Trump’s White House Rose Garden Pave-Over Is Upon Us
The White House Rose Garden looks different these days. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump announced his intentions to alter elements of the White House’s exterior, including the historic Rose Garden. The New York Times previously reported the president’s plans to remove the plot’s grass and replace it with hardscape—possibly limestone—for a patio, and potentially some hardwood floors for dancing. Construction began last month, and new photos reveal that the project is nearing completion. The lawn that has centered the green space since 1961 has been paved over with concrete, separated from the garden’s namesake rose bushes by neatly trimmed shrubs.
The president explained in an interview with Fox’s Laura Ingraham in March that he wanted to give the space, which sits just outside his Oval Office, “a gorgeous stone” patio experience. “You know, we use [the Rose Garden] for press conferences, and it doesn’t work because the people fall…. It just didn’t work,” he said, citing the wet terrain and “women with the high heels.” He expressed that “the roses stay,” and that “it’s just the center section” of the garden that would get an overhaul. The Times reported that the makeover is intended “to resemble a patio like the one he has at Mar-a-Lago”—the Palm Beach resort he’s owned since 1985, which is where he tends to hold court with club members. The overhaul, undertaken by the National Park Service, is being funded by the Trust for the National Mall.
In June, a White House spokesperson told People that the first couple “have deep respect for the history of the White House and for the Rose Garden” and referred to the project, which is scheduled for a mid-August completion, as a “restoration” that “preserves the beauty of the space and builds on the work done in 2020,” when Melania Trump added a limestone border.
Once complete, what might the new Rose Garden look like with this Floridian vision in mind? After the changes were announced in March, we reached out to interior and landscape designers familiar with Mar-a-Lago’s flamboyant aesthetic, along with experts familiar with the horticultural history of roses, to get their take on the news.
Why does Trump want to pave over the White House Rose Garden?
It may sound extreme to pave over the grass in such a legendary space. Trump reportedly wanted hardscaping on the plot out of concern about foot traffic on the garden’s soft terrain, according to reports from CNN and The New York Times. “All of this foot traffic likely puts a lot of wear and tear on the lawn, so they may be looking for something more durable,” says Kristine Paulus, a contributor to The Rose Book, a text featuring essays exploring the horticultural history of the rose.
link
