By Frank Daniels IV
Staff Writer
On a stretch of N.C. 211 between Taylortown and West End, a construction project stands out because of the care and attention Landscape Design Innovation Group puts into the process of their new demonstration outdoor space and patio.
“We were really adamant about how we did it, being clean and neat and orderly and piling things up and getting rid of them in a neat and fussy order all while keeping this operation running like a sewing machine,” said business founder Jeremy Rust of what amounts to a giant showroom of the business’s work. “So it didn’t look like that chaos was impacting this — even though it was — we just didn’t want the community to feel like that was happening.”
For Rust, starting Landscape Design Innovation Group, or LDIG, in 2015 was the manifestation of a dream he cultivated since he began tending the family lawn and garden as a young boy in Buffalo, New York. He said between his neighbor, an older retired man who gave Rust his “introduction to all things dirt and digging,” and his mother, who had a love for plants and landscaping, Rust began to learn, developing a love for beautifying a landscape. That was firmly planted through his first project at age 12.
“ My mom really gave me my start and my appreciation,” said Rust. “She had a little project for me. We did a design and we went to a nursery and we collaborated with them. It was my very first little project — putting in a little row of shrubs for my mom and some flowers and some mulch and some fencing — it was just really special, you know, it was something I always remembered.”
Through discussions with his father about which careers appealed to him, Rust decided he wanted a mix of office-work and field-work, discovering that landscape architecture could offer that path.
A forward-thinking drafting teacher introduced Rust to computer-aided design, which he began to learn in junior high school, taking AutoCAD classes through high school.
As he learned more of the technical side of drafting and design in school, Rust continued his education in the field outside of school.
“I sort of had a little landscaping business, where I would just plant flowers for people, plant shrubs, do small patio projects,” said Rust. “I just love to do all things outside and I love to see something be kind disorganized and then become — from my vision and their interest and help — to bring it to something that was worth looking at.”
He said the work began as a lawn-mowing, but over time, it grew to full-scale yard maintenance and eventually clients began asking if he could do more permanent projects, such as a small patio, driveway sealing or other projects.
Rust attended Syracuse University, enrolling in its landscape architecture program. In part because it was one of few schools he found offering accredited landscape architecture education, but also because the program included a fifth year mandating off-campus study. Rust’s class opted for an atypical, and unique, opportunity: assisting Sydney, Australia as it hosted the 2000 Olympic Summer Games.
“For a landscape architecture student, that was awesome because you got to see this major metropolitan city put the final touches on their transportation system,” said Rust. “It was water rail, airports, pedestrian circulation, buses — you know, all this stuff — welcoming the world to a new millennium of Olympic Games. And then to see how they handled all that, and then how they came back together as, ‘This is now our new normal. Our Olympics are here and gone, and so what does our community, our city look like after that?’ So it was an amazing time.”
That experience goes to the heart of what LDIG does in the Moore County community. Rust said that people often misunderstand the breadth of services the business provides, leading him to secure the URL “morethanlandscapers.com,” which redirects to the business home page.
“We provide a really holistic approach to design, but also construction,” said Rust. “A big effort in what I try to do for our clients is ‘form follows function,’ but making function extraordinarily cool, looking at the possibilities of what we can really do with landscaping.
“A lot of times I get called in because some people just want something really pretty, but they have some pretty serious infrastructure issues, so I have to sort of flip their priorities around for them.”
One of the main issues LDIG encounters in those scenarios is drainage problems, where water running onto the property becomes a problem for structural integrity or it could be disruptive to a potential land-use. In cases like that, the first order of business for Rust is to manage the land, primarily through grading and developing an intimate knowledge of the existing infrastructure and root systems. He then can create a sustainable foundation, so “when we do build the pretty stuff later, it’ll hold together,” he said.
Things like what he is showcasing at the company’s West End headquarters, where they’ve built a large patio, pool, pavilion and out-door kitchen area, complete with a wood-fired pizza oven.
Because of the materials, meant to display the flexibility and range of patio design LDIG offers, the on-site project could run a client more than $100,000, though Rust said a design of similar size with a more simple finish would be closer to $30,000 or $40,000.
Projects of that nature require a number of licenses that a typical landscaper wouldn’t hold.
“I started out before there was even really a landscape contractor licensing board in the state of North Carolina,” said Rust. “But I have since gone on to become a licensed landscape contractor, a licensed septic installer and now most recently, a licensed pool contractor in the state of North Carolina. So we’re just having a lot of fun building, trying to build those higher-end projects, residential design build, outdoor living spaces.”
While he mostly focuses on residential — with about 80 percent of revenue coming through that avenue — Rust has also worked on high-profile commercial projects in the area.
Winning those large-scale projects was the result of steady growth for the business, which at this point employs around 15 people. Rust said the company has gone through a few cycles, hitting $800,000, $1.6 million and $2.3 million in revenue before a plateau and a reevaluation of strategies and processes.
The first came in 2017. The business had grown enough that Rust couldn’t keep his equipment in the neighborhood, and bought the property where he built his office at 5615 N.C. 211. He said the next period of growth marked one of his most significant transitions as a leader, finding his time stretched and discovering how to strike a balance into the next stage.
“One of the things that a mentor of mine told me very early on in business was that if you wanna be successful in this industry, you’re gonna have to build all day and design all night,” said Rust. “You can’t be a husband, a father and a great business owner and everything working 22 hours a day, you know?
“I think one of the things that I sort of struggled with a little bit, and I think all business owners struggle with, is developing the strategy of being able to hire somebody that you can trust and train.”
Rust said he had to shift his mindset, realizing that “people don’t leave jobs, they leave bosses,” and he moved to focus on the larger community impact that the work he and his team created. He decided to place equal priority on the excellence of the work and the experience of his employees. Matching internal culture with external technical ability. Rust said that he’s currently in one of his plateau periods, trying to mesh business strategy with workplace culture, and he hopes to set the stage for another period of growth.
“I really wanted to make a positive impact on our community,” said Rust. “We’re in the ‘beautiful’ business. I tell our guys that all the time. I said, ‘At the end of the day, beautiful projects, happy clients.’ If we focus on those two things, everything else works itself out, right?”
That mindset is part of what led LDIG to become “ the building on 211 that sells the eggs.” Around 2020, Rust invested in chickens, turning about an acre of the property into a micro-farm — and giving his sons a job and his wife a break from COVID-induced proximity. A sign out front let the community know that eggs were available on the property. Though he still sells the eggs, he decided to trade the bulk of the farm space for turkeys that he raises, with the help of his son Charles, for fresh-kill Thanksgiving turkeys that he offers for sale.
The new patio follows that intent. Rust hopes that it will be more than a sterile showroom for his services. He plans to host events and workshops that bring the community together, potentially with music and food trucks. He said the first workshop will be a hands-on demonstration and class for the wood-fired pizza oven, taught by the Portugal-based oven manufacturer.
The first event will be a grand opening of the patio to celebrate the construction and the 10-year anniversary of the business.
“We’re going to do a VIP pig pick and luncheon from 12 p.m to 2 p.m., and then like 4 p.m. to whenever in the evening, afternoon and evening, on November 8, we’re going to open it up to the community for celebrating,” said Rust. “There has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears — literally — in that patio out there and in the business for 10 years, getting to this point. So we’re going to party.”
Contact Frank Daniels IV (910) 693-2486 or frank@thepilot.com
