Landscaping Services in Savannah
Landscaping Services in Savannah, GA
Savannah is a city defined by what grows in it. Live oaks hung with Spanish moss, shaded squares, azaleas in March, and courtyards behind iron gates. That's a high standard for a yard to live up to, and it's a particular kind of challenge - because most of what makes Savannah beautiful also makes it difficult to landscape.
Deep oak shade where grass won't hold. Root systems you can't dig through. Lots downtown with no vehicle access at all. Salt air on the islands. Flat, low ground that holds water after a hard rain.
Decker Landscape & Design works within all of it. We install mulch and decorative rock, plant shrubs and trees, restore overgrown beds, handle cleanups, correct grading and drainage, clear brush, and run equipment work where a property can accommodate it.
Our Savannah crews operate out of our Georgia location in nearby Bloomingdale. Contact us for a FREE quote and we'll walk the property with you.
Mulch Installation
Weeds out, edges cut, fresh mulch down at the right depth. On a Savannah property with mature trees, how mulch is installed matters as much as that it is.
Landscape Cleanups
Bed cleanouts, weed and brush removal, trimming, leaf and debris removal, and full restoration of landscaping that's been let go.
Plant & Shrub Installation
Shade gardens under oak canopy, salt-tolerant plantings on the islands, and beds that suit the house they're in front of. We plant what belongs here.
Decorative Rock Installation
New rock installation or replacement of existing rock, with bed prep, landscape fabric, and edging. Old material removed and hauled off when needed. Useful in courtyards, along foundations, and in beds that take heavy runoff.
Grading & Drainage
Correcting low spots, improving how water moves across a property, spreading topsoil or fill, drainage improvements, and preparing ground for planting.
Land Clearing
Brush clearing, overgrowth removal, small tree and vegetation removal, and cleanup of overgrown lots and rear property lines.
Skid Steer & Tractor Services
Material moving, dirt and rock spreading, grading, Harley raking, site preparation, and cleanup - on properties with the access to accommodate equipment.
Our Landscaping Solutions for Savannah Properties
Custom Landscaping in Savannah, GA
No two Savannah properties are alike, and most come with a real constraint attached: a courtyard you can only reach through a gate, mature oaks you can't dig near, an island lot taking salt spray, or a low corner that turns to standing water every August.
Our custom work includes shade garden design and installation, courtyard planting and finishing, full bed restoration on neglected properties, privacy and screening plantings, salt-tolerant landscaping for island homes, drainage correction, and front-entry and walkway plantings.
Tell us what you've got and what's been frustrating you about it. We'll tell you what will work, what won't, and what it takes.
Landscaping Under Savannah's Live Oaks
A mature live oak is the best thing on a Savannah property and the hardest thing to landscape around. Most of the bad advice homeowners get here comes from treating an oak as scenery rather than as a living thing with requirements.
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Stop fighting for grass that won't grow. In deep shade, no turfgrass holds - not with more seed, more water, or more fertilizer. The fix is to stop asking. Ground covers like liriope, mondo grass, and Asiatic jasmine, or a properly designed mulched bed with shade plantings, look far better than thin, struggling grass and cost less to maintain. Converting a failing shade lawn to bed is one of the most satisfying jobs we do.
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Never pile mulch against the trunk. Mulch heaped up around a trunk holds moisture against bark that isn't built for it. You should be able to see the root flare - the point where the trunk widens into the roots - at the soil line. Two to three inches of mulch, pulled back from the trunk, is the whole recipe.
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Don't add soil over the root zone. This is the one that kills oaks, and it's usually done with good intentions. Oak feeder roots run wide and shallow, often well past the canopy edge, and they need air. Spreading fill or topsoil across that area to level a yard or build up a bed can suffocate roots and kill a tree slowly enough that nobody connects the cause to the effect. Any grading near a mature oak needs to be planned around the root zone.
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Go easy on digging and fabric. Trenching through the root zone severs feeder roots. Landscape fabric over them restricts air and water exchange. In an oak bed we'd rather hand-dig planting pockets between roots and mulch over the top than cut through and cover.
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Know the rules before any tree work. The City of Savannah's Landscape and Tree Ordinance protects many trees, and removal generally requires a permit. Rules differ for city trees, right-of-way trees, and private lots, and unincorporated Chatham County has its own. Check with the city's Park & Tree Department first. For our part, we handle brush, overgrowth, and small trees - a mature oak is a job for a certified arborist and a tree service with the right insurance, and we'll say so.
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.
Courtyards, Narrow Lots, and Tight Access
Downtown and in the older neighborhoods, the hardest part of a landscaping job often isn't the landscaping - it's getting the material to it.
Plenty of Savannah properties have no driveway, no side yard wide enough for a machine, and a walled courtyard reachable only through a gate or, occasionally, through the house. Every cubic yard of mulch, soil, or rock comes in by wheelbarrow or by bucket, and every bit of debris goes out the same way.
That changes the job, and it should change the quote. We'd rather look at the access before pricing than discover it on the morning of. When you contact us about a downtown or historic-neighborhood property, tell us what we're working with: gate width, whether there's anywhere to stage material, and whether a truck can get near the property at all.
A few things that work well in small Savannah spaces:
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Decorative rock and gravel in courtyards, where organic mulch washes out or stays wet in shade
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Layered shade plantings - ferns, aspidistra, camellia, and holly fern do a lot of work in a small walled garden
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Tight, clean bed edges, which matter more in a small space than a large one, because everything is seen up close
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Fewer, larger plants rather than many small ones, so the space reads as designed rather than crowded
One note: properties in Savannah's local historic districts can require review and a Certificate of Appropriateness before certain exterior work, and that review takes time. Tell us early if your property is in a historic district, and confirm what applies with the Metropolitan Planning Commission's preservation staff.
Spring (March - May)
Drainage on Low, Flat Ground
Savannah sits low and flat, and water doesn't drain here the way it does in hillier places - it spreads out and sits. Add heavy summer downpours, a high water table, and in some areas tidal influence, and standing water is one of the most common complaints we hear.
Some of it is fixable at the yard level and some of it isn't. We'd rather be honest about which is which.
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What grading and drainage work can fix: a low corner that holds water, a bed that stays saturated, roof runoff dumping against a foundation, a spot that settled after construction, water sheeting toward the house instead of away from it. These are real problems with real solutions - regrading, topsoil, improving flow, moving where water discharges.
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What it can't fix: street flooding, tidal backup, and a high water table after days of rain. If water is coming from the storm system or the marsh rather than your own lot, no amount of yard grading changes that. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
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What we'd look at first: where your downspouts actually discharge. A surprising share of drainage complaints come down to roof water emptying into the wrong spot, and that's often the cheapest fix available.
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A caution near trees: correcting grade around mature oaks has to be planned carefully, for the reasons above. Fixing a wet spot by burying an oak's root zone trades one problem for a worse one.
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 to Add to Your Savannah Property
Savannah's conditions are specific: heat, humidity, mild winters, sandy soil, deep shade in places, and salt air on the islands. These are the plants we come back to.
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For shade under oaks: Ferns, aspidistra, liriope, mondo grass, Asiatic jasmine, camellia, and holly fern.
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For salt exposure on Wilmington, Whitemarsh, Skidaway, and Tybee: Wax myrtle, oleander, yaupon holly, and cabbage palmetto all tolerate salt well.
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Dependable shrubs generally: Azalea, camellia, loropetalum, gardenia, dwarf yaupon holly, and Indian hawthorn.
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Perennials and grasses: Lantana, daylily, salvia, and muhly grass, whose pink plumes in fall are one of the best looks in a coastal landscape.
One honest reminder: mild winters don't mean anything goes. A hard freeze comes through some years, and tropical plants that sail through five winters can be lost in the sixth. We'll tell you which choices are safe and which are a gamble before you spend the money.
Spring (March - May)
Savannah Landscaping FAQs
Savannah and the surrounding Chatham County communities - the Historic District, Midtown, Ardsley Park, the Starland District, the Southside, Georgetown, Isle of Hope, Sandfly, Thunderbolt, and the islands - plus Pooler, Bloomingdale, Port Wentworth, and Garden City. Not sure about your neighborhood? Just ask.
Converting it from lawn to landscape, usually. Ground covers, shade plantings, and well-designed mulched beds do far better under oak canopy than any grass will, and they look intentional rather than struggling. It's a common job here and the results are dramatic.
Yes, but tell us up front. Material comes in by wheelbarrow and debris goes out the same way, and that affects both the schedule and the price. Gate width and whether a truck can stage nearby are the two things we need to know.
Possibly. The City of Savannah's Landscape and Tree Ordinance protects many trees within city limits and generally requires a permit before removal, with different rules for city trees, right-of-way trees, and private lots. Unincorporated Chatham County has separate requirements. Check with the city's Park & Tree Department before removing anything.
No. We handle brush, overgrowth, and small trees. Mature trees need a certified arborist and a tree service with the right rigging and insurance, and we'll tell you when a job falls into that category rather than taking on something we shouldn't.
It can. Certain exterior work on properties in Savannah's local historic districts requires review and a Certificate of Appropriateness before it begins, and that takes time. Let us know early and confirm what applies with the Metropolitan Planning Commission's preservation staff.
Often, depending on the cause. Low spots, settled areas, and roof runoff in the wrong place are all correctable. Street flooding, tidal backup, and a high water table after days of rain are not something yard grading solves, and we'll tell you straight if that's what you're dealing with.
Two things especially: don't pile mulch against the trunk, and don't spread fill or soil over the root zone to level the yard. The second one kills oaks slowly, and it's usually done by someone trying to help. Any grading near a mature oak should be planned around its roots.
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.
Fall. Cooler weather lets roots establish before their first summer, which matters a great deal in this heat.
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 - 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, so check with the City of Savannah's water department.
Yes - bed cleanouts, mulch and rock installation, seasonal cleanups, shrub replacement, drainage, and brush clearing for commercial properties and property managers, on a one-time or recurring basis.
