Landscaping in Washington is a District rowhouse yard: a narrow rear court, a front areaway, maybe a tree box, brick on three sides. There is no acre. Downspouts empty into that court or into an alley that may be higher than the back door. If water stands against the English basement, that is the job, ahead of any planting idea. Shade is the default. Sun is a strip at midday.
Grass struggles. Ivy climbs the party wall and holds damp. One tree can fill the gutter and heave the walk. Containers and a small brick paving are more honest projects than a lawn. Heat off the masonry is real in the afternoon even when the court is shaded in the morning. Describe the space as a court, a strip, or nearly none. A porch-front house may have a few more feet of soil than a flat-front house set on the sidewalk.
Grade is measured in inches and still decides whether the basement stays dry. A neighbor court pitched the wrong way will send water along the party line. Clogged areaway drains are a landscaping problem and a basement problem at once. Leaves from the street tree pack them every autumn. Hauling anything out means the alley or the front steps. There is rarely a gate for a truck.
If the tree is the issue, say roof, foundation, or gutter. If you want plants, they have to tolerate shade or reflected heat, sometimes both in one day. Do not ask for a suburban maintenance plan on a court the size of a room. Mowing, where any grass exists, is a short visit. Drainage is the visit that protects the house.
Look at the back step after a rain. Landscaping in Washington should keep water out of a District rowhouse and make a tiny yard livable between brick walls. Call the number on this page.