About Me

Thomas Rainer is a registered landscape architect, teacher, and writer living in Arlington, Virginia. Thomas is a passionate advocate for an ecologically expressive design aesthetic that does not imitate nature, but interprets it. His planting designs focus on creating a modern expression of the ground plane with a largely native palette of perennials and grasses. Thomas has designed landscapes for the U.S. Capitol grounds, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and The New York Botanical Garden, as well as over 100 gardens from Maine to Florida.

Thomas’ horticultural education started early when at the age of fourteen he got a job at a local nursery after school and on weekends and worked there through college.  In college Thomas studied English and philosophy and was on the verge of entering law school when he read an article on landscape architecture. Several years later, he received his Masters in Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia.  One of the most influential parts of his education was the weeks he spent in the field with native plant expert Darrel Morrison studying natives in their community of origin, from the Appalachian ridges to the swamps of Okefenokee.  He discovered a world of fascinating plants arranged in evocative patterns, a stark contrast to the limited palette of "plant materials" that landscape architects traditionally use. 

After graduate school, Thomas worked for the firm Oehme, van Sweden and Associates in Washington, D.C., until 2009. There he mentored under legendary plantsman, Wolfgang Oehme, and learned to design with perennials and grasses. While at OvS, Thomas worked on gardens and landscape all over the Eastern Seaboard. Working in different parts of the country exposed him to a range of different native plant communities, and he learned how to create rich plantings that responded to the sites. He gained a broad range of experience in project types ranging from intimate residential gardens to expansive estates, rooftop gardens, botanical gardens, and national memorials. In 2009, Thomas joined the landscape architectural firm Rhodeside & Harwell in Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas continues to experiment with using bold plantings in large-scale landscape installations, particularly urban and public sites.

Mr. Rainer is an accomplished landscape architect with experience in the design of appealing civic spaces, including government plazas and grounds, streetscapes for prominent boulevards and avenues, and public parks and gardens. He has extensive experience in planting design and ecological planting procedures, including botanical display, perennial design, historical landscapes and gardens, large-scale ecological restorations, and native and sustainable planting. His built projects have been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Home + Design, New England Home, Maine Home + Design, and the Hill Rag.

Thomas Rainer is a specialist in applying innovative planting concepts to create low-input, dynamic, colorful, and ecologically-functional designed landscapes. His work aims at moving planting design from a largely decorative role to one that is essential to addressing the environmental challenges of our day.  In addition to his professional work, Thomas teaches planting design for the George Washington University Landscape Design program. He regularly speaks to groups both large and small, including The Smithsonian Institute, The National Arboretum, and garden clubs throughout the mid Atlantic.  He is starting a new garden in his Arlington home with his wife and one year old child.

This site is a blog about the form, meaning, and expression of designed landscapes.  The articles posted here represent only the opinions of the author.  Grounded Design is not a business site nor an advertisement of design services. 

To contact Thomas, you can email him: groundeddesign@gmail.com, or you can connect at his Linkedin page.  Or follow him on Twitter https://twitter.com/ThomasRainerDC