The First Room Anyone Sees
Landscaping & Outdoor Enhancements
The front of your house is the only room every visitor, every neighbour and every appraiser sees. We treat it with the same design attention we give the inside.
What we do outside
- Planting design. A layout that works in year one and still works in year five, drawn to the mature size of the plants rather than the size of the pot.
- Bed reshaping and edging. Beds cut to a deliberate curve or line, held with steel edging so the shape does not migrate. This alone changes the front of a house more than most people expect.
- Landscape refreshes. Removing what has outgrown its place or died back, cutting the rest into shape, replacing gaps and re-mulching.
- Tree and shrub replacement. Including taking out the overgrown foundation shrubs that came with the house and are now hiding your windows.
- Mulch and decorative rock. Which one suits the bed, and why the answer is not always the cheaper one.
- Landscape lighting. Uplights on trees and the architecture, path lighting, and lighting the entry so the front door reads at night.
- Sod and turf areas.
- Entry styling. Containers, the front door, house numbers and light fixtures. The smallest budget item on this page and often the most noticed.
If your project needs major grading, drainage engineering, retaining structures or a pool, say so at the consultation and we will tell you plainly whether it is work we take on or work you want a specialist for. We would rather scope it honestly than take it and learn on your yard.
What North Texas does to a landscape
Plenty of landscape advice on the internet was written for somewhere else. Here is what actually governs a DFW yard.
- The soil is heavy clay and it moves. It swells when wet and shrinks when dry, which is why the foundation conversation and the landscape conversation are the same conversation. Beds get graded to drain away from the house, large trees stay well clear of the slab, and irrigation does not get pointed at the foundation.
- The soil is alkaline. Acid-loving plants like azaleas, gardenias and some Japanese maples are a permanent fight here without amended and contained beds. They can be done. They are not low maintenance.
- Summer decides everything. A plant that looks lovely in April and cannot take a run of hundred-degree days in full west sun is a plant you will replace. Choosing for the worst six weeks of the year is what makes a landscape that lasts.
- Watering is often restricted. Many DFW cities limit watering days. That is a design constraint, not an inconvenience, and it favours well-adapted material grouped by how thirsty it is.
- Fall is the best planting season. Not spring. Planting in October or November gives roots months to establish before the first summer, and it is the single biggest thing you can do for survival rates. Spring is second best. Planting in July is the hardest way to do it.
Plants that consistently earn their place here include dwarf yaupon and other hollies, Texas sage, rosemary, muhly grass, Mexican feather grass, agave and yucca, crape myrtle, and native perennials that go dormant rather than die in the heat. That is not an exhaustive list, and the right one for your yard depends on sun, drainage and how much you want to be out there with a hose.
What drives the price
Outdoor work is quoted per project. These are the levers, and most of them are yours to pull.
- Bed area and how much is being replanted. Refreshing existing beds costs far less than creating new ones.
- Plant size at installation. The biggest choice you make. A large specimen tree costs several times a smaller one of the same species, and in this climate the smaller one often catches up within a few seasons because it establishes better. Sometimes the patient option is also the better one.
- Removal and haul-off. Taking out mature overgrown shrubs and their root balls is real labour.
- Edging and hardscape. Steel edging, stepping stones, gravel paths and borders.
- Lighting. Transformer, fixtures and wire runs. Priced by fixture count and how far the runs go.
- Irrigation changes. New beds usually need heads moved or drip added, and that is its own trade.
- Sod area and site access. A gate too narrow for equipment means everything moves by hand.
How the work goes
- Walkthrough. Sun and shade through the day, drainage, what is thriving, what is struggling, and what you actually want the front of the house to look like.
- Design. A planting plan drawn to mature sizes, with the bed shapes, the material list and the lighting layout.
- Scheduling to the season. Where timing is flexible, we will tell you when planting gives you the best result rather than booking the soonest date.
- Clear and prepare. Remove what is going, reshape beds, amend soil and set edging.
- Plant. Correct depth, correct spacing for mature size, and watered in.
- Mulch, lighting and finish.
- Walkthrough and a watering schedule. New plantings need a specific amount of water for the first season. We tell you what it is, because that is what decides whether they live.
When you do not need a landscape project
- The plants are healthy and the beds just look tired. Recut the bed edges, install steel edging, cut back what has got leggy, and lay fresh mulch. It is a fraction of the cost of replanting and the front of the house reads as new.
- You are listing the house next month. Then the money goes into mulch, edging, trimmed shrubs, a painted front door and clean containers at the entry. That is what shows in the photographs.
- Something keeps dying in the same spot. That is a drainage, sun or soil problem. Find it before you plant a fourth thing there.
- You cannot commit to watering a new landscape through its first summer. Say so, and we will design something considerably tougher instead of watching it fail.
How we approach the outside
Designed, not just planted
The same in-house designer who works on your interiors sets the plan outside, so the front of the house agrees with the front door, the paint and the architecture.
Chosen to survive here
Plant selection made for clay soil, alkaline pH, watering restrictions and North Texas summer, not for a photograph taken in a different climate.
One team and one manager
A dedicated project manager, background-checked and insured crews, and a 365-day workmanship warranty on our workmanship.
Related services
- Exterior painting, which is the other half of curb appeal and best planned at the same time
- Interior design if the whole property is being brought up together
- All our services for the rest of what we do
Let's look at the front of your house
Book a consultation and we will tell you whether your yard needs a redesign or a good refresh, and what each one would cost.
Landscaping and outdoor enhancements in McKinney, Plano, Frisco, Prosper, Dallas, Carrollton, Celina, Allen, Aubrey, Little Elm, The Colony, Anna, Fort Worth and the surrounding DFW metro.