Artful Landscape Design, Planning, Permitting & Construction Oversight
Your Ideas: Brought to Life
Your Investment: Protected
Your Vision: Accomplished
Your landscape is a significant investment. We make sure it’s a successful one.
As your Independent Owner’s Representative, we provide expert landscape design and permitting, starting with a master plan that works for your property and budget. We handle every permit and oversee construction — with zero installation profit motive.
From our Avondale Estates base to Decatur, Druid Hills, Virginia Highlands, Buckhead, Midtown, and other select Atlanta neighborhoods.
"Fern is an incredible asset to any landscape design project! Her knowledge, experience, and vision helped me transform my outdoor space."
Independent Landscape Design & Construction Consulting for Atlanta Homeowners
Your Ideas: Brought to Life
Your Investment: Protected
Your Vision: Accomplished
Your landscape is a significant investment. We make sure it’s a successful one.
As your Independent Owner’s Representative, we provide expert landscape design and permitting, starting with a master plan that works for your property and budget. We handle every permit and oversee construction — with zero installation profit motive.
From our Avondale Estates base to Decatur, Druid Hills, Virginia Highlands, Buckhead, Midtown, and other select Atlanta neighborhoods.
"Fern is an incredible asset to any landscape design project! Her knowledge, experience, and vision helped me transform my outdoor space."
Are You Solving A Landscape Crisis or Planning a Dream?
Whether you have a property problem or you're planning your dream landscape, we provide independent expertise to ensure your project is designed smartly, permitted properly, and built right — without the conflict of interest that comes from companies who profit from installation.
I'm Solving a Landscape Problem
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- Drainage and erosion issues
- Slope stability concerns
- Permitting challenges or violations
- Stalled or over-budget projects
- Contractor disputes
We diagnose the root cause, engineer practical solutions, and ensure the fix is done correctly the first time.
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- Complete landscape transformations
- Outdoor living spaces
- Pool and hardscape projects
- Estate improvements and renovations
- Property value enhancement
We design what makes sense for your vision and budget, handle permitting, and can oversee construction quality.
Meet Fern Cook. The Expert in Your Corner.
With 30,000+ hours of landscape design and installation experience across 2,500+ Atlanta projects, Fern Cook brings a rare combination of artistic vision and technical precision to every project.
Her MALTA and Urban Ag Council award wins, decades of permitting expertise, and work with HGTV productions aren't just credentials — they're proof that your investment is in the right hands. When Atlanta homeowners face complex landscape challenges, they call Fern. When you need an advocate who understands both the art and science of outdoor spaces, you've found her.
When Atlanta homeowners face complex landscape challenges, they call Fern. As a leading landscape consultant in Decatur and throughout metro Atlanta, when you need an advocate who understands both the art and science of outdoor spaces, you've found her.
Most Landscape Companies Profit From Installation. We Don't.
When a company offers "free design" and then builds your project, they're incentivized to design what's profitable for them — not what's smart for you. And strictly design firms? They hand you expensive drawings with no construction support, leaving you to navigate contractors and permitting alone.
We work differently. As your Independent Owner's Representative, we sit on your side of the table. Our only job is protecting your vision and your budget. We design what makes sense, handle the permit bureaucracy, and keep contractors honest through completion.
The Result? Clients routinely save $15,000–$60,000 through value engineering and smart oversight.
Most Landscape Companies Profit From Installation. We Don't.
When a company offers "free design" and then builds your project, they're incentivized to design what's profitable for them — not what's smart for you. And strictly design firms? They hand you expensive drawings with no construction support, leaving you to navigate contractors and permitting alone.
We work differently. As your Independent Owner's Representative, we sit on your side of the table. Our only job is protecting your vision and your budget. We design what makes sense, handle the permit bureaucracy, and keep contractors honest through completion.
The Result? Clients routinely save $15,000–$60,000 through value engineering and smart oversight.
The Backyard That Became the Star of the House
The Challenge
The Vision Accomplished Solution
A Typical Atlanta Backyard — With Extraordinary Constraints:
- Active drainage issues flooding the lower garage
- Creek buffer setback limiting buildable area
- Strict lot coverage restrictions requiring a variance
- Aging deck with poor functionality
- Limited usable outdoor space
Our backyard is now the star of the house.
- AHB, Decatur
Smart Grading & Drainage
We redirected stormwater flow with strategic grading and a concrete/river rock drainage bed — eliminating the garage flooding problem permanently.
Deck Redesign for Maximum Function
Single staircase near the back door maximized usable deck space. Shallow framing created bonus covered patio space underneath — turning wasted area into functional outdoor living.
Permit Shield in Action
We navigated the creek buffer setback and secured the required lot coverage variance. The project was permitted and approved without delays.
No Construction Drawings Needed
We submitted permit documentation using our work order, grading plan, and permit package — saving the client thousands in architectural fees.
The Backyard That Became the Star of the House
The Challenge
A Typical Atlanta Backyard — With Extraordinary Constraints:
- Active drainage issues flooding the lower garage
- Creek buffer setback limiting buildable area
- Strict lot coverage restrictions requiring a variance
- Aging deck with poor functionality
- Limited usable outdoor space
The Vision Accomplished Solution
Smart Grading & Drainage
We redirected stormwater flow with strategic grading and a concrete/river rock drainage bed — eliminating the garage flooding problem permanently.
Deck Redesign for Maximum Function
Single staircase near the back door maximized usable deck space. Shallow framing created bonus covered patio space underneath — turning wasted area into functional outdoor living.
Permit Shield in Action
We navigated the creek buffer setback and secured the required lot coverage variance. The project was permitted and approved without delays.
No Construction Drawings Needed
We submitted permit documentation using our work order, grading plan, and permit package — saving the client thousands in architectural fees.
Our backyard is now the star of the house.
- AHB, Decatur
What to Expect
As your Owner's Representative, we protect your interests through three distinct phases. Each step is designed to eliminate costly mistakes and ensure your project is done right the first time.
We determine if your project is legal, buildable, and budget-realistic before you invest in design. This discovery phase identifies challenges that contractors often overlook.
We create detailed technical plans and guarantee permit approval — handling the bureaucracy you don't want to deal with.
We oversee quality and placement as your on-site advocate, keeping contractors accountable through completion.
What It's Like to Have an Advocate in the Field
Our backyard was completely unusable — it needed to be entirely reimagined before we could even begin to enjoy it. We were overwhelmed with the City of Atlanta permit process and didn't understand what we could and couldn't do. Despite those challanges, it had so much potential, and Fern saw it immediately. From our very first conversation, she was attentive to everything we envisioned, cared about our budget and never lost sight of what we were trying to create.
The 3D design she developed was thoughtful, functional, and genuinely inspired. The crown jewel of the entire project is our stone retaining wall — a stunning, one-of-a-kind feature where boulders are artfully arranged to form a sun (rising or setting, depending on how you see life), with rays of stone radiating out from a center sun stone. It's the kind of detail that stops people in their tracks and it was much more affordable than a traditional stacked stone wall.
We went from having land we couldn't use to an outdoor space we absolutely love. Fern made that transformation possible, and we couldn't be more grateful. Highest possible recommendation.
LOOK NO FURTHER! I have never been happier with the transformation of my outdoors!
Honestly Vision Accomplished Landscaping Consulting and the team have an eye and can make any space look 1000% better. I am so happy with what they accomplished and really enjoy the outdoors again. Thank you FERN!
I used Fern again to help with some brainstorming in my front yard. I love picking plants but couldn’t figure out how to plan out the space so that it was balanced and calming (and all shaded!). Fern is a wizard at this. After 90 minutes we had a plan and a design sketch, and I had names of people and businesses to get my supplies from. It was just what I needed to feel confident moving forward.
Our backyard was completely unusable — it needed to be entirely reimagined before we could even begin to enjoy it. We were overwhelmed with the City of Atlanta permit process and didn't understand what we could and couldn't do. Despite those challanges, it had so much potential, and Fern saw it immediately. From our very first conversation, she was attentive to everything we envisioned, cared about our budget and never lost sight of what we were trying to create.
The 3D design she developed was thoughtful, functional, and genuinely inspired. The crown jewel of the entire project is our stone retaining wall — a stunning, one-of-a-kind feature where boulders are artfully arranged to form a sun (rising or setting, depending on how you see life), with rays of stone radiating out from a center sun stone. It's the kind of detail that stops people in their tracks and it was much more affordable than a traditional stacked stone wall.
We went from having land we couldn't use to an outdoor space we absolutely love. Fern made that transformation possible, and we couldn't be more grateful. Highest possible recommendation.
LOOK NO FURTHER! I have never been happier with the transformation of my outdoors!
Honestly Vision Accomplished Landscaping Consulting and the team have an eye and can make any space look 1000% better. I am so happy with what they accomplished and really enjoy the outdoors again. Thank you FERN!
I used Fern again to help with some brainstorming in my front yard. I love picking plants but couldn’t figure out how to plan out the space so that it was balanced and calming (and all shaded!). Fern is a wizard at this. After 90 minutes we had a plan and a design sketch, and I had names of people and businesses to get my supplies from. It was just what I needed to feel confident moving forward.