Landscaping in Asheville, NC
New planting beds, layout design and decorative stone or mulch finishing to give your property a full landscaped look.
A plan for your whole yard
This is the service for adding something new: fresh planting beds, a redesigned layout, or a full landscape plan for a new build or a yard that's ready for an upgrade.
Recent landscaping work
Designing for slope, shade and clay
Three things shape almost every landscape plan around Asheville: the grade, the tree canopy and the clay. Most lots here have some slope, which means a design has to think about where water goes before it thinks about where plants go. Beds cut across a hillside without any thought to drainage just become washouts.
Shade is the second constraint. Mature oaks, poplars and pines throw a lot of it, and a plan built around full sun perennials will look thin and leggy within two seasons. We would rather put in something that thrives in the light you actually have than sell you plants that need conditions your yard does not offer.
The third is soil. Heavy red clay compacts and drains slowly, so new planting beds get broken up and amended rather than dug as a hole in hardpan. Skipping that step is the most common reason new landscaping looks great for one season and tired by the third.
How a project runs
From a walk-through to a finished, planted yard.
Walk and listen
We go over how you use the space, what bothers you about it now, and how much upkeep you want.
Propose a plan
A concrete plan for bed shapes, plant choices and materials, priced in writing before anything starts.
Prep the ground
Beds shaped, edges cut, clay broken up and amended so new plants have somewhere to root.
Plant and finish
Everything goes in, then mulch or decorative stone to finish the beds and hold moisture.
What affects the price
Landscaping covers everything from one new bed to a full front yard, so the range is wide. The drivers:
We can phase a larger project across seasons if that suits your budget better, and we will tell you which parts to do first for the biggest visual change.
Landscaping FAQ
Do you help with plant and layout selection?+
Yes, we recommend plants and a layout suited to your yard's sun, slope and soil, and to how you want to use the space.
Do you design for new construction or a blank yard?+
Yes, new builds and blank yards are common projects for us, along with adding new beds or a fresh layout to an established property.
What's the difference between landscaping and garden restoration?+
Landscaping is for adding new beds, plants or layout to a yard. Garden restoration is for a yard that already exists but has been neglected and needs to be cleared and rebuilt first.
Do you work with native plants?+
Yes, and we usually push for them. Natives suited to Western North Carolina like oakleaf hydrangea, mountain laurel, serviceberry, itea and coneflower are adapted to our rainfall, our clay and our winters, so they need less water and less intervention than a lot of what gets sold as landscape filler. They also support local pollinators, which matters more than people expect.
Can you landscape a steep or sloped yard?+
Yes, and a large share of what we do around Asheville is on grade. Sloped ground needs the water question answered first, which might mean terracing, a retaining wall, a dry creek bed for runoff, or simply selecting plants that hold soil. We look at where the water goes in a storm before we decide where anything gets planted.
Do you give a drawing or plan before starting?+
We give you a clear, written plan covering bed layout, plant selections, quantities and materials, along with the price. We are a working crew rather than an architecture studio, so you get something practical you can approve and hold us to instead of a portfolio rendering.
Do you design for new construction?+
Yes. New builds and blank yards are common projects for us, along with adding new beds or a fresh layout to an established property. On new construction we pay particular attention to grading and drainage, since builder finish grading often sends water exactly where you do not want it.
Related services
Most properties need more than one of these. We can bundle them into a single visit and a single estimate.
Ready to redo your yard?
Free estimate, no obligation. We usually reply within 24 hours.