Landscapers and Landscape Design in Western North Carolina

A mountain yard asks different questions than a level lot in a subdivision. Where does the rain go once it leaves the roof? What keeps the bank behind the house from slumping? Which shrubs will still be standing after the deer pass through? Good landscape design here answers those first, and only then turns to how the space should look.

We have worked as a design-and-build company since 1997, so a single team carries each project from the first walk around your property to the last plant in the ground. If you want to know who we are before anything else, start with our landscaping company in Asheville. If your project is mostly stone, the page on hardscaping in Asheville goes further into walls, patios and steps.

A crew that mostly works on level suburban ground can lay sod and set shrubs almost anywhere. Up here the plan has to account for grade, runoff, soil, wildlife and weather before a single plant is picked, and the planting, stonework and drainage all have to agree with one another. Keeping design and installation in the same hands is how we make sure they do.

From consultation to install

Every job begins on site. We walk the property with you, watch how the ground falls away, look for traces of past runoff, and talk through how your household actually wants to use the yard. From there we draw one plan that combines grading, drainage, stone and planting, and you get a written estimate before work starts. The people who install it work for the same company that drew it, so the thinking behind the design survives the build.

Conditions shift over very short distances in Western North Carolina. A house on an exposed ridge can catch wind and cold that a neighbor in a sheltered cove never feels. A valley floor can hold chilly air on still nights, so frost tends to come earlier and linger later there than on the slope just above. Sun matters as much as height: a bank facing south bakes in midsummer, while one facing north may stay damp and shaded for most of the day.

So we pick plants for the spot rather than for the region as a whole. During the site visit we note exposure, wind, shade, soil moisture and where cold air is likely to pool, and the plant list follows from what we find. It is also why we are wary of one-size planting calendars. The right timing depends on your particular lot, and we will tell you what makes sense for it.

Whoever you hire, a few simple checks will tell you a lot about whether they are ready for a mountain property.

Look for hillside work in the portfolio

Photos of level lawns and foundation shrubs do not show that a company can handle a steep, wet or wooded lot. Ask to see finished slopes, walls and drainage, ideally on ground like yours. Our own Asheville landscape projects include a stone stairway in Weaverville, a pool-deck landscape for a mountain new-build, a West Asheville retreat built to need little care, a wildlife garden, and a pet-friendly backyard in Asheville.

Get the scope in writing

A written scope should state what is being graded, how water will be handled, what goes underneath any patio or path, and which plants are going where. When two bids are far apart, the scope is usually where the gap hides. A vague estimate makes it hard to compare companies and harder to hold anyone to the result.

Ask who does the work

Find out whether the designer and the installers belong to the same business, and check that the contractor carries a license and insurance and puts its workmanship under warranty. For the record, Natural Scapes holds NC license CL.1862, backs its installations with a 5-year workmanship warranty, has been building in these mountains since 1997, and has 117 Google reviews you can read for yourself.