Landscaping in Roswell

The Chattahoochee River Corridor protected under the Metropolitan River Protection Act covers land within 2,000 feet of the banks and runs from immediately downstream of Buford Dam to the Fulton and Douglas county boundaries, which takes in a substantial amount of riverside Roswell. Inside it, a 50-foot undisturbed buffer sits against the bank and a 150-foot impervious surface setback restricts concrete, gravel, pavers and structures. On a riverside lot that moves patios, paths and gravel areas uphill of the setback and turns the ground below it into planting.

Away from the river, Roswell lots tend to be larger and more heavily wooded than the Perimeter suburbs, which changes the landscape brief. Bigger properties mean more edge to maintain, more woodland to manage rather than plant, and more scope for a design that treats the wooded portion as a resource rather than as leftover ground. The plant palette that suits it is a Piedmont woodland palette.

Slope is the other constant. A lot that falls toward the river or toward a tributary sheds storm water fast, because Piedmont clay absorbs at around half an inch an hour and Atlanta storms deliver considerably more than that. Grading, swales and dry creek beds do more useful work on this ground than pipe does, and matting plus deep-rooted planting is what keeps a bare slope from moving in the first storm after it is exposed.

Permits in Roswell are issued by the City of Roswell rather than by Sandy Springs, so the specific tree and land disturbance thresholds are that city's to publish. State-level rules do not change at the boundary: the 4 p.m. to 10 a.m. outdoor watering window under O.C.G.A. 12-5-7, the 25-foot state waters buffer and 50-foot trout stream buffer under the Erosion and Sedimentation Act, and the Metro North Georgia Water Planning District irrigation requirements all apply.