Problems & Solutions

Shady Grove Landscaping Transforms This Residential Backyard

Fern Cook, owner of Shady Grove Landscaping,  will tell you that she is a residential remodeling contractor not taking on projects involving any new construction or any commercial projects. She says, “I'm making relationships with people and doing everything that I can do to help them live outside. My designs are very tailored both to their budget goals and how I can best spend their money to make everybody want to be in their yard.”

When it is a yard used by children, her creativity particularly runs wild. For instance, all children love a play-set. And so Fern will create a yard of play.  She says, “If they have a real steep hill, instead of building out a wall in the flat spot for a swing set, I will do a series of climbing walls and slides that go down the hill.” 

And her clientele can come to her from unlikely places. For this project, the client’s mother met Fern’s mother and told her that they couldn't find a good landscaper. This beautiful home belongs to a family of five: two little girls, ages five and six, a baby and busy working parents. 

Common for a lot in the Decatur, Georgia, area, it's on a very steep hill and backs up to the stormwater creek drainage area. The front yard is a steep hill with a long driveway so the back yard was always wet, as all the water flowed in that direction. In addition, water came from a neighbor’s yard creating a swampy back yard where the children played. It took work to turn the yard into a functional and pleasing space. 

“In the front, there was established turf that wasn't doing well,” Fern says. “The builder, when grading, had left an incredibly steep hill; it dropped six and a half feet over 18 feet.” This caused problems for the family in simple upkeep. Fern says, “The client could not mow his own grass; he was trying to weed-eat it and becoming frustrated.”  

They also didn't have easy egress to the street in a family-friendly neighborhood. The plan needed to incorporate a walking path. “To address the ability to easily and safely walk up and down the yard, we added these cut flagstone step treads that then space out at the bottom toward the front door,” Fern explains. “It is good for curb appeal as it draws the eye to the front door, and also for ease of walking. But the reason they're spaced out is to allow for water movement.” 

She also had a simple metal handrail installed, which had to be hand-fabricated. The lot included a drainage easement that the family is required to maintain. The builder put in new drain lines a couple of years ago and left jute mesh and pine straw. This resulted in weeds and mesh that you couldn’t dig through. 

Fern first designed the hill with a water feature, but the budget did not allow it. Instead, there are terrace walls with planting pockets and flat spaces for plants. Now, Fern says, “This is the kids’ planting gardening, with a couple of structural plants cascading, some Ajuba ground cover and one juniper to hold things together and hold it down in the winter time.”  

Before and after of the backyard playing area

As she designs, she shows the plants full grown so that she doesn't overplant. “There is a low growing ground cover of simple monkey grass and a new low growing camellia,” Fern says. “I needed monkey grass not only to stabilize the hill, but also so that the client didn’t have to mulch once it all grows in. They'll have to hand-pull weeds a little, but it creates a much more low-maintenance design.”

The driveway side yard is a brutal place to try to make plants happy. It's located between the hardscape of the house and driveway, and lots of runoff came from the front yard and washed the plants out. During the day, it is shaded but in the late afternoon, it gets the brutal Georgia sun. In addition, it's a place that the family sees every single day. 

 
Sloped Driveway Before and After

This became a fairy garden for the children. It consists of a rock garden with a river rock bed and pots from which Fern cut the bottom out so that they could exchange air and water and nutrients with the soil while raising the crown of the plant up above the hot rocks. 

The family already had a covered deck and a play fort in the backyard. Fern says, “In Georgia, we have red clay that doesn't drain. I try to use gravity as much as I can. The water moves downhill, and if you give it a place to go it will go there. If the play fort had not already been there, I might have regraded this whole back yard, making high ground and low ground and directing the water where I wanted to. I needed to work with what was already present in order to keep costs low for the client.” 

Fern installed pipes that connect to the downspouts from the house and lead the water away from the lot. They brought in 30 yards of dirt and 10 yards of sand to pitch the water to the back of the yard where it can drain. At the end of the job, Fern just had one thing left to do: set up the lights and enjoy the work. Now, this is a yard the family can enjoy.

About

Shady Grove Landscape Company, established in 2004, remains a boutique, hands-on, residential landscape firm providing thoughtful design and renovation service in Northeast
Atlanta. Led by Fern Cook, an experienced team of multifaceted craftsmen seeks to transform your landscape into exactly what you want and need to enjoy your style of outdoor living.
www.shadygrovelandscapecompany.com