Beds have to be free of weeds, and spring clean-up always includes a fresh topping
  of rich brown mulch.
  
  
• Crews visit every seven to 10 days and Briggs stops by often for quality inspections and to check in. Do the flower beds need extra attention? Are weeds under control? Any damage from a recent storm?
  
  
• Maple trees on the property need their canopies elevated occasionally so they don’t block the view of Park Potomac from busy Interstate 270.
  
  
• When exuberant pups dug up the grass in the popular on-site dog park, Level Green crews replaced it with more practical wood chips.

The Challenge of Healthy Turf

Green, lush grass with few weeds is the goal for a luxury site like Park Potomac, where lots of fun happens outside.

But the property is in Montgomery County, where laws ban the use of certain pesticides on private lawns that control weeds, insects, and diseases.

The goal is still to keep turf as thick and healthy as possible, so weeds can’t compete. So regular aeration and overseeding is a crucial part of turf care here, Briggs says.

Aeration uses a machine to pull out tiny cores of soil from the Park Potomac lawn, allowing water and oxygen to get to the roots, so they can grow nice and deep. Grass seed follows, as the holes created are perfect new homes for new seed.

When you can’t spray weed killer, you want grass filling in any empty spots, so new grass is growing all the time.

“This site has held up pretty well with fall aeration and seeding to keep the grass strong,” Briggs says.

Wowing with Flowers

Seasonal rotations of bright, impressive flowers are a highlight of the landscaping at Park Potomac, surrounding residents, workers, shoppers, and diners with beautiful blooms in beds, planters, and hanging baskets.

“They have a huge impact,” Briggs says.

Everywhere you look, something’s in bloom — New Guinea impatiens, dragon wing begonia, lantana, hibiscus, petunias.

Expansive beds of colorful flowers offer an impressive big picture, while planters packed with carefully chosen arrays of intriguing tropical plants pack a punch up close.

In the fall, crews remove the summer annuals and tropicals and replace them with cold-hardy evergreens, pretty pansies, and ruffly ornamental kale.

“A few years ago, we got an award from the county for how nice the flowers look here,” Briggs says.

Staying Out of the Way

A place as popular as Park Potomac has people coming and going day and night.

It’s a big challenge for landscaping crews trying to keep the place looking great without annoying anybody.

“The biggest challenge is that from midday on there’s a lot of people out here,” Briggs says. “So, we come early and get things taken care of. We visit first thing in the morning so we can address the areas that are busy during lunch, then we do the outer areas after lunch.”

“If Jim Needs Something, You Do It”

Briggs walks the Park Potomac site several times a year with property manager Crawford, reviewing details big and small.

“This site is also the development company‘s headquarters, so they want everything to look good,” Briggs says. “This is the kind of customer I love. They own it and they want it to look good.”

It means Briggs goes the extra mile.

“When I get a call from Jim with any issue, it’s taken care of as soon as possible,” Briggs says. “I might take a picture of a sign that’s damaged in case Jim hasn’t seen it yet.

“A lot of what we do is for the property manager,” Briggs says. “Their workload seems to be increasing all the time. It makes Jim’s life a little easier to help keep the phones quiet.”

Crawford appreciates the attention to detail.

“One thing I’ll say about Dave Briggs and Level Green is that when things do come up,“ he says, “they’re very responsive and issues are addressed immediately.”

“If Jim needs something done,“ Briggs says, “you do it. Going by and picking up a tree branch is no big deal, but it’s a big deal to them. And that’s the point.”

Looking to take your commercial property to the next level? Contact us today and see how Level Green Landscaping can help.