Wolfgang Oehme

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Wolfgang Oehme (May 18, 1930 – December 15, 2011) was a German‑American landscape architect known for a bold, grass‑focused planting style. He grew up in Chemnitz, Germany, trained at nurseries, and studied landscape architecture in Berlin and Dahlem. After moving to West Berlin in 1953, he worked in Germany before emigrating to the United States in 1957.

In Maryland, Oehme first worked with Ryan Bruce Baetjer and then for Baltimore County’s planning and parks departments, where he designed playgrounds and parks and later helped landscape the Old Courthouse in Towson. In 1966 he joined the Rouse Company, creating gardens that used ornamental grasses and perennials and avoided lawns, a signature approach that often faced plant‑sourcing challenges.

In 1975 he and fellow landscape architect James van Sweden started their own firm, Oehme, van Sweden & Associates (OvS), in Washington, D.C. The firm became famous for striking, naturalistic plantings that emphasized grasses, perennials, and bold color.

Oehme retired from OvS in 2008 and started WOCO Organic Gardens with Carol Oppenheimer. He frequently traveled to Germany to buy plants and seeds, even smuggling seeds in hollowed‑out books to bring new varieties to the United States when imports were limited.

He was married to Shirley Zinkhan (divorced in 2004) and had a son named Roland. Oehme died in Towson, Maryland, at age 81 from stomach cancer. Colleagues and writers described him as a private, intensely focused designer whose gardens were his main priority.

Oehme was a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects and received several honors, including the Landscape Design Award from the American Horticultural Society (1992), the George Robert White Medal of Honor (2002), and the Longhouse Award (2011). He also taught at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Georgia.