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ABOUT

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There's an old saying that "it's not personal; it's business."When you hire me, you're not just hiring an employee or representative; you're hiring me personally. If you call, you'll speak with me directly—not an answering service or office manager. I respect those who choose different methods, but this is how I prefer to conduct business. For me, business is personal.

 

While most content research advice suggests keeping About pages brief, I believe otherwise. I invite you to explore my story, and I look forward to discovering how I can contribute to yours.

 

Kind Regards,

 

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On a quiet cul-de-sac in Chamblee, GA, initially developed for employees of the old General Motors Doraville Assembly Plantnow known as Assembly Atlanta—Tim grew up in a small house shaded by two large water oaks. During his early childhood, he looked up to his grandparents and cherished the time spent with them. They taught him various skills, including gardening, sewing, using a washboard, and changing the oil in a pickup truck.
 
Tim loved driving through middle Georgia with his grandparents in the 1970s and 1980s. They often traveled the backroads connecting Chamblee, Sandersville, and Augusta. While driving, Tim listened to their stories about days gone by and enjoyed cassette tapes featuring Bing Crosby, Burl Ives, and Nat King Cole music. They frequently stopped along the roadside to engage in activities such as exploring abandoned barns owned by past acquaintances, harvesting cattails, and collecting seeds from wildflowers.
 
During the summers, Tim would spend several weeks with them on his great-grandmother's land, where there stood a primitive little white house near Augusta, GA. The old whitewashed house had a tin roof and lacked indoor plumbing. Using the bathroom meant hiking to the outhouse while bathing involved drawing water from a squeaky, rusty, hand-pumped well and washing off in a large steel pail on the porch. Despite the extreme heat without air conditioning, the sand spurs accumulating on your ankles at every step, and the pesky gnats that could drive anyone crazy, Tim loved every minute.
 
Those summers, Tim would roam the property of planted pines with a vintage Red Ryder BB gun in hand. Most of these trees were planted by his great-grandmother, who kept a detailed record of all the ones she planted, including where, when, and their sizes. Tim and his grandparents also tilled and planted a summer garden during these adventures. He firmly believes this is where his love for plants, trees, gardening, accurate data collection, hard work, and independence began to develop.
 
In 1994, at 20, Tim began his horticultural career as a sole proprietor, starting a lawn maintenance business. He launched his venture from humble beginnings, utilizing skills he had acquired as a mechanic's helper and through automotive repair classes at his high school's vocational center. One of his first projects involved repairing a broken lawn mower that Tim found discarded on the curb. He used this mower to cut his customers' lawns until he could upgrade to a more capable model. These early days were challenging, but Tim's determination and love for his work kept him going.
 
Over the past three decades, Tim has steadily advanced from mowing lawns in Huntley Hills to becoming a trusted name in Tuxedo Park, located in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, as well as other neighborhoods. He has designed, installed, and maintained many notable projects for clients, many of whom he still maintains relationships with today. One of his contemporaries even called him the "Baron of Woodhaven" as a nod to the numerous projects he has completed along that street.
 
Two of Tim's clients' gardens were featured in the Atlanta Botanical Garden's Connoisseurs Tour 2009. Tim's garden was showcased on the tour in 2015, when his home, "Wisteria Cottage," in Decatur, GA, next door to the illustrious Mr. Ryan Gainey, was included. Tim's Decatur home has also been highlighted on the Decatur Garden Tour, Into the Wylde, the Perennial Plant Association, and the American Hydrangea Society Garden Tours

 

Tim's designs and displays have been featured at the Southeastern Flower Show in 2005, 2006, and 2008, where he received numerous awards and accolades. He has also delivered presentations at several local garden clubs. In 2011, Tim's Decatur garden was a filming location for scenes in the 2012 movie The Odd Life of Timothy Green.
 
Over the years, Tim has collaborated with clients at their vacation homes and two resort properties. From 2016 to 2020, serving as the owner's representative on Jekyll Island, GA. During his time there, he was crucial in surveying and performing detailed landscape and tree inventory while working with his land surveyor as the rodman, vetting and recruiting new contractors for various tasks, including grounds maintenance, irrigation, sea turtle-compliant landscape lighting, and installation, to implement his designs and recommendations. During his stint, he also successfully worked with the Georgia Coastal Resources Division to assist his client with a shore protection application (SPA) to make seaside alterations to the property. While there, he also learned to be patient, as 'Island Time' is real.  
 
On the Island, Tim collaborated closely with tree care contractors he brought in from Atlanta and the Jekyll Island Authority to care for some of the state's most protected trees on one of the properties. He even prepared the grounds for the owner's son's wedding, hiring overnight security to safeguard the Agapanthus flowers arranged in the planting beds from deer that would have, without a doubt, eaten them before the ceremony.
 
Tim has been involved in numerous intriguing projects. One notable project involved sourcing and transplanting a 13-inch Paperbark Maple tree, which weighed 11,400 pounds, from the old Morrison's Farm property in Brookhaven, GA, to The Highlands Country Club in Highlands, NC. Additionally, he designed and constructed a historical marker on private property at the former Howell's Mill site in Atlanta. Currently, he is working with a large corporation with a mega data center to help upgrade key areas at its facility. 
 
Tim worked on various projects requiring permits, so his design skills developed into site planning. In 2016, Tim became an ISA-certified arborist. Since then, Tim has expanded his business to include Arboriculture Consulting, assisting a diverse range of clients in navigating the complexities of municipal tree ordinances in the metro Atlanta area.
 
He enjoys giving back to the community through various volunteer projects. In 2007, he contributed to the Legacy Garden at the Southeastern Flower Show by donating many plants and assisting with installations at the Winship Cancer Institute and Emory. In 2008, he designed and managed the Legacy Garden Display at the Georgia World Congress Center, where Rosalynn Carter, accompanied by her Secret Service detail, stopped by to say hello, shake his hand, and thank him for his generosity. 
 
Tim played a key role in installing upgrades to the Byrd Barrier-Free Garden at Piedmont Hospital using materials from the Flower Show display. He also improved the patio area outside the chemotherapy infusion unit. Additionally, he designed and collaborated with volunteers to create a pollinator garden at his sons' elementary school, where he serves as the PTO grounds chair.

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Tim enjoys spending quality moments with his family and taking mini vacations in their small RV. He has a variety of hobbies, including home improvement projects, exploring local history, photography, and preparing meals on his Blackstone grill. Additionally, Tim loves sailing and studying historical maps and aerial photographs of familiar places. He also enjoys metal detecting with his two sons and practicing forest forensics outdoors to better understand past site conditions and land use. His favorite tree is Magnolia macrophylla (macro meaning big and phylla meaning leaf) Bigleaf Magnolia.
 
He is passionate about working on his 1933 Ford Model B Woody Wagon, which was bequeathed to him by his old next-door neighbor and friend, Ryan Gainey. He also treasures his ace in the hole 1971 Ford pickup truck,' Old Blue' which belonged to one of his mentors. In addition to his love for cars, he enjoys curating and reading books in his private horticultural library, and he values engaging in thoughtful conversations with his friends who share a love for plants and trees.
 
Tim still appreciates taking the backroads and listening to 1940s-era music. The smell of fresh pine straw warmed by the morning sun always brings back memories of the days he spent roaming his great-grandmother's old property with his Daisy Red Ryder.
 
If you've made it this far, Tim invites you to subscribe to his website so that he can send updates. If you need his help,
feel free to reach out. 
 

 

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    © 2025 Tim Wolfe Design, LLC

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