How pricing works
How much does landscaping cost in Charlotte, NC?
We can't give you a number over the phone, and we won't pretend to. Here's what actually decides what's on your proposal.
Why we don't quote by phone
Every yard on the south-west side of Charlotte carries a different mix of clay, slope, sun, and access, and none of that shows up in a phone call. Two lots on the same street in Steele Creek can need completely different base work depending on which way the builder ran the grade. So instead of guessing at a number, Luis walks the yard, checks the grade with a transit level, and asks how you actually use the space. What comes out of that walk is a written design-and-build proposal based on what we actually saw.
That proposal breaks out material, square footage, the grading and drainage the site needs, and any permit or HOA steps, so you can see where the number comes from before anything is ordered.
What drives the number on your proposal
| Square footage of the area | A patio, a bed line, or a section of lawn all price by how much ground is actually being touched, not by the shape of the yard around it. |
|---|---|
| Grade and drainage work | Charlotte red clay drains slowly. A flat lot that holds water after a storm needs more excavation and drainage stone than a lot that already sheds water toward the street, and that changes how much dirt has to move. |
| Material | Tumbled concrete paver, clay brick, bluestone, and Tennessee fieldstone all install differently, weigh differently, and take different labor to set and joint. |
| Plant sizes | A three-gallon shrub goes in fast and fills in over a couple of seasons. A fifteen-gallon tree needs a bigger hole, more staking, and more time on site, and it looks established from day one instead of growing into it. |
| Access for machines | If a mini skid can get through a side gate to the back yard, base material and mulch move fast. If everything has to be wheelbarrowed through a narrow gap between houses, that's more hours for the same square footage. |
| Permits and HOA approval | Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte handle permitting on the NC side of our area; York County handles Fort Mill and Tega Cay. Wall height often decides whether a permit is required at all, and an HOA architectural review packet can add real time to a submittal before work starts. |
| Season | Fall is the best window for planting because roots settle in before summer heat hits. Hardscape moves ahead in winter when the ground isn't holding as much water. August is the worst month to lay sod — the heat stresses new grass before it can root down. |
What happens between the walk and the proposal
After the walk, we measure the site properly, work out the grade and drainage plan, and price the material against the square footage and access we actually saw. If plants are part of the job, Luis builds a planting schedule — bed, plant, count, mature size, and why it's there — so you can see exactly what's going in before anything is ordered. If your subdivision requires an HOA architectural review packet, we prepare it as part of the proposal instead of leaving you to figure it out.
Nothing gets ordered and no crew gets scheduled until you've signed off on that proposal. If the scope changes once we're on site — an old buried line nobody knew about, clay that's worse than it looked from the surface — we stop and talk it through before we keep digging.
What the written proposal actually contains
- A scope of work in plain language: what's being built, removed, or planted, and where
- Square footage and material for any hardscape, spelled out by area
- The grading and drainage plan, including any pipe or drainage stone the site needs
- A planting schedule if plants are part of the job — bed, plant, count, mature size
- Any permit or HOA architectural review packet we're preparing on your behalf
- A rough sequence and timeframe so you know what's happening and in what order
- Our license and insurance information, so you know who's doing the work
They walked the whole yard before they said a word about what it would take. Nobody had done that before. Sample review.
Homeowner, Ballantyne
Questions people ask before the walk
Why won't you give me a ballpark over the phone?
Because a ballpark 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 existing drainage all change the labor on a job, and none of those show up in a conversation. A short walk through the yard tells us more than a long list of questions ever could, so that's where the real number comes from.
How long does it take to get a proposal after the walk?
It depends on the scope. A planting refresh is quicker to write up than a patio with a retaining wall, and jobs that need an HOA architectural review packet or a York County permit review take longer to put together, since we're pulling in the paperwork those approvals need at the same time.
Does the proposal price change once work starts?
Not without a conversation first. The proposal is built from what we saw on the walk and measured on site, so it should hold. If something turns up 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.
Is a design consultation part of the walk, or separate?
It's part of the same visit. Luis checks the grade, looks at drainage, and talks through design at the same time, because those decisions affect each other. A patio placement changes a bed line, and a bed line changes where water needs to go, so it doesn't make sense to separate design from the site walk.
Book a yard walk
Get a written proposal
A walk around the property with you, then a written proposal with the plan and the plant list.
Or call (704) 555-0163 · Mon-Fri 7:30am-5pm · Sat by appointment