Landscaping Ideas Atlanta

Grow Edibles in Your Garden

You may remember visiting the backyard vegetable patch at your grandma’s as a kid, but if you want to see the next wave of edible gardening you need to visit the Atlanta Botanical Garden. This demonstration garden opened in 2010 and includes many varieties of fruits and vegetables. The design of the garden proves that edibles make attractive landscape plants. There is also an impressive vertical wall of herbs. Throughout the year, local chefs present cooking classes using ingredients grown in the garden at the adjacent outdoor kitchen. Visit the garden to see what edibles grow best in the Atlanta area and how you can grow them in an attractive manner.

Learn more about vegetable garden design

See more reasons to visit the Atlanta Botanical Garden, from Garden Design

Atlanta Botanical Garden

Manage Water Creatively

Atlanta’s Historic Fourth Ward Park (H4WP) is a great example of how to manage stormwater in a way that is effective, environmentally sound and appealing. While this is a large scale project, many of its principals can be applied to residential properties. A stormwater retention pond is the chief feature of the park. A water wall with sculptural elements, as well as many other aesthetic features, makes this pond into a beautiful public park. HDR, Inc., an architecture, engineering, consulting, and construction firm, won a Georgia ASLA Merit Award for the design of this project. If your property is prone to flooding, or you just love water features, H4WP is a great place to visit full of ideas.

Get ideas for harvesting rainwater

Historic Fourth Ward Park

Break up a Hillside with a Covered Path

If you enjoy taking day trips out of the city consider visiting Gibbs Gardens, a 220 acre residential estate garden that is open to the public six days a week. This garden is full of landscaping ideas, from swimming pool design to an amazing daffodil display. Pictured here is the rose arbor, which provides cover for a path that gently curves along a hillside. Stone walls above and below the arbor help level out the slope and create a flat space for the path. Climbing roses cover the arbor while many other plants provide colorful blooms in the foreground. This is an excellent way to use a hillside that otherwise would be a problem in most gardens.

Get more hillside landscaping ideas

Gibbs Gardens

Warm up with a Backyard Fireplace

A fire place will extend the potential of your outdoor living space into the early spring and late fall when temperatures in Atlanta can be chilly. This wood-burning fireplace, featured on the 2012 GPPA Garden Tour: An Intimate Tour of Atlanta Gardens, was incorporated into a retaining wall design. The homeowners wanted an outdoor living space, but were faced with the challenge of a steep hill sloping down toward their home. So they hired Gardens to Love by Marcia Weber to help transform their yard. The fireplace provides a focal point and gathering spot for the lower level of the yard. A wood-burning fireplace will provide the most warmth, however you’ll need to check with the local planning department to see if they are allowed in your neighborhood. If it is against code you can opt for a gas fireplace instead, which will still provide lovely ambiance for your backyard.

See more outdoor fireplace pictures

Georgia Perennial Plant Association
Atlanta, GA 30324

Create an Urban Oasis

Finding a relaxing outdoor space in the middle of Atlanta can be a challenge. However, this is not the case for guests at the Mandarin Oriental, which overlooks an impressive courtyard garden. Designed by Park Landscapes Services, LLC, this project was recognized with a Grand Award from the Urban Ag Council in 2009. The courtyard features a classically shaped reflecting pool surrounded by dark slate paving stones. The water feature is slightly raised, with a light colored stone coping and a dark bottom to increase the reflectivity of the water’s surface. The courtyard is bordered by a low hedge and a row of feathery ornamental grasses. A design like this could be recreated on a smaller scale for a residential courtyard space.

Learn more about courtyard garden design

Mandarin Oriental

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