Questions we get in the driveway

Because a number from a phone call is usually wrong, and a wrong number just sets you up to be annoyed at the real one. Grade, clay depth, access, and drainage all change the labor on a job, and none of that shows up in a conversation. A short walk through the yard tells us more than a long phone call ever could.

A full scope of work, square footage and material for any hardscape, the grading and drainage plan, a planting schedule if plants are involved, and any HOA or permit paperwork we're preparing for you. Nothing gets ordered until you've seen and signed off on it.

Not without a conversation first. If we find something once we're digging — an old line, fill dirt nobody mentioned — we stop, show you what we found, and agree on any change before the crew keeps going. The proposal is the baseline, not a suggestion.

It depends on the season and the scope, but hardscape jobs generally book further out than planting or lawn work. Fall fills up fast because it's the best window for planting, so if you're thinking about beds or trees, call before September rather than after.

Fall for planting, winter for hardscape. Fall lets roots settle in before summer heat hits, and winter ground holds less water, which makes for cleaner excavation and base work. Spring works for both but books up quickly once the weather turns.

Because the heat stresses new grass faster than its roots can establish. Sod laid in August has to fight brutal daytime temperatures and inconsistent watering at the exact moment it needs steady moisture to root down. We'll still do it if you need it, but we'll tell you the risk going in.

It's the table that comes with a design proposal that includes plants: bed, plant, count, mature size, and why it's there. It's how you see exactly what's going into the ground and how big it'll get, before we ever place an order.

Piedmont natives and near-natives that tolerate our clay and our summers: Otto Luyken laurel, oakleaf hydrangea, Encore azalea, muhly grass, inkberry holly, and serviceberry all show up often on our planting schedules. What we pick depends on sun, drainage, and how the bed sits against the house.

Usually, yes. If an existing shrub or tree is healthy and placed reasonably, we design the new bed line around it rather than pulling it out for the sake of a clean slate. We'll tell you honestly if something's too far gone to save.

Most likely the clay under it. Charlotte red clay drains slowly, and on a flat lot that water has nowhere to go but sideways, across the surface, until it finds a low spot. We fix this with grading, drainage stone, and sometimes a buried pipe, depending on how bad the low spot actually is.

Just the problem spot, most of the time. A full regrade is disruptive and expensive relative to what it fixes. Usually one or two low areas are doing all the damage, and correcting the grade there, sometimes with a French drain, solves it without touching the rest of the yard.

Bermuda is a warm-season grass that loves our summer heat but goes tan and dormant in winter. Tall fescue is cool-season, stays green through winter, but struggles in August heat and is best seeded in fall. Which one makes sense depends on how much sun your lawn gets and how much you mind the winter color.

The Weekly program is full mowing and upkeep every week during the growing season. Twice-a-month is the same idea at a lighter cadence, for lawns that don't need weekly attention. Seasonal covers the handful of visits a year that matter most — spring cleanup, fall cleanup, and a couple of check-ins between.

Most subdivisions on the south-west side require one for patios, walls, and fences, and some cover major planting changes too. We check what your neighborhood asks for during the walk and can put the packet together alongside your proposal.

Yes. Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte handle permitting on our NC side; Fort Mill and Tega Cay run through York County, South Carolina. Wall height is usually what decides whether a permit is required at all, and we sort out which office applies before we submit anything.

We walk the beds with you, go over the watering schedule for the first summer, and leave you the planting schedule so you know what's where and how big it will get. Most plant loss in the first couple of seasons traces back to water, so the watering schedule is the part worth taping to the fridge.