The 8 best landscaping companies in Charlotte

Landscaping covers two different trades that share a name. One is mowing, mulch and keeping a yard tidy. The other is design and build: grading, drainage, retaining walls, patios and planting that has to still look right in five years. The list below says which each firm does, because hiring the wrong one is how people end up with a beautiful patio that floods. Every company holds a public rating of 4.7 or better, most across hundreds of reviews.

1. MetroGreenscape

The Monroe Road design and build firm with 639 reviews, the deepest record in the city. Pools, patios, irrigation, sod and planting, with a computer rendering produced before anything is dug so you can see the finished thing first. Homeowners who priced several firms describe it as the most expensive quote and the one they trusted with a large project. It also runs ongoing maintenance as a separate service.

Hours: Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; closed weekends

Address: 4332 Monroe Rd, Suite B, Charlotte, NC 28205

Why it made the list

• Renderings before you commit.
• Handles pools and full outdoor builds.
• Named project managers on site.
• Top of the market on price.

Directory listing: MetroGreenscape

2. GreenWorx180

Brett’s south Charlotte firm, 4.9 across 288 reviews, doing stone paths, outdoor kitchens, grading, drainage and planting. It is the one people call after another company botched the job, including a failed Zoysia sod install it put right. Crews arrive with plants, soil and equipment already loaded, which is how a big project finishes in a couple of days.

Hours: Daily 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; closed Sunday

Address: 6425 Bannington Rd, Unit A, Charlotte, NC 28226

Why it made the list

• Fixes other companies’ failures.
• Drainage and grading, not just planting.
• Fast on large projects.
• Open six days for scheduling.

Directory listing: GreenWorx180

3. Crown Town Landscapes

The Seigle Avenue firm that splits design from build: Charlie consults, Rachel designs, Aaron’s crew installs. Native and edible planting is deliberate instead of decorative. It is the one for a sloped, overgrown yard that has defeated several attempts at doing it yourself, and the boulder retaining walls and flagstone work are what clients photograph afterward.

Hours: Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed weekends

Address: 932 Seigle Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205

Why it made the list

• A real design stage before any work.
• Native planting by default.
• Good with difficult slopes.
• Checks in through multi day builds.

Directory listing: Crown Town Landscapes

4. Signature Lawn And Landscape

The Mint Hill firm, 4.9 across 219 reviews, covering mowing and hedges at one end and full yard renovations at the other. Daniel produces a step by step plan with measurements after the first visit, which firms this size rarely do, and comes back to fix anything that looks wrong without an argument. It turned one yard of dirt and roots into a finished lawn.

Hours: Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Address: 4614 Wilgrove Mint Hill Rd, Mint Hill, NC 28227

Why it made the list

• Does both maintenance and renovation.
• A written plan before the work.
• Comes back to put things right.
• Pet safe ice melt in winter.

Directory listing: Signature Lawn And Landscape

5. 4th Generation Landscaping

Isaac’s east Charlotte crew, 4.9 across 301 reviews, specialising in land that has gone properly wild. Ivy, brush, poison ivy and years of dead leaves cleared, with pruning on whatever stays instead of levelling the lot. A four person crew took a full backyard back in two days, and the prices are reasonable for that volume of work.

Hours: Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m. to noon

Address: 8501 Tower Point Dr, Suite A203, Charlotte, NC 28227

Why it made the list

• The overgrowth specialists.
• Keeps what is worth keeping.
• Communicates through the project.
• Saturday mornings available.

Directory listing: 4th Generation Landscaping

6. Urban Lawn & Landscape

David’s Mint Hill firm with a perfect rating across 79 reviews, doing patios, pergolas, retaining walls, sod and lawn levelling. A large patio with surrounding beds and a pergola took just over a week, and clients credit David’s design suggestions during the build with improving the result. A 65 foot retaining wall came in to spec and on time.

Hours: Monday to Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; closed Sunday

Address: 4614 Wilgrove Mint Hill Rd, Suite O, Mint Hill, NC 28227

Why it made the list

• Hardscaping done to spec.
• Ground prepared properly before sod.
• Design input during the build.
• Long hours six days a week.

Directory listing: Urban Lawn & Landscape

7. The Plant Guys

The Matthews firm, 4.8 across 148 reviews, and the one to call when the question is which plant instead of how much concrete. Design, planting, irrigation and stone work from one crew, and Jeff has been advising some families on plants for fifteen years. It services irrigation it installed years earlier, which is a fair test of a landscaper.

Hours: Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed weekends

Address: 2022 Independence Commerce Dr, Matthews, NC 28105

Why it made the list

• Plant knowledge above hardscape.
• Comes back for its own irrigation.
• Estimates have come in under budget.
• Long established locally.

Directory listing: The Plant Guys

8. All Natural Streams Landscaping

Billy’s firm on Manor Road does what almost no other landscaper here will: ponds and waterfalls. Koi ponds, thirty foot waterfall runs, fire pits cut from a single boulder, and the planting and lighting to hold it together. Clients four years on describe features that matured instead of degraded, and it rebuilt one pond another company had installed badly.

Hours: Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Sunday

Address: 2833 Manor Rd, Charlotte, NC 28209

Why it made the list

• The water feature specialist.
• Work that looks better after four years.
• Prompt on service calls long after the build.
• Fixes badly built ponds.

Directory listing: All Natural Streams Landscaping

Before you hire

Work out which trade you actually need. A mowing company will not solve a drainage problem, and a design build firm will charge design build prices to cut your grass. On anything involving grading, retaining walls or drainage, ask specifically how water will leave the site, because that is the question that separates a patio that lasts from one that does not. Get the plant list in writing with sizes, and ask what the warranty is on plants that die in the first year. If a landscaper did right by you, tell us.