About & Process — CopeLand Planning and Design

Michael Copeland

The landscape of the home, designed with a planner's range.

Michael Copeland is a landscape designer and planner based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has spent more than twenty years designing landscapes — and has worked across every scale of them: private gardens and town gateways, courtyards and college campuses, a back garden in Denver and a resort in the red-rock country of Colorado.

He began in New York at Hart Howerton, the firm known for resort communities and master plans measured in decades. He went on to lead landscape and land-development practices in Denver and Charlotte — directing design teams, guiding projects from first sketch through construction, and drawing residential gardens the entire way.

CopeLand Planning and Design is the studio through which Michael now devotes that full range to the work he cares about most: the landscape of the home. A garden walked through every morning. A drive that arrives somewhere. A courtyard that holds a dinner for six and a quiet hour for one.

He lives in Charlotte with his wife Shadie, their two sons, and a golden doodle. The studio works across the Carolinas and the Southeast.

MembershipsASLA · CNU-A · ULI

CivicStakeholder Member, City of Charlotte Tree Canopy Action Plan (Charlotte 2040)

How a Typical Project Unfolds

Design in Phase I. Build in Phase II.

Design and construction are one conversation here. We stay on through the build as your owner's representative — from the first walk-through to the final.

Phase I · Design

Walk-through to final plan.

An in-home consultation to understand your needs, the property, and the direction. From there: scaled drawings, concept plans, and a presentation — then refinements through hardscape, planting, water, lighting, and furnishings, and a finalized plan with accompanying details.

Site assessment and detailed measurements
Scaled concept plans, materials, and palette
Hardscape, planting, water, and lighting design
Furniture layouts and procurement options
A finalized plan with accompanying details and budget

Phase II · Build

Owner's representative through construction.

Once the design is approved, we price the work with our trusted trades and manage the build, start to finish — your single point of contact from groundbreaking to the final walk-through.

Pricing with vetted trades and subconsultants
Scheduling and trade coordination
On-site project observation
Conflict resolution and quality control
Final inspection and walk-through

Hand-drawn plan, the work in the ground, the finished garden — the arc of every project, and of a career spent designing the residential landscape.

Whole-Home Design

Inside and out, one conversation.

Some of our best work happens with Shadie Copeland Interiors.

Michael designs the exterior. Shadie designs the interior. When a project warrants it, we work together from the start — so the move from indoors to out feels like one continuous decision.

Visit Shadie Copeland Interiors →

Two decades of design, at every scale.

The landscape of the home, designed with a planner's range.

Design in Phase I. Build in Phase II.

Walk-through to final plan.

Owner's representative through construction.

Inside and out, one conversation.

Let's walk the property.