Landscape design & build in Raleigh
A garden planned for the way you live outside.
Patios, paths, planting and light, drawn together as one plan and then built, so the yard feels finished instead of pieced together.
Start with a plan for the whole yard, then build it one season or all at once.
A good outdoor space starts with how you want to use it: dinner on the terrace, a quiet bench under a tree, a path the kids won't cut across. Fernwood Landscape Design designs the hard parts and the green parts together, so walls, steps, beds and lighting all read as one garden.
- Design
- Patios & walls
- Planting
- Lighting
- Irrigation
- Seasonal care
From plan to planting
Three steps, and the questions worth asking at each one.
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01
Consult
A walk around the yard together: what you love, what bothers you, where the water goes after a storm and where the afternoon sun lands.
Ask about: sun and shade, drainage, soil, and what a sensible budget range looks like for your ideas.
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02
Design
The ideas become a drawn plan: where the terrace sits, how the path bends, which plants go where and how they'll look in a few years, not just on day one.
Ask about: a plan drawing, a plant list, material samples, and how the work could be split into phases.
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03
Build
Grading, stone, walls and lighting go in first; planting and mulch come last, so the garden is finished from the ground up.
Ask about: the order of work, how access to the yard is handled, and how new plants should be watered once they're in.
Five parts of one garden.
Take one on its own or put them together in a single plan.
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Landscape design
A measured plan for the whole property or one corner of it: layout, materials, plant choices and a lighting idea, drawn before anything is dug.
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Patios, paths & walls
Flagstone and paver terraces, garden paths, steps, seat walls and retaining walls, laid out to fit the slope and the way you walk the yard.
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Planting
Trees, shrubs, perennials and groundcover chosen for the light, the soil and how much tending you want to do, with beds edged and mulched.
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Landscape lighting
Low-voltage path, step and tree lighting that makes the garden usable after dark and shows off its best parts from inside the house.
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Irrigation
Drip lines for beds and zoned sprinklers for lawn, planned with the planting so each area gets the water it needs and no more.
Terraces, steps and borders to borrow from.
Bring photos of gardens you like to the first visit. They're the fastest way to show what you have in mind.
Seasonal care
A garden keeps growing after it's built.
What a new garden usually needs through the year. Ask which of these you'd like help with and which you'd rather do yourself.
Spring
- Clear beds and refresh mulch
- Prune before new growth
- Start up and test irrigation
Summer
- Water deeply, less often
- Deadhead, weed and edge
- Check lighting timers
Fall
- Plant trees and shrubs
- Aerate and overseed lawns
- Clear leaves from beds
Winter
- Dormant pruning
- Winterize irrigation
- Plan next year's projects
Before the first visit.
What happens at a first visit?
A walk around the property and a conversation about how you'd like to use it. Ask what the next step would be and what it would cost before you agree to anything.
Do I need a full design before anything is built?
Not always. A single patio or bed can go straight to an estimate. For bigger changes, a plan for the whole yard helps each piece fit the next one.
Can you work around plants and trees I already have?
Mature trees and healthy shrubs are often the best thing in a yard. Point out what you want to keep and ask how the design can be built around it.
Can the work be done in phases?
Many gardens are built that way: hardscape one year, planting the next. Ask for the plan to be split into stages that each look finished on their own.
How are plants chosen?
By light, soil, size at maturity and how much care you want to give them. Tell us about pets, allergies or deer, and ask for a plant list with the plan.
What should I have ready before we talk?
A few photos of the yard, a survey or plat if you have one, any HOA rules, and pictures of gardens you like. A rough budget range helps too.
Tell us about your yard.
A few lines about what you'd like to change is plenty, plus a good time to call. Photos of the yard help too.