Flagship service
Landscape design for North Georgia homes
A complete, buildable plan for your whole property, grounded in how plants actually grow in Zone 7b clay, sun and slope. Designed by a horticulturist, built by the same crew, made to look right for decades.
Quick answer
Landscape design in Canton, GA is a complete, buildable plan for your whole property, hardscape, planting, grading, drainage and lighting resolved together, created by a horticulturist for Zone 7b clay, sun and slope. High-end, full-property design-build projects commonly run into the tens of thousands and are scoped with a detailed written quote after a free on-site consultation.
What is landscape design, and why start there?
Landscape design is the plan that comes before the shovels: a considered layout of how your outdoor space will look, function and grow in, hardscape, planting, grading, drainage and lighting, resolved together instead of piecemeal. Starting with a real design is what separates a property that feels intentional from a collection of one-off projects that never quite fit.
At Complete Horticulture, the design comes from Warren Stallings, twenty years in the green industry and a genuine horticulturist. He reads your land first: where water moves after a summer storm, which slopes want a wall, where the afternoon sun will cook a bed, what your Zone 7b soil will actually support. Then he draws a plan the same crew will build, so nothing gets lost between the drawing and the ground.
What's included
A plan for the whole property.
Site assessment
A walk of your property to read soil, sun, drainage and grade, the facts a good design has to respect.
Layout & hardscape plan
Patios, walls, walkways, steps and gathering spaces placed to work with your home and how you live outdoors.
Planting design
Native and adapted trees, shrubs and perennials chosen for Zone 7b, layered for year-round interest and healthy maturity.
Grading & drainage strategy
A plan for where water goes, dry creek beds, swales and grading that protect the landscape and your foundation.
Lighting concept
Path, accent and architectural lighting mapped so the space is usable and beautiful after dark.
Detailed written quote
A clear, itemized proposal built around your goals and budget, so you know exactly what's included before work begins.
The horticultural difference
Anyone can place a plant. Few know how it will grow.
Most landscape installs are drawn by someone selling labor. Ours are drawn by someone who has spent two decades learning horticulture, how a river birch behaves near a foundation, why a bed on a west-facing Cherokee County slope needs different plants than the same bed in shade, how clay holds water and starves roots of air.
That knowledge is why our designs still look right in year five. We plan for the mature size of every tree and shrub, protect long-term soil health, and choose plants that thrive here instead of fighting the climate.
Meet Warren
How a design happens
From first walk-through to grown-in.
Consult & assess
A free on-site visit to understand your goals and read the property.
Design & quote
A considered plan and a detailed written quote, refined with you.
Build
The same crew installs stonework, plantings, grading and lighting, with immaculate cleanup.
Grow in
Guidance on care so the landscape matures exactly as designed.
Designed for North Georgia
A plan that respects Zone 7b.
North Georgia landscapes have their own rules: heavy red clay, hot and humid summers, sloped lots, and USDA Zone 7b winters. A design that ignores them fails slowly and expensively. Ours are built around them from the first sketch.
- Amending and grading heavy clay so roots get water and air
- Managing runoff on slopes with walls, swales and dry creek beds
- Choosing heat- and humidity-tolerant, mostly native and adapted plants
- Planting for the mature canopy, not just how it looks on install day
Selected work
Designs, built.
What affects the cost of a landscape design project?
There's no flat price, because no two properties are the same. What moves the number up or down is the amount of hardscape, the materials you choose, and how much the site has to be reshaped before anything is planted. A design that's mostly planting beds and sod sits at the lower end; a full-property plan with stonework, walls, lighting and drainage is a larger investment. Here's what we price against:
- Scope & square footage, the size of the area and whether it's one zone or the whole property.
- Hardscape volume, patios, retaining walls, walkways and steps are the biggest cost drivers; stone and paver square footage adds up fast.
- Materials, natural stone and premium pavers cost more than modular block or broom-finish concrete.
- Grading & drainage, sloped or wet lots often need regrading, walls or dry creek beds and drainage before the pretty part begins.
- Planting density & size, more beds and larger, more mature plant material raise the total.
- Lighting & extras, outdoor lighting, water features and firepits are add-ons that shape the final figure.
- Site access, tight backyards that machines can't reach take more hand labor.
Because these vary so much, we don't quote by the square foot sight-unseen. After a free on-site consultation you get a detailed, itemized written quote, and many homeowners phase larger plans over a year or two so the budget is comfortable without losing the cohesion of a single design.
Landscape design FAQ
Questions homeowners ask.
How much does landscape design cost in North Georgia?
It depends on the size and scope of your property and how much hardscape, planting and grading the plan involves. High-end, full-property outdoor-living projects commonly run into the tens of thousands. After a free on-site consultation, we provide a detailed written quote so there are no surprises.
Do you build the design, or just draw it?
Both. We're a design-build studio, the same crew that plans your landscape installs it. That means the intent behind the drawing actually makes it into the ground, and you have one accountable point of contact from concept to grown-in.
What makes a horticulturist's design different?
Plant knowledge. Warren designs around how plants grow in Zone 7b clay and heat, their mature size, and long-term soil health, so the landscape gets better with age instead of outgrowing itself or declining after a few seasons.
How long does a landscape design and installation take?
The design itself typically takes a couple of weeks after your consultation, depending on the property's complexity. Installation ranges from a few days for a focused project to several weeks for a full-property build with extensive stonework, grading and planting. Weather and material lead times play a role in North Georgia, so we give you a realistic schedule with your written quote and keep you updated throughout.
Will I need HOA approval or permits?
Sometimes. Many planting and hardscape projects don't require a permit, but retaining walls over a certain height, drainage tie-ins and structures can, and a lot of Cherokee County and North Fulton neighborhoods have HOA architectural review. We flag anything that may need approval early, and a clear design packet makes HOA submittals much easier.
Which areas do you design in?
We design across North Georgia and Metro Atlanta, including Canton, Woodstock, Alpharetta, Milton and more. See our full service area.