Cost
What landscaping costs in Sandy Springs
Landscape quotes look wildly inconsistent because the scopes are different pieces of work. Here are unit ranges by scope, what moves them on a sloping wooded lot, and the fees the city charges on top.
Everything below is our own estimate of Sandy Springs market pricing, published as a planning aid. It is not a quote and no contractor is bound by it. Ranges are for residential work in and around the Perimeter, and they assume normal access. Steep, narrow or heavily wooded sites where material has to be barrowed rather than driven push the upper end.
Design and planting
| Item | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Design fee for a drawn plan, residential property | $800 to $3,500 depending on the size of the property |
| Bed renovation and replanting, prepared and mulched | $14 to $30 per square foot |
| Shrubs, 3 gallon, supplied and planted | $55 to $110 each |
| Small ornamental tree, 6 to 8 feet, supplied and planted | $400 to $900 each |
| Shade tree, 2 to 2.5 inch caliper, supplied and planted | $700 to $1,600 each |
| Mulch, delivered and spread | $70 to $130 per cubic yard |
Drainage and erosion control
| Item | Typical range |
|---|---|
| French drain, trenched, stone, perforated pipe and fabric | $40 to $85 per linear foot |
| Solid pipe run with catch basin | $35 to $70 per linear foot |
| Downspout collection tied into a buried line | $400 to $900 per downspout |
| Dry creek bed, shaped, lined and stoned | $45 to $95 per linear foot |
| Regrading and swale forming | $4 to $12 per square foot of area worked |
| Slope stabilisation with matting and planting | $8 to $18 per square foot |
Retaining walls and grading
| Item | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Segmental block wall, under 4 feet, with drainage | $40 to $70 per face square foot |
| Segmental block wall, taller, with geogrid reinforcement | $65 to $110 per face square foot |
| Stacked boulder wall | $50 to $95 per face square foot |
| Mortared natural stone wall | $95 to $200 per face square foot |
| Engineered design and drawings, where required | $1,200 to $4,000 |
| Excavation and spoil removal | $60 to $140 per cubic yard removed |
Patios, walkways and steps
| Item | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Concrete paver patio on a compacted base | $22 to $40 per square foot |
| Natural flagstone or bluestone, dry laid | $32 to $60 per square foot |
| Natural stone set on a concrete base | $45 to $80 per square foot |
| Permeable paver system with open-graded base | $30 to $55 per square foot |
| Stone or block steps, supplied and set | $350 to $900 per step |
| Poured concrete, broom finish | $14 to $26 per square foot |
Lawn and irrigation
| Item | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Sod, supplied and laid on prepared ground | $1.40 to $3.20 per square foot depending on species |
| Soil preparation and grading before sod | $0.60 to $1.60 per square foot |
| Tall fescue seeding, prepared and sown | $0.35 to $0.85 per square foot |
| Irrigation, new system | $3,500 to $9,000 for a typical residential property |
| Irrigation, per zone | $700 to $1,400 per zone |
| Backflow assembly installed by a licensed plumber | $600 to $1,500 |
The permit fees, which are published
These are the city's own figures rather than an estimate. A residential land disturbance permit in Sandy Springs carries a $25 administrative fee, a $50 certificate fee, a $100 review fee for residential projects, and a land disturbance fee of $200 per lot for residential properties, plus a technology fee that varies with the permit cost. That permit is generally required once 1,000 square feet or more of ground will be disturbed, and can be required below that where the work needs erosion control measures or changes topography or drainage patterns.
Tree removal permits and Tree Conservation Plans are separate submittals through the same portal. Where the removal is tied to construction, the Tree Conservation Plan goes in with the construction documents, which means it belongs in the programme rather than being added later.
What moves a Sandy Springs price
- Access. This is the biggest hidden multiplier on a wooded sloping lot. Material that can be driven to the work is cheap. Material that has to be barrowed 150 feet downhill through a gate is not.
- Slope. Everything is harder on a grade, and everything that holds a grade needs drainage behind it. A flat back yard and a falling one are different jobs at the same square footage.
- Spoil. Excavated clay has to go somewhere, and hauling it off a site with poor access is a real line item rather than a rounding error.
- Tree protection. Working inside root zones means hand digging, air tools, and slower progress. It is worth it, and it costs.
- Buffers. A property inside a stream buffer or the river corridor may need a variance or ARC review, which is a schedule cost as much as a fee.
- Season. Fall is the right time to plant and it is also the busiest time to book a crew.
A worked example
A common Sandy Springs brief: a back yard falling away from the house, water crossing it after every storm, a patch of failing lawn under oaks, and nowhere flat to sit.
- Drainage: 90 feet of collection and pipe with two catch basins, plus three downspouts tied in. Roughly $6,000 to $10,500.
- Retaining: a 40-foot segmental block wall averaging 3 feet high, 120 face square feet, with drainage behind. Roughly $4,800 to $8,400.
- Patio: 350 square feet of concrete pavers on a compacted base, plus four steps. Roughly $9,100 to $17,600.
- Planting: 600 square feet of shade bed converted from failing lawn, prepared and planted. Roughly $8,400 to $18,000.
- Permit fees: $375 plus a technology fee.
That lands somewhere between about $28,700 and $54,900 before design. The spread is wide for a reason, and most of it is access, slope and material choice rather than anyone's margin. The budget estimator narrows it for a specific property.
What quotes normally exclude
- Permit fees, unless the quote says otherwise
- Arborist reports and engineered wall drawings
- Irrigation modification where a new bed or wall cuts an existing line
- Rock, which the Piedmont does deliver, usually at the worst moment
- Anything found under the ground that nobody could see beforehand
- Ongoing maintenance and warranty periods on plant material, which vary a great deal between companies
The quote reading guide goes through each of these line by line.
Sources
Permit fee figures and thresholds are published by the City of Sandy Springs on its Land Disturbance Permits page. All other ranges are our own estimates of local market pricing.