leah pine landscape architect, LLC

Leah's virtual tour of my yard gave me a deeper understanding about the kinds of plants that will work in the different parts of my yard. Learning about the needs of the large, established southern red oaks and what will work underneath them was particularly helpful. I knew about their drip line but did not really think about the critical root zone and structural root plate in the way that you explained them. Now I understand what is possible and what is not. Also, I had not previously thought about grasses as providing structure, and so now I think I can learn to include them in my plantings. In addition, after her advice, I have a better idea about what I want to achieve in my back yard with understory trees and shrubs—and perhaps most importantly, the ways I can fight invasives like English ivy and stilt grass. I now know which plants I should invest more in and which I should forego because of a lack of adequate daily light. This insight means that I can develop what I have into a more optimal landscape and not expect that I can have everything in one small half-acre lot. Paradoxically, knowing the limitations I should work within helps me plan more creatively. Also, Leah's advice to focus on more of fewer species for perennials will make a big difference over time. I promise to do that. She has re-directed my scattershot approach to one that is more intentional and rewarding. I love all the plants that she suggested that I can add, and I can now make out my shopping list, rather than succumbing to impulse when I’m at a native plant nursery. Once, a friend of mine bought a knee-high long-leaf pine seedling even though he did not have a yard. Through painful experience, I also understand how such purchases happen and now know enough, I hope, to avoid my own version of this error (over and over again). My hour with Leah was encouraging and fun. I enjoyed it fully and am now inspired to get busy this fall with a better plan.

Leah has been an incredibly valuable resource to me over the past 3 years. She understands my vision and uses her knowledge and artistic skills to bring my garden to life! I love her suggestions and her passion for native plants and sustainability.

We hired Leah to give us some direction and a path forward to re-landscaping a yard that had been sorely neglected by the previous owners of our house. We had multiple problems, including steep hills that were washing out, an overgrown mess of "builder scaping", and an easement that came with strict planting restrictions. Walking with her on the property was a total delight, and in two hours, we had a whole new vision of what our yard could become. We came away with a deeper understanding of how to manage water flow, a list of native plants appropriate for the restricted spaces, and absolute surprise and joy over the discovery that we could, in fact, reforest our steep slope fairly easily.

Absolutely run the other direction. She promised to give me a full consultantation and drawing and I paid $125 to get a no helpful information, a huge lecture where about an hour in to her lecture she announced she’s moving and won’t actually be helping us design. She wasted my time and took my money. I had high hopes and in the end felt completely cheated.

Leah worked with my family to design and create a beautiful landscape for our home. We have a 0.3 acre yard that fronts a busy street. Leah talked with us about our needs/desires for the yard, our style and preferences in landscaping, and all other goals for the project. She then designed a strikingly beautiful master plan that both met our needs, like creating a screen between our home and the street, but also returned our outdoor space to nature; she used 100% native landscaping to create a composed native grass and wildflower meadow, a strawberry and blueberry patch which our daughter enjoys every summer, and a screen of trees and shrubs that add new privacy to our front yard. Leah sourced all materials, including some very special and hard to find plant varieties. She also worked with us and our work crew on planting to ensure plants were in the correct locations, kept healthy (thus protecting our investment), and completed according to our master plan. Leah was also very respectful of our budget and worked with us to ensure our project was completed on time and within budget. I would highly recommend Leah for any residential landscaping project and think she is particularly talented in creating enchanting outdoor spaces that are both enjoyable for the home owner and celebrate the beauty and diversity of native Georgian plant life.

Leah took our muddy, eroding backyard and transformed it into a woodland oasis filled with native trees, plants, and carefully placed boulders. We now have a garden that is beautiful, sustainable, and functional, designed for our kids to play and explore and for the adults to enjoy. Leah oversaw the whole project from start to finish and continues to provide invaluable advice on maintenance and further enhancements to our space. She is an expert on Georgia native plants as well as landscape architecture and I highly recommend her services.

As HOA Board member, I was very involved with working with Leah Pine to make some much needed changes to our landscaping. Leah developed a pollinator garden for our townhouse community's front entrance. The entrance had been foundation plantings and old hollies that had grown to be tall trees, thus showing the community's 30+ years. Leah's plan was a huge change but a welcome one - a colorful but low maintenance garden of year round inspiration and beauty. She gave us a unique look that encourages owners, guests and potential buyers to smile and see the community's beauty beyond the entrance. Leah was always available during the planning and planting process and had many suggestions for how to maintain. Our plan is still ongoing so we look forward to continuing to work with her. I highly recommend Leah and her ideas to others looking for a unique and delightful change in their garden.

Working with Leah is a wonderful experience: she has great ideas, deep knowledge, lots of energy, and a network of experts backing her up. She is collaborative and flexible in ways that really improve the result. I'd recommend anyone considering a meadow in the Atlanta area spend some time considering her gifts.

We hired Leah for an initial consultation at our house in Brookhaven, and plan to hire her for a full landscape plan. She was able to quickly and easily identify plants and trees throughout our property (no easy feat since previous owners allowed the landscape to be seriously overgrown and neglected) and give us advice on which plants to keep, which plants to remove and why to help us improve existing drainage issues. Leah was able to very quickly get a sense of our style and come up with multiple design ideas taking into account the existing topography, drainage, and style of our home. She was extremely knowledgeable regarding native Georgia plants, and which plants would not only look attractive in different areas of our yard, but would thrive in these locations and serve functional purposes--slowing water flow and erosion, providing forage for birds and pollinators, and even helping to rehabilitate a nearby stream. I would definitely recommend Leah for your landscaping needs, particularly if you have an interest in working with native plants!

I met with Leah for a design consultation, and it was more than I could have hoped for! She looked function/drainage first, then asked many good questions and then she brainstormed with me. Leah emphasizes environmental and community stewardship in all elements: drainage (a problem for us), trees, new and existing plants. In design, she draws on lots of resources and listened well. Well worth the investment!

Leah is just who I needed! I love the native plants of our Georgia Piedmont, and have collected many of them over the years. I planted them with no regard for the overall design; I just planted them where I thought they would be happiest and let them grow. Our yard now looks like a chaotic conglomeration of all kinds of growing things. Leah knows a great deal about Georgia's native plants, and was able to come up with a design that will allow me to showcase many of our native plants without having our yard looking like "a crazy plant lady" lives here. I didn't think it could be done, but she designed it so that we'll have a meadow, a woodland garden, a cottage garden, veggie & herb gardens, and a garden for native azaleas! We are currently in the process of implementing Leah's plan, and I can't wait to see how it looks next year when everything is growing. Leah is very knowledgeable and experienced, with both native and non-native plants. She is also very knowledgeable about weeds and weed control, which has been most helpful. As if that's not enough, she even told me where I could get a fantastic price on one of the native grasses I'm using in our meadow. She is great to work with and I give her my highest recommendation.

Ms. Pine designed a deck and stairs from my front door into my yard to replace the dangerous stone steps against the house. She designed several ways to incorporate hardscape into a pathway from the steps to the driveway. She and her associate mapped out a complete blueprint of my wooded yard, naming every tree and bush, including the drip lines of the trees and the drainage areas. She worked with me, taking my ideas into consideration, and created two plans, using the same deck, but with two different ways to extend the stairs. Both plans complement the contemporary lines of my house. Ms. Pine also suggested ways to accent the entryway of my house by using outdoor metal art, a bench, planters, a new front door, house numbers, and more contemporary lighting. Ms. Pine worked to incorporate my current azaleas into the design, as well as adding small accent trees. It was a pleasure to work with Ms Pine. She helped me communicate to her what I wanted as an end product. Ms. Pine is very personable, and she embodies the professionalism that all landscape architects should strive for.