Landscaping Services in Savannah
Landscaping & Lawn Care in Savannah, GA
Savannah is a city known for its landscape. Live oaks draped in Spanish moss, shaded squares, blooming azaleas, and manicured lawns are part of what makes this place what it is - and that sets a high bar for every yard in town. Decker Landscape & Design helps Savannah homeowners and businesses meet it.
Our team handles everything your property needs to look sharp and stay healthy, including lawn mowing, new lawn installation, yard and debris cleanup, rock and mulch, bush trimming, hardscape and softscape work, ongoing lawn maintenance, and full planting and design.
Our Savannah landscaping crews operate out of our Georgia location in nearby Bloomingdale, so we're close by and easy to reach. Contact us for a FREE quote today.
Our Landscaping Solutions for Savannah Homes & Businesses
Lawn Installation
Thin, patchy, or full of bare spots under the oaks? We install new sod lawns matched to your yard's sun, shade, and soil, so your grass has a real chance to thrive instead of struggling from day one.
Bush Trimming
Shrubs grow hard in this climate. We keep hedges, foundation plantings, and ornamentals shaped and healthy - and we time pruning around bloom cycles so your azaleas and camellias still flower next season.
Custom Landscaping Services in Savannah, GA
No two Savannah properties are alike, and a lot of them come with real constraints: narrow courtyard access downtown, mature oaks you can't build under, HOA standards on the islands, or low spots that hold water after a hard rain.
Our custom work includes patios and outdoor entertaining spaces, walkways and pathways, courtyard design, garden layouts, multi-level landscape designs, and drainage-conscious grading. We'll design around what your property gives us and tell you honestly what will and won't work.
Landscaping Around Savannah's Live Oaks
Shade is the defining challenge of a Savannah yard. Mature live oaks and water oaks can shade a lawn for most of the day, and most turfgrass simply won't hold up under that. Here's how we typically approach it:
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Match the grass to the shade. St. Augustine is the most shade-tolerant warm-season grass and the usual pick for Savannah yards under tree cover. Certain zoysia varieties handle light to moderate shade. Bermuda needs full sun and will thin out and die back under a canopy, no matter how well it's maintained.
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Know when grass isn't the answer. In heavy shade, no turfgrass will hold. Ground covers like liriope, mondo grass, and Asiatic jasmine, or a well-designed mulched bed with shade-loving plants, will look far better than a bare, struggling lawn - and cost less to keep up.
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Selective thinning, not removal. Careful pruning to let more light through the canopy can bring a lawn back. Keep in mind that the City of Savannah's Landscape and Tree Ordinance protects many trees from removal without a permit, so check with the city's Park & Tree Department before any tree work. We'll work with what's there.
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Respect the root zone. Oak feeder roots run wide and shallow. Regrading, trenching, or piling soil and mulch against the trunk can damage a tree that took a century to grow. We plan hardscape and bed work around the root zone.
If you've been fighting a shady patch of yard for years, let us take a look before you reseed it again.
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.
Plants That Thrive on Savannah Properties
Savannah sits in USDA Hardiness Zone 9a. Winters are mild, summers are hot and humid, and properties on Wilmington, Whitemarsh, Skidaway, and Tybee also contend with salt air and sandy soil. The plants that do best here are the ones suited to those conditions.
Spring (March - May)
Reliable Shrubs
Trees
Perennials & Color
For Shade
Azalea, camellia, loropetalum, dwarf yaupon holly, gardenia, oleander, and wax myrtle. Wax myrtle and oleander are especially useful close to the water because they tolerate salt well.
Trees that we recommend include Live oak, Southern magnolia, crape myrtle, redbud, and cabbage palmetto - Georgia's state tree and a natural fit for coastal properties.
Add a splash of color to your landscape with beautiful perennials such as Lantana, daylily, salvia, coneflower, and muhly grass, whose pink plumes in fall are one of the best looks in a coastal landscape.
Other plants we recommend adding to your residential or commercial property include ferns, hosta, liriope, mondo grass, and Asiatic jasmine under oak canopy where turf won't grow.
One reminder worth making: Savannah's mild winters don't mean anything goes. A hard freeze does come through some years, and tropical plants that sail through five winters can be lost in the sixth. We'll tell you which plants are a safe bet and which are a gamble before you spend money on them.
Savannah Landscaping FAQs
We serve Savannah and the surrounding Chatham County communities, including the Historic District, Midtown, Ardsley Park, the Starland District, the Southside, Georgetown, Isle of Hope, Sandfly, Thunderbolt, and the islands. We also work in Pooler, Bloomingdale, Port Wentworth, and Garden City. Not sure if we reach your neighborhood? Just ask.
It depends mostly on sun and shade. St. Augustine is the standard choice for shaded yards. Centipede is a low-maintenance option for sunny yards with sandy, acidic soil. Zoysia makes a dense lawn that handles foot traffic and takes light shade. Bermuda is the pick for full sun and heavy use. We'll recommend one after seeing your yard.
Georgia's Water Stewardship Act limits landscape watering from public water systems to between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m., year-round. Exemptions include drip irrigation, soaker hoses, hand-watering with a shut-off nozzle, private well water, and newly installed landscapes during their first 30 days. Drought conditions can bring tighter rules, so check with the City of Savannah's water department for what's currently in effect.
Possibly. The City of Savannah's Landscape and Tree Ordinance protects many trees within city limits and generally requires a permit before removal. Rules differ for city-owned trees, trees in the right-of-way, and trees on private lots, and unincorporated Chatham County has its own requirements. Check with the City of Savannah's Park & Tree Department before removing anything.
Yes. Keep in mind that exterior work on properties in Savannah's local historic districts can require review and a Certificate of Appropriateness before it begins, and that review takes time. Tell us early if your property is in a historic district and we'll plan the schedule around it. Confirm requirements with the Metropolitan Planning Commission's historic preservation staff.
Weekly during peak growing season for most lawns. Slower growers like centipede and zoysia, and lawns in the cooler shoulder months, often do fine every other week. A good rule either way: never remove more than a third of the blade in one cut.
Fall is the best window for trees and shrubs, because roots establish over the cool months before summer heat arrives. Warm-season sod does best installed in late spring through early summer, while the grass is actively growing.
Heat, humidity, and heavy rain break mulch down faster here than in cooler climates, so once a year - usually in spring - keeps beds looking fresh. Two to three inches is plenty, and it should be pulled back from stems, trunks, and your foundation. Decorative rock doesn't break down but benefits from periodic cleanup and weed control.
