COMPANY: Chalet
LOCATION: Wilmette, Ill.
The clients wanted a colorful and private landscape they could enjoy with friends and family.
A granite cobble driveway welcomes guests, a large bluestone patio provides space for entertaining and 25 mature trees, flowering shrubs and perennials offer guests and residents an aesthetically pleasing view.
“We have a whole team dedicated to doing seasonal plantings, pedestal plantings as well as window boxes and planters on the back patio,” says Nathan Robinson, creative director at Chalet. “Those are switched out four times a year and maintained throughout the year. Those are important for the overall look and attention to detail.”
Chalet has been maintaining the property since it performed the landscape’s design and installation in 2016. Three crew members and one site manager visit the residence weekly, paying careful attention to bed edging, weeding and trimming by hand, tending to window boxes and pedestal containers and mowing with Scag 36-inch walk-behind mowers.
Challenges of the property include contending with sickly trees, poorly draining clay soil and a shady backyard.
“When we design the plantings, we need to plant things that will adapt and do well in those conditions,” Robinson says.
Chalet also prioritizes fertilizing and maintaining the large shade trees on the property and preserving a lush planting border for privacy in the backyard. The company has improved the soil quality by mixing in organic materials and topdressing beds with leaf compost.
From there, a preventive and organic lawn care approach and tree care program keeps the lawn and trees thriving.
The project earned Chalet a 2021 Judges Award from the National Association of Landscape Professionals’ Awards of Excellence program.
A granite cobble drive and entry piers with annual planters welcome guests.
Chalet maintains bluestone steppers with turf joints weekly.
Chalet changes out the pedestal planters around the property seasonally with annual plants watered with drip irrigation.
Visits from a weekly maintenance crew include lawn mowing, bed edging and flower deadheading.
5: Bluestone steppers with turf joints act as a transition between spaces.
Chalet routinely weeds and deadheads lush perennial beds around the back patio.
Chalet sweeps the bluestone patios free of debris each week and resands all joints every other year.
The company mulches the mixed planting borders, fertilizes each spring and prunes plants by hand each summer.
An organic turf care program provides a lush lawn and is safe for family pets.
A perennial border and stepper path create visual interest.
