New Hampstead, GA Landscaping Services
Landscaping in New Hampstead
New Hampstead is one of the largest master-planned communities in the Savannah area, and nearly every home in it is new.
That means most yards here start from the same place: a thin builder landscape package, a couple of shrubs at the foundation, bare beds, no shade, and soil that spent last year under equipment. It also means the yard three doors down looks exactly like yours until somebody does something about it.
That's the work we do. Mulch and decorative rock, plant and shrub installation, landscape cleanups, grading and drainage correction, and equipment work when a lot needs material moved or ground fixed - for homes across The Pines, Aspire, Oakwood, and the rest of the community.
Contact us for a FREE quote and we'll come look at your property.
Mulch Installation
The fastest, cheapest way to make a new-construction yard look finished. Fresh mulch, clean bed edges, and the weeds pulled out first - it changes a front elevation more than anything else you can buy for the money.
Decorative Rock Installation
Need decorative rock designs for your home or business? We provide new rock installation or replacement of existing rock, with bed prep, landscape fabric, and clean edging. We remove and haul off old material when it needs to go.
Landscape Cleanups
Decker Landscape & Design provides landscape cleanup services in New Hampstead - including bed cleanouts, weed removal, trimming, leaf cleanup, and debris removal. Whether it's a seasonal reset or beds that got away from you over a busy summer.
Plant & Shrub Installation
Shrubs, trees, ornamental grasses, and perennials - including privacy screening along property lines and shade trees for a lot that hasn't got any. We'll remove or relocate what isn't working, prep and amend the beds, and finish with mulch or rock.
Grading & Drainage
Our grading and drainage solutions include correcting low spots that hold water, improving flow across the lot, spreading topsoil or fill, and preparing ground for planting or grass. Contact our New Hampstead team for more information.
Land Clearing
Need a land clearing service on your property? We handle brush and overgrowth removal on wooded lots, unbuilt homesites, and rear portions of property that have grown up - plus cleanup and prep for whatever comes next.
Skid Steer & Tractor Services
Material moving, dirt and rock spreading, grading, Harley raking, and site prep. We work carefully on finished lots, with attention to driveways, existing turf, and gate access.
Our New Hampstead Landscaping Solutions
Custom Landscaping in New Hampstead
Most New Hampstead lots are compact, flat, and close to the neighbors, which shapes what actually works. Privacy plantings matter more here than on an acre lot. So does making a modest backyard feel like a space instead of a rectangle.
Our custom work includes full bed design and edging, privacy and screening plantings along property lines, front-entry and walkway landscaping, converting mulch beds to decorative rock or the reverse, drainage correction for lots that hold water, and plantings around patios and outdoor spaces.
One note: New Hampstead neighborhoods have HOA and community standards, and some projects need approval before work starts. Tell us at the quote stage and we'll design to the guidelines and give you a plan you can submit.
Making a Builder Landscape Package Look Finished
Production neighborhoods get production landscaping. That's not a knock on the builders - it's the economics of building at scale. But it means your yard arrives at a baseline, and the gap between baseline and finished is smaller than most people expect.
Here's roughly the order we'd spend money in, from best return to worst.
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Mulch and clean edging first. This is the single highest-return thing you can do to a New Hampstead yard. Bed edges cut clean, weeds pulled, and two to three inches of fresh mulch makes a house look cared for from the street. It costs a fraction of what people assume and it's visible from the moment it's done.
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Fill out the beds. Builder beds are usually undersized and sparsely planted - a few small shrubs spaced for the plan, not for how they'll look. A handful of well-chosen additions, sized to what they'll become rather than what fits today, fills a bed out properly.
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Get the trees in the ground now. New sections have no shade. A tree planted this fall will be meaningfully larger in five years than one planted in year four, and shade changes how a house feels and what it costs to cool. Fall is the best planting window in coastal Georgia. There is no version of this where waiting helps.
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Then privacy. Lots are close together and fences only do so much, especially against second-story windows. Layered evergreen screening is the fix, and like shade trees, it's worth starting early because it's a plant-and-wait project.
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Fix drainage before it costs you plants. If a corner of the yard holds water for days after a hard rain, correct it before you plant into it. Plants drowned in a wet spot are an expensive way to learn where the low ground is.
Drainage on a
New Hampstead Lot
Water problems are common in new communities, and they usually have the same handful of causes. Most are fixable.
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The ground is still settling. Fill placed during construction compacts over the first few years, and low spots appear where they weren't at closing. This is normal and it's why a yard can drain fine the first year and hold water the second.
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The neighborhood is still being built. Lots are graded for construction conditions. As surrounding lots, streets, and sections get finished, the way water moves across your property changes. A problem that shows up in year two often isn't something you did.
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Downspouts dump in the wrong place. A surprising share of "drainage problems" are a downspout emptying against a foundation or into a low corner. Sometimes the whole fix is moving where the water lands.
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Don't touch the swales. This one matters in a planned community. The drainage swales between and behind houses are engineered to move water through the neighborhood, and filling, regrading, or planting in them can push water onto a neighbor's lot and put you crosswise with your HOA. Correcting drainage here means working with the community's design, not against it - and it's a good reason to have someone look at it who understands that.
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Lots backing a pond or preserve need more care. If your property line runs to a pond, a preserved area, or common green space, there may be additional restrictions on grading, clearing, and planting near the boundary. Mention it when you call.
Summer (June - August)
Warm-season lawns wake up from dormancy as the soil warms. Spring is also when live oaks shed last year's leaves and pine trees coat everything in yellow pollen, which makes it prime
time for a thorough yard cleanup and a fresh layer of rock or mulch before the summer heat.
Hold off on fertilizing until your lawn has fully greened up and soil temperatures are consistently around 65°F, since feeding warm-season grass too early can stress it. If you have azaleas, have
them trimmed shortly after they finish blooming, because trimming later in the year can remove next spring's flower buds.
Spring (March - May)
Working Within HOA and Community Guidelines
New Hampstead is a planned community, which is a large part of why it looks the way it does - and it means your yard isn't entirely your own call.
Neighborhoods within the community have their own HOAs and architectural standards, and requirements vary from one to the next. Depending on where you are, things like major plantings, hardscape, converting beds from mulch to rock, tree removal, and anything that alters grading or drainage may need approval before work begins. Some communities specify mulch color or bed materials. There are also community-wide green spaces, ponds, and preserved natural areas, and lots bordering them sometimes carry extra restrictions.
None of this is a problem if it's handled up front. What causes headaches is finding out afterward.
So: tell us at the quote stage which neighborhood you're in and whether your lot backs up to a pond, a preserve, or common area. We'll design to your guidelines and give you a plan and plant list you can submit. Check your HOA's current requirements too - they're the authority on what your specific neighborhood allows, and the rules change.
Mulch or Decorative Rock?
Both work here. Which one fits depends on the bed and on what your HOA allows.
Mulch
Looks warmer, holds moisture through August, moderates soil temperature, and improves the soil as it breaks down. This matters a lot in beds sitting on construction fill. The tradeoff is that mulch breaks down faster when compared with rock, so it needs refreshing about once a year in this climate.
Decorative Rock
Doesn't break down, so it's lower maintenance over time and holds up in beds that take heavy rain runoff. It doesn't feed the soil, it holds heat around plants in full sun, and weeds that do get established in it are harder to pull. Best in accent areas, along foundations, and in beds where drainage is the main concern.
A practical note on both: landscape fabric helps in rock beds and in low-planting areas, but it works against you in beds you plan to add to over time. Pre-emergent is often the better call in planted beds. We'll tell you which makes sense for each bed rather than defaulting to fabric everywhere.
Check your HOA before converting a bed from one to the other - some communities are specific about it.
New Hampstead Landscaping FAQs
Yes - across the community's neighborhoods, including The Pines, Aspire, and Oakwood. Some New Hampstead addresses list as Bloomingdale and others as Savannah depending on the section, which trips people up. Either way, we're a few minutes away and we service all of it.
Mulch and clean bed edging, by a wide margin. Weeds pulled, edges cut, fresh mulch down. It's the highest-return work on a new-construction lot and it's visible immediately.
Often, yes - particularly for major plantings, tree removal, bed conversions, and anything affecting grading or drainage. Requirements differ by neighborhood. Let us know at the quote stage and we'll give you a plan you can submit. Your HOA is the authority on what's currently required.
Sometimes, and carefully. That's often an engineered drainage swale doing its job, and altering it can push water onto your neighbor's lot and create an HOA problem. We'll look at what's actually happening - it may be a downspout, a settled low spot, or a grading issue we can correct without touching the swale.
It can. Lots bordering common areas, ponds, and preserved space sometimes carry extra restrictions on planting, clearing, and grading near the boundary, and drainage needs more thought. Mention it when you request a quote and check your HOA documents.
Usually. Subdivision lots mean tight access, so we plan around gate widths, and we're careful with driveways and existing turf. On a compact lot we'll often move material by hand rather than risk damage. We'll tell you at the quote what the access situation allows.
Fall. Cooler weather lets roots establish before their first summer, which gives new plantings a real head start.
Once a year, usually in spring. Heat, humidity, and heavy rain break organic mulch down faster here than in cooler climates. Two to three inches is plenty, pulled back from stems, trunks, and your foundation.
Georgia's Water Stewardship Act limits landscape watering from public water systems to between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m., year-round. New plantings are exempt for their first 30 days - which is exactly when they need it most. Drip irrigation, soaker hoses, and hand-watering with a shut-off nozzle are also exempt. Drought conditions can bring tighter rules.
We do, and we'd rather. If a few households on the same street schedule together, it makes our routing more efficient - ask us about it when you call.
