so 
Here’s the before-and-after visual I’m seeing everywhere online – the lawn at the center of the White House Rose Garden, now ripped up and paved over. Some of the “after” images look even worse – just a massive expanse of unadorned poured concrete. This photo shows the patterning and drainage holes.
So while commenters are going nuts, let’s dig deeper into what’s happening there.
Photos of construction have been pretty shocking.
This photo and the next make me show my ignorance and ask – if these are individual pavers, what’s the blue tape for? And btw, what kind of pavers are they?
Why is this being done?
Now to be honest, very few people are bemoaning the loss of turfgrass, which wasn’t the best surface for the many functions held there. Not to mention the usual reasons people hate lawns. And many of us defended the changes made during the first Trump term as long-planned and necessary.
So about the removal of the lawn, many of us thought that maybe a brick or flagstone patio would keep women’s shoes dry, improve accessibility and even look good. Could be classy!
Is the “renovation” done?
But sorry, this most recent image posted by CNN’s Kaitlin Collins shows the project is just getting worse. Less classy by the day.
I posted this image to Reddit’s NoLawn subreddit and overwhelmingly, the commenters made fun of the yellow umbrellas, likening them to some male anatomy, mushroom-shaped of course. Sadly, Reddit took down my post and other posts on the subject are missing the provocative umbrellas.
In addition to the loss of green space and a unique historic horticuItural treasure, I hope every pollinator in DC heads right over there to the stupidly chosen yellow and white umbrellas and stings every one of those a–h—s right in their backsides. Who knows anything about gardens or even anything about nature and selects yellow and white? They must be working with morons. Duh- what a surprise. Every wasp in Washington will be stirred up! And right in the heart of pollinator madness no less. I hope an army of hornets lands on them.
I totally agree! But then there would be someone (most likely a person of color) out there spraying insecticide every day. And probably the remaining shrubs would be ripped out in case they harbored more insects! Oh horrors, insects in a garden….
It’s sad but it’s the new norm. It doesn’t have to stay that way.
I guess you never heard a phrase: be careful what you wish for?
Well done Susan. I’m waiting for the Tiki Bars to go in each corner and the outdoor sofas to arrive. I’m guessing they will put in large planters filled with tropical trees. If they do, then they can string some patio solar lights back and forth to give some Florida vibe. Will there eventually be a raised platform for Karaoke?
The blue tape is concerning. Do you think there is a chance some of this project is stamped concrete
too soon to be so hostile and judgmental, imho. Such a patio area could be enriched by adding perimeter planters with robust annuals to add enclose if the umbrellas over table and chairs suit a casual gathering. Surely those would be removed for a large outdoor press conference
Agree. Frankly I think it looks nice and I’m sure it’s not finished. I’m sure setting up events on the lawns were an absolute nightmare
The glare is what gets me. Any event on other than a cloudy day (which would be held inside in case of rain) is going to require sunglasses and visors, especially for people over 50.
And where is the glue-on gold motif? Stay tuned.
blue tape likely protects the stone pavers edges until they are set in a subsurface spacing/leveling system
I laugh, that I cry not.
You can’t learn class, no matter how much money you have !! Painful to see for a gardener !!
Sad and classless. An extension of the blight known as Mar Lago. Look at Trumps remodeling of the presidential office, all the charm of a Stuckys restaurant.
Are the roses going to be planted somewhere else around the White House??
The roses are still where they were though possibly replacements for old ones doing poorly. Click the link under the words “many of us“ to find out about the first term changes.
The crabapples were all removed. They were shading the roses, among other problems.
The idea that you might get something “classy” in a garden under Trumps direction is hilarious.
True. I should have bolded COULD be classy. Like a piazza in Italy. Ha!
As others have commented, it’s classless, glaringly white, and just plain ugly. Not to mention the horticultural wasteland created – not that turfgrass is so redeeming, but at least there are probably microbes etc in the soil below it. UGH.
Washington, DC is blistering hot in summer. Although a white hardscape is more light reflective than a dark hardscape, it is definitely hotter than an irrigated lawn that is always moist. I hope they all roast! Perhaps it will be preparation for their next life.
One thing you can say for it, it’s definitely in keeping with other “improvements” at the White House. The Oval Office is now a gilded nightmare that reflects the taste of its regal occupant.
Is it time to start using pseudonyms for comments like this?
I was wondering sbout the temp. In the summer. CONCRETE IS HOT. THE grass bro8fht the temps.way down..anybody who has spent time outside knows this. Omg.
Its ugly…not charmi g, like it could be, done rigbt.An artistic eye did not create this. Yuk.
Red.xmas.trees, hot concrete,..now.a.stupid ballroom…defacing the whitehouse..SHAME.
Sorry about the Rose Garden, but maybe the White House will host Friday night barbecues on the Presidential Patio-Daddy-O and invite working people.
There’s some potential here, whereas the construction on a 90,000 square foot White House Ballroom (That’s a smidgen more than 2 acres) is an insult to decency.
“President Trump, and other patriot donors, have generously committed to donating the funds necessary to build this approximately $200 million dollar structure.”
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/07/the-white-house-announces-white-house-ballroom-construction-to-begin/
The only taste this man has is in his mouth.
What I’ve read that he eats, I don’t think he has taste even there.
It all makes me sad. The glare, the heat sink, the sheer cheesiness of it all just ruins the whole ambience. Yes, the umbrellas are a perfect reflection of the Cheato anatomy, making it quite attractive to wasps as well. Actual WASPs will be repelled by it all 😉 The thought of adding that ballroom monstrosity makes me ill. But, he has no care for gardens or landscapes anyway. One look at Ivana’s gravesite overrun by lawn and weeds under an unkempt hedge gives you an idea of his actual care for the landscape and people.
Agreed. I’m also opposed to paved roads. Cities, airport tarmacs & runways too. Ban all sidewalks. Turn the hornets loose.
This is grotesque!
The perfect emblem for a climate-denying demagogue. And the argument is that it protects women’s shoes is somehow particularly ironic…
Whatever happened to the White House being the People’s House.? This is terrible in so many ways: impermeability, heat, glare,the brutalist uniformity. Guessing petunias and marigolds will feature prominently in auxiliary plantings. And then, the compensatory ballroom!
What’s with the lack of transition between levels? I can’t wait to see who is the first person of note to trip on that step up to the patio while blinded by the glare.
No matter how many Garden Rant readers/responders weigh in, it is fool hardy to think that those professionals who designed this patio would not grade up the perimeter so there is no tripping hazard upon completion. And given this as a White House outdoor space, no it is surely not made of concrete, but a pale colored stone, perhaps granite or limestone. My politics are likely very much like others, but let’s be willing to wait and revisit the project when it is completed.
Chemically infused grass is not ideal, however creating a landing strip of concrete with no aesthetic value is hardly a compatible choice for a rose garden. Wouldn’t it have been less destructive just to suggest to the guests that they wear sensible shoes?
I agree with Eric. Calling a stone patio or gathering place “tasteless” says more about the critic’s own frame of reference than about the choice of materials. Stone has been the go-to for outdoor spaces for centuries, from Roman courtyards to English manor gardens. I’d wager that if this exact patio were tucked behind a grand old house in the Cotswolds, many would be swooning over it. For the record, I think Trump is a disaster and I’d have preferred a more environmentally “green” approach—but let’s not pretend that stone, in itself, is vulgar or garish.
Great idea with the umbrellas. Use whatever color is specific to whoever or whatever is being honored at an event on the tarmac .
I don’t understand why they didn’t match the stone leading from the building, shown, above. It is beautifully cut, a fabulous color, it recedes instead of jumping upward.
Will miss Bunny’s Rose Garden, love all her work.
Credit where credit is fully due. DJT is a master at tapping the aquarium glass to make the guppies scurry about. It’s very easy to research the long history of changes to the area. Notable, that not a single mention of native plants being a focus but let’s not spoil the fun of it with facts.
many presidents and wives have sought to modify the house and grounds, usually with history in mind, but how many have been so oblivious to the natural world both in environmental policy and as we see here in ruthless pursuit of an image of palatial grandeur? Dreams of Empire with himself as Emperor.
What bothers me most is that they act as though this is their property..it belongs to All of Us, and any who come after us.
Stunned that you find this absolute trashing of the WH Rose Garden acceptable. Done with you.
I dont find this “renovation” acceptable at all. What are you referring to?
Drains with cutouts of American flags say it all to me.
I remind you that the WH Rose Garden was also redesigned during the first Trump administration by Melania Trump. Wikipedia describes that renovation in 2020, in the last few months of the first Trump administration: “First Lady Melania Trump commissioned an August 2020 renovation of the garden by Oehme, van Sweden and Perry Guillot. In the flower beds, white and pale pink rose bushes are intermixed with seasonal bulbs and annuals, including the Pope John Paul II Rose in honor of the first time a pope visited the White House in 1979.[A new limestone walk, 36 inches (91 cm) wide to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, was laid around the borders of the garden.[6] The crabapple trees, added during the Kennedy redesign, were relocated elsewhere on the White House grounds as the newer trees were failing to thrive. Many observers described the renovation as “sterile, bland, and devoid of any joy”. Presidential historian Michael Beschloss[10] opined that the renovation was an “evisceration” of the Rose Garden, and that “decades of American history [was] made to disappear.”
I mention that 2020 renovation because the 2nd Trump administration claims to be all about reducing the federal budget so that taxes can be reduced (except tariffs, of course). While federal agencies are being dismantled and over 150,000 federal employees have been fired, the Trump administration is renovating a garden that was renovated only 5 years ago and building a 90,000 sq foot ballroom in the White House. Party on!
I reckon Deborah Silver could make something of it. This space isn’t finished… https://deborahsilver.com/portfolio/
My first thoughts were about heat & glare. Umbrellas & patio furniture? No.
Now it’s been done, it’ll be good to see what they make of it. It’ll probably improve in the next administration.
Maybe since there isn’t much lawn left, they can finally stop Chemlawning what’s left . . .
They Paved Paradise &Put up a Parking Lot
So, my tax $$,$$$,$$$ and from donors who want a seat at the table?
Wow. Let’s be fiscally responsible and conservative. Maybe a ballroom too.
The problem is not so much about the patio, but that the whole Jacqueline Kennedy Rose Garden is gone. The east part of the rose garden.