Landscape design, build and care

Gardens, patios and lawns for south-west Charlotte

Design, build and care for the whole yard: the stone, the beds, the lawn, and the water that runs through all three.

Book a yard walk→or call (704) 555-0163

Sample photos. A client's own finished yards go here.

Curved stone stepping path through a planted border

Paver patio with outdoor seating and flowering beds behind it

Flagstone terrace under a vine-covered pergola

A yard works when the stone, the plants and the water are planned together, so that is how we plan them.

Luis Herrera pruning a row of young boxwoods — **Luis Herrera, owner**Luis walks the yard with you before anything is drawn.

Before and after

Drag across each photo to see what changed.

Finished back yard terrace with a stone fire pit and seating wall behind a brick house — Back yard, terrace
From a graded lot to a terrace with a fire pit
Grade and drainage first, then the base, the walls and the stone. Planting goes in once the machines are gone.

Back yard under construction: bare graded clay and an excavator behind a brick house — Back yard, terrace
From a graded lot to a terrace with a fire pit
Grade and drainage first, then the base, the walls and the stone. Planting goes in once the machines are gone.

Front yard with layered beds, flowering shrubs and a full lawn — Front yard, beds
A bare new-build front, planted
Beds cut along the walk and the foundation, soil amended, shrubs spaced for the size they grow to.

New-build front yard with bare clay on both sides of the driveway — Front yard, beds
A bare new-build front, planted
Beds cut along the walk and the foundation, soil amended, shrubs spaced for the size they grow to.

Brick two-story house with a thick, even lawn — Lawn, renovation
A thin lawn, rebuilt
Aerate, amend, seed or sod, then an irrigation schedule the grass can live with.

Two-story house with a thin, patchy lawn — Lawn, renovation
A thin lawn, rebuilt
Aerate, amend, seed or sod, then an irrigation schedule the grass can live with.

Sample pairs: stock photos stand in until the client's own before-and-after shots, taken from the same spot, are added.

The whole yard, from the grade up.

Design, stone, planting, lawn and water, planned together so each part works with the others.

Round paver terrace with curved stone seating walls and steps

Paver patios and walkways

Layout, excavation, a compacted base and edge restraint before the first paver goes down. Patios, walkways and the steps that join them.

About paver patios and walkways→

Terraced natural stone walls planted with lavender on a slope

Retaining walls and steps

Block or natural stone with gravel and drain pipe behind it, so the wall holds its grade and the water has somewhere to go.

About retaining walls and steps→

Planted border of lavender, coneflowers and grasses in summer

Planting and bed design

A plant list with mature sizes before anything is dug. Beds shaped, soil amended, plants set, mulched and watered in.

About planting and bed design→

Mower cutting a lawn in low evening light

Lawn care programs

Mowing, edging, seasonal feeding and weed control, on a schedule that follows the grass rather than the calendar.

About lawn care programs→

Landscaper unrolling fresh sod onto graded soil

Sod and grading

Strip, amend, grade away from the house, then lay. The ground gets shaped so water leaves the yard instead of sitting in it.

About sod and grading→

River rock lining a dry creek bed between plantings

Drainage and french drains

We trace where the water starts, not just where it pools, then regrade, run a french drain or build a dry creek.

About drainage and french drains→

AlsoLandscape lighting Irrigation All services →

The seasonal calendar

What we do in the yard, month by month.

Around Charlotte the planting season is fall and winter, the lawn wants its big day in September, and stone can go down almost any month the ground isn't frozen or soaked.

Work	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Patios and walls	Design	Design	Build	Build	Build	Build	Build	Build	Build	Build	Build	Design
Trees and shrubs	Plant	Plant	Plant	Plant	Water	Water	Water	Water	Prep	Plant	Plant	Plant
Beds and perennials	Prune	Cut back	Mulch	Plant	Plant	Deadhead	Weed	Weed	Divide	Plant	Clean up	–
Lawn (fescue)	–	Pre-emergent	Pre-emergent	Mow	Mow	Mow high	Mow high	Mow high	Aerate, seed	Overseed	Leaves	–
Irrigation	–	–	Start-up	Check	Adjust	Adjust	Adjust	Adjust	Adjust	Adjust	Shut down	–
Lighting	Install	Install	Check	Install	Install	Install	Install	Install	Check	Install	Install	Install

A typical year in the Charlotte area. Bold is the best window; the weather moves it.

How a design-build job goes

From the walk to the first season.

01
The walk and the drawing
We walk the yard with you, note the light, the slope and where the water runs, then draw the plan.
02
Stone and grade first
Grading, drainage, walls and paving go in before anything is planted.
03
Planting
Beds shaped and amended, plants set at their mature spacing, then mulched and watered in.
04
Settling in
A walk-through at the end, and a watering and care schedule for the first season.

What people say about their yards.

They came out in the rain on purpose so they could see where the water actually went. Nobody else we called wanted to do that. Sample review.
Homeowner, Ballantyne

Flagstone patio with stone benches surrounded by ivy-covered walls

One company did the stone and the planting, so the patio and the beds actually fit together. Sample review.

Steele Creek Patio and beds

Front garden with layered shrubs and flowering beds along a lawn

The side yard had been soggy for years. They regraded it and ran a drain to daylight, and it has stayed dry through the storms since. Sample review.

Fort Mill, SC Drainage and front beds

Shade garden with a red Japanese maple over low evergreens

We got a plant list with mature sizes before anything was dug, which made the choices easy. Sample review.

Tega Cay, SC Shade planting

Clipped boxwoods above a rustic stone wall

They explained why the wall needed gravel and pipe behind it instead of just block. Our old wall didn't have it, and it leaned. Sample review.

Belmont Retaining wall

South-west Charlotte, on both sides of the state line.

The shop is on Steele Creek Rd, so Steele Creek and Ballantyne are close by. Fort Mill and Tega Cay are over the South Carolina line, with their own permits and inspectors, and we handle that paperwork. Belmont and Mount Holly are across the Catawba on I-85.

Red clay, HOA review boards and sloped lake lots come with this part of the county, and the plan accounts for all three.

Steele Creek Ballantyne Fort Mill, SC Tega Cay, SC Belmont Mount Holly

White farmhouse behind a freshly striped lawn

Hydrangeas in bloom in a log-edged bed beside a stone path

Questions people ask before the walk

Why won't you put prices on the website?

Because a yard nobody has walked is a guess, and a guess on a website is either bait or wrong. Two patios the same size can differ by a lot depending on grade, access for a machine, and whether the base has to be dug deeper for clay. After the walk you get a written proposal with the whole scope in it. The how pricing works page lists what actually drives the number.

Do you do both the hardscape and the planting?

Yes. The patio, the walls, the beds and the irrigation are drawn on one plan and built in the right order, so the grade works, the lighting wire goes in before the stone, and the plants end up where the light is.

My back yard stays wet. Can that be fixed before we build?

It has to be. Charlotte red clay drains slowly and most newer lots were graded for the builder's convenience, not yours. We look at where the water starts, which is usually downspouts, a neighbor's slope, or a swale that got filled in. The fix is regrading, a french drain, a dry creek, or all three, and it happens before any stone is laid.

Do you deal with the HOA?

We prepare the submittal: the drawing, the material spec and the plant list, in whatever format the association wants. Most Ballantyne and Fort Mill neighborhoods want all three before anything moves. We wait for written approval before scheduling the crew, because tearing out an unapproved wall is a bad day for everyone.

What if a plant doesn't make it?

Call and we'll come look. Most first-year losses come down to water or a hard freeze, so we check the irrigation and the spot before talking about a replacement. What your job includes is written into the proposal.

Wooden pergola wrapped in climbing vines over a garden path

Book a yard walk

Tell us what the yard needs.

Name and number are enough to start. Luis will call to set up a time to walk the property with you.

Or call (704) 555-0163 · Mon-Fri 7:30am-5pm · Sat by appointment