Kitchen Garden Design & Coaching in Grant Park
Three things every Grant Park garden has to work around.
Much of Grant Park is a City of Atlanta historic district. That means fences, walls, greenhouses, sheds, decks, and hardscaped paths generally need a Certificate of Appropriateness before you build. Planting doesn't: beds, freestanding raised beds, borders, and containers are generally fine. So we put productive growing in rear and side yards, where fences can reach six feet and the street-facing rules mostly don't apply.
Then there's the canopy, one of the best things about living here. Grant Park's oaks were here long before any of us, and a good garden works with them. That starts with reading your sun twice. A yard that looks like full sun in March can drop to two or three hours once the oaks leaf out, so we plan for both. Shade isn't a dead end: lettuces, many herbs, and other greens handle part shade well, and afternoon shade helps them last longer into an Atlanta summer before they bolt. Atlanta protects its trees by law, and we're glad it does. Our designs keep them standing.
Finally, the soil. Nearly every house here was built before the 1978 lead paint ban, and lead collects along the foundation, which is often the sunniest spot for a bed. We test before anyone plants edibles there.
What to grow when you live two blocks from a great market
The Grant Park Farmers Market runs Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Beacon on Grant Street, year-round with a fuller main season from spring through December. It's genuinely one of the best in the city, which raises a question worth asking before you plant: what's the point of a home garden here?
Our answer is to grow what the market can't sell you well. Nobody needs to grow storage onions a short walk from a producer-only market. But herbs you use a sprig at a time, salad greens picked twenty minutes before dinner, tender and unusual varieties that don't survive a crate, and medicinal herbs that are hard to find fresh are all worth the square footage. We design around that logic rather than trying to recreate a farm stand in a bungalow backyard.
Our Services
Most Grant Park projects start with a consult, because the permit, canopy, and soil questions are worth answering before you commit to a design.
Garden Consulting — A one-time, one-hour walk-through of your property with personalized recommendations you can implement yourself. Learn more →
Garden Coaching — Ongoing, one-on-one support to build your skills and solve problems as your garden grows. Learn more →
Garden Design — A detailed, scaled plan with plant lists, soil prep, and a phased implementation strategy. Learn more →
Garden Installation — Full build-out, from soil prep and bed construction to planting, so your garden is ready to grow. Learn more →
Book a 60-Minute Garden Consultation — $200
I'll walk your property with you and read what's already there — sun, soil, slope, water — while we talk through what you actually want to be eating. You'll leave with a hand-drawn sketch of where the beds go and why, and a written plan in your inbox within 48 hours: what to plant, when to plant it on Atlanta's calendar, and what to fix first. Whether you build it yourself or hire me to build it, you'll know exactly what you're building.
Tell us where you are and what you'd love to grow. After thirty years here, we've probably stood in a yard a lot like yours.