Tree Planting at the Martin Luther King Memorial

Last week, we posted an update to the Martin Luther King Memorial, where the final sections of the Memorial sculpture were recently put in place to much fanfare. Here are our photos from the occasion:

This week, we thought we’d provide a behind-the-scenes look at the work that is going into making the Memorial a remarkable tribute to the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The following are photos from tree planting during the last few weeks at the site:

Proposed tree locations are marked using white flags

Overview of planting beds to be planted before the Thanksgiving Holiday

‘Yoshino’ Cherry trees (Prunus Yedoensis) lined up to be planted on Friday 11/19

‘Yoshino’ Cherry trees (Prunus Yedoensis) planted on Tuesday 11/23

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The Martin Luther King National Memorial

Oehme, van Sweden Principal Sheila Brady (FASLA) was honored to attend the Washington DC Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation Inc.’s Defender of Democracy Awards ceremony on September 16. The awards were presented to U.S. Congressmen John Lewis, Steny Hoyer, James Clyburn, and Bennie Thompson, as well as Maryland State Delegate Herman Taylor.

Oehme, van Sweden has been selected as Landscape Architects for the Memorial, which is currently under construction on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Our work encompasses the landscape design through construction administration. Our designs feature natural elements – water, stone, and trees – used to underscore the themes of justice, democracy and hope. The Memorial’s design is by Kathleen Roma of ROMA Design Group.

Aerial photo (August 2010) of construction work on the Memorial

More information about the landscape elements of the memorial is available here.

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