01 · Landscape Design & Installation
Planting plans drawn for your lot, then planted by the people who drew them
Beds, trees, shrubs, screens and lawn, laid out around the sun, the slope and the water on your property, and installed by the same company.
01What goes in
From bare dirt to a yard that fits the house
The pieces of a landscape install, each planned before it is planted.
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Beds and borders
Shaped beds along the house, the walk and the property line, with the soil loosened and amended before anything goes in.
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Trees and shrubs
Shade trees, flowering trees and foundation shrubs, chosen for the spot’s light and for the size they will reach in ten years, not the size on the truck.
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Privacy screens
Rows of evergreen trees to close off a neighbor, a road or a new build next door, spaced to fill in without crowding.
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Sod and seed
A new lawn laid as sod for an instant finish, or seeded in the right season, on a graded and prepared base.
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Mulch and edging
Fresh mulch at the right depth and a clean edge between bed and lawn, the two details that make a yard look kept.
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Landscape lighting
Path, step and accent lights so the planting still reads after dark.
02Before the first plant
What the plan has to answer
A landscape that looks good the week it goes in and tired two summers later usually failed at the plan, not the planting. So the plan starts with the lot: where the afternoon sun lands, which corner stays wet after a storm, where the ground falls away from the house, and what is already there that deserves to stay. Hunter studied landscape architecture at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and that is the order he works in.
Middle Tennessee soil is mostly heavy clay, often over limestone not far down. Clay holds water in spring and bakes hard in August, so beds are dug, loosened and amended rather than planted straight into the ground, and plants that hate wet feet go where the water does not sit.
New-construction lots get extra attention. The topsoil is often gone, the subsoil is packed hard by trucks, and the builder’s grade may push water toward the house. That gets fixed first, then the beds and the lawn go on top of it.
When the work is done there is a final walkthrough: what was planted, how to water it through the first summer, and what to watch for. If you want the upkeep handled, a maintenance plan picks up from there.
03Answers
Landscape design questions
How much does landscape design cost?
The first conversation and the written estimate cost nothing, and the estimate prices the planting and the installation together. The total follows the size of the beds, the size of the trees and shrubs at planting, how much the soil needs amending, and whether stone or edging goes in with them.
Do I need a landscape designer, or can the installer plan it?
You need a plan either way, and here it comes from the people who install it. Hunter’s training is in landscape architecture, so the drawing accounts for sun, slope and drainage before a single plant is bought.
Which months are best for planting new trees and shrubs around Brentwood?
Fall is the best season for most trees and shrubs here, with early spring second. Roots keep growing in cool soil while the tops rest, so a fall planting goes into its first summer already rooted in.
Should I sod or seed a new lawn in Tennessee?
Sod gives you a finished lawn the day it goes down and holds the soil on a slope; seed costs less but needs a season to fill in. Tall fescue is seeded in early fall here, so a lawn wanted sooner than that is usually sodded.
What trees make a fast privacy screen?
Fast evergreens such as Green Giant arborvitae and Nellie R. Stevens holly are common choices around Nashville for screening a neighbor or a road. Spacing matters as much as the tree: planted too tight they shade each other out, too far apart and the gaps take years to close.
Do you landscape new-construction homes?
Yes. A new house often comes with compacted subsoil and a bare grade, so the job starts with loosening and amending the ground before the beds, trees and sod go in.