We draw, build, and then keep the landscape — so the patio still sits level, the beds still read intentional, and the trees you paid for are the ones that survive a Piedmont August.
The crew that installs the bed is the crew that prunes it next spring. Nothing is subcontracted out and re-explained.
You approve a scaled plan and a line-item estimate before anything is dug. Change orders are written, never verbal.
Drainage first, then hardscape, then plants. Most failures we get called to repair are water problems wearing a plant costume.
Regional nursery stock, sized for the site, warrantied three years when we hold the maintenance.
Every project below started with grading and water and ended with a maintenance visit already on the calendar.
The original walk had settled four inches toward the porch and pushed water into the crawlspace. We regraded, ran a French drain to the street side, then rebuilt in clay pavers on a compacted base with a seat-height stone wall to hold the new elevation.
A wide, empty deck turned into two rooms — a shaded lounge and an eating end — using container plantings heavy enough to hold their place in a storm and a screen of upright hollies for privacy from the neighbouring lot.
A structured planting plan approved by the district commission on the first submission: evergreen bones for winter, three seasons of colour inside them, and a bluestone edge that reads period-correct from the sidewalk.
We pulled the mown lawn back to the areas the family actually walks, put the rest into a managed meadow edge, and defined the difference with a stone wall and gravel path so the property reads maintained rather than merely large.
Four changeovers a year on a written schedule, so the entry beds are never between seasons when the owners are hosting. Bulbs go in during the autumn visit and nobody has to think about it again.
The previous install had failed twice because the compaction underneath was never addressed. We core-aerated, amended, corrected the irrigation head spacing, then laid tall fescue in October when it had a chance to root.
Ranges are honest starting points for a typical Wake County residential lot. Every project is priced from a site visit and a drawing.
A scaled plan for the whole property, built in phases you can afford, with the sequence set so nothing gets torn out later.
From $6,500 · plan fee credited to the buildPatios, walkways, seat walls, steps, and retaining walls on a properly compacted base — the part that decides whether it lasts.
From $9,000 · 5-year workmanship warrantyRegional stock sized for the site, arranged for winter structure first. Seasonal changeovers on a written calendar.
From $2,400 · 3-year plant warranty on care plansFrench drains, dry creeks, downspout routing, and irrigation zoned to how the beds actually plant out — not to the sprinkler catalogue.
From $3,200 · backflow testing includedAeration, amendment, and autumn fescue seeding — plus an honest answer about which parts of your yard should not be lawn.
From $1,800 · per 5,000 sq ftScheduled visits with the same crew, a seasonal task list per property, and pruning done on the plant's calendar rather than the truck's.
From $180 / visit · or a monthly plan belowNinety minutes on site. We look at water, sun, soil, and how you actually use the yard, then tell you plainly what we would and would not spend money on.
A scaled drawing, a plant list, and a line-item price. Phasing options if the whole plan is more than this year's budget.
Grading and drainage, then hardscape, then planting, then irrigation tuning. A daily photo update while crews are on site.
A written care calendar for the property, a walkthrough with whoever will be looking after it, and a first maintenance visit already booked.
A landscape is a maintenance decision as much as a build decision. Plans are annual, billed monthly, and can be cancelled with 30 days' notice.
Plans cover properties within 25 miles of Raleigh. Hardscape repairs, tree removal, and storm work are quoted separately.
We stay inside a radius our crews can reach twice in a week, because a maintenance promise you cannot drive to is not a promise. Beyond it we will happily recommend someone.
“Two contractors quoted us a new patio. Dana quoted a drain and a patio, and explained why the first two would have failed. Three winters later it has not moved.”
“The same three people show up. They know which hydrangea I am protective of. That sounds small until you have had four different crews in two years.”
“They talked us out of about eight thousand dollars of lawn we did not need and put in a meadow edge instead. Lower bill, better yard, less mowing.”
Call, or email two or three photos with a sentence about what is not working — wet corner, dead patch, patio you never sit on. We will tell you whether it is a $2,000 problem or a $20,000 one before we come out.