Mary Attaway owns Bent Fern Garden Design and has lived in Athens since 1997. She attended undergrad at Sewanee, The University of the South where she majored in Natural Resources with a minor in Spanish. After spending a year in South America teaching and traveling, she came to UGA for a Master's degree in Horticulture, as a TA for Michael Dirr. She then worked at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia as the curator of the International and Herb/Physic Garden.

In 2005, Mary took a leap to start her own business and really discovered a love for garden design while working with the private sector as a gardener and consultant. She loves working perfect layout of plants and hardscaping to suit the client's site and taste. She works closely with a few local landscapers to implement the designs and really enjoys the collaboration between different contractors and clients.