Service Area
Landscaping in Marietta
Marietta is the county seat of Cobb County, about ten miles northwest of Sandy Springs, with a 2020 census population of 60,972 that makes it one of the largest of Atlanta's suburbs. It has the deepest housing history of any place on this list, and a lot of the landscape work here is renovation rather than creation.
An established garden is a different brief from an empty yard. The plants that are already there have a claim: a fifty-year-old camellia, a mature oak, a boxwood hedge that has been clipped for decades. Working out what stays is the first design decision, and it is usually more valuable than anything that gets planted. What follows is editing rather than clearing, and the difference between the two is the difference between a garden that reads as continuous and one that reads as new.
Drainage on an older lot is frequently a legacy arrangement rather than a design. Ground that has been added to, terraced, paved and planted over many decades has flow paths that make sense only historically, and a storm walk is worth more than any amount of guessing. Piedmont clay absorbs at around half an inch an hour, so the surplus in an Atlanta thunderstorm is substantial and it has been finding its own route for a long time.
Mature trees are the other constant, and the rules around them are worth respecting even where they are not enforced. Adding grade over a root zone, tilling inside it, or compacting it under a new patio base all put an established tree into a slow decline that shows up years later. On a property whose value rests partly on its canopy, the cheapest decision available is usually to move the hard surface.
Permitting runs through Cobb County and the City of Marietta. Georgia's statewide rules apply here as everywhere: the 4 p.m. to 10 a.m. outdoor landscape watering window with its exemptions for new installations, drip irrigation and hand watering, the state waters buffers, and the Metro North Georgia Water Planning District requirements on new irrigation systems connected to a public supply.
Work available in Marietta
- Landscape Design and Planting
- A drawn plan for the whole property, then beds shaped, soil amended and plants set in the right season
- Drainage and Erosion Control
- Water intercepted, carried and released somewhere legal, so it stops moving soil and standing against the house
- Retaining Walls and Grading
- Slope turned into usable ground, with drainage behind the wall rather than pressure
- Patios, Walkways and Steps
- Stone laid on a base that will not move, with the water taken somewhere rather than trapped
- Shade Planting Under the Canopy
- Beds that work in four hours of filtered light, planted without wrecking the roots holding the trees up
- Sod and Lawn Installation
- The right grass for the light the area really gets, laid in the season that species is meant to go down
- Irrigation Installation
- Zones matched to what the soil can absorb, controlled by something that knows it has rained
For a price on a specific address in Marietta, call (404) 737-3568 or use the quote form. Neither the visit nor the written quote costs anything.
Worth reading first
Yard Notes
Written for homeowners on this side of Atlanta
The 1,000 Square Foot Rule Most Homeowners Have Never Heard Of
Sandy Springs generally requires a land disturbance permit at 1,000 square feet of ground disturbance. What that covers, what it costs and what the review checks.
Georgia's Watering Hours, and the Exemption That Matters Most
Georgia allows outdoor landscape irrigation only between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. The 30-day exemption for newly installed plants and turf is the one that matters.
English Ivy Is Not a Groundcover Problem, It Is a Tree Problem
The City of Sandy Springs runs a public campaign against English ivy. On a wooded lot the case is simpler than the ecology: it loads the canopy and hides the trunk.
Get a landscaping quote in Marietta
Call (404) 737-3568 or use the quote form, and a Sandy Springs landscaping company prices the work at no charge.