During the first three weeks of August, Mike Prokopchak and many of his employees at Walnut Hill Landscaping in Annapolis spent long days in the White House’s shadow, restoring the Rose Garden, which had not been changed substantively since John F. Kennedy was president.

Sometimes working until 9 or 10 p.m., Prokopchak and his team ensured the garden’s restoration would be finished for a reveal celebration with President Donald Trump and the first family as well as First Lady Melania Trump’s Republican National Convention speech.

“It was humbling to think about all the people that have been in the Rose Garden in the past and all the people that will be standing there in the future,” said Prokopchak, a Harwood native. “It doesn’t matter what color your skin is or what side you’re on; that’s the people’s house.”

The Rose Garden has served as the backdrop of many historic events and speeches over the years. Established in 1913 by First Lady Ellen Louise Axson Wilson, wife of President Woodrow Wilson, the garden was last redesigned by Bunny Mellon during the Kennedy administration.

But the redesign has proved controversial with people taking to social media to criticize the lack of bright colors, the removal of old trees and the addition of sidewalks.

At the reveal celebration, Melania Trump said the restoration allowed for infrastructure and utility updates, and the walking path made it more accessible to people with disabilities.

“Gardens are symbols of growth and hope,” the first lady said. “We celebrate this garden in the hope that future generations will not only enjoy — but also draw inspiration and strength — from this space where so much of our history has been shared.”

Groft took issue with the critics of the work, saying it springs from partisan politics and lack of understanding about gardening.

The crabapple trees that were removed, for example, had been replaced multiple times and were not originals.

The only original items were saucer magnolia trees, which remain in the garden, he said.

“There’s a lot of vitriol out there from people who have developed an intense feeling about this administration,” Groft said. “Anything they would have done, they would have blasted and highly criticized.”

Annapolis-based landscape contractor Loni Moyer said she thought the criticism she saw was mostly undeserved. Many of the new garden photos are being compared to springtime photos before renovation.

“Now we are in the thick of summer. It’s not a fair time to compare,” said Moyer, who owns Garden Girls Landscaping.

White House officials said the recent renovations were paid for by private donations and declined to reveal the cost.

Prokopchak said his company was tapped by Oehme, van Sweden & Associates, one of the project’s primary landscape architecture firms. Another Anne Arundel County resident, Eric Groft of Eastport, is a principal at the Washington D.C. based firm, and the two companies have worked together before, Prokopchak said.

Groft said his team applied more than two years ago to restore the West Wing entrance, and when that project was put on hold, the White House asked them to redesign the Rose Garden.

Many of the changes were long overdue, he said.

They spent months working to ensure the new design would stay true to Mellon’s garden, while also incorporating the first lady’s preference for muted color palates. The three week installation project not only involved landscapers, but masonry and irrigation contractors, and mechanical, civil and structural engineers.

Prokopchak enlisted his oldest son and his friends to help with the renovation.

“It really does take a garden to bring people together,” Groft said. They wanted “to do something for the country and make this a garden for the people.”

Moyer, who said she’s a Democrat, said the design choices to use muted colors flowers and lots of green is “considered a very high-end, high-highfalutin design right now.”

She also called it “very pollinator-friendly.” The boxwoods and Agastache plants will attract bees and butterflies.

“It’s a young garden, it’s not terribly exciting at this moment,” she said. “(But) it made sense when I looked at it.”

Said Moyer: “Of all my quibbles with this administration, this isn’t one of them.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.