Landscape Design Services in Round Lake IL and Lake County

We start with a free consultation at your property. We walk the site together, look at drainage, sun exposure, existing plants, and figure out what actually makes sense for your conditions. After 30 years doing this, we can usually tell whether you need a formal design plan or if we already know what needs to happen and can skip straight to installation. Some projects need plans because there are drainage issues or complex layouts. Others are straightforward—you want a rain garden in that low spot, we know how to build it, let’s just do it. Either way, the consultation is on the house so you have no questions regarding the next steps.

Most of our work is residential—front yards, backyards, properties from 25 acres or more. We design with native plants that actually belong here, so you’re not fighting the climate or spending every weekend maintaining things. Could be a full property overhaul or just fixing a problem area. We draw up a to-scale plan that shows exactly what goes where, what species work in your conditions, and how it all fits together. You take that plan, revise as needed, and decide how to move forward.

These are the bigger projects—think five acres and up. We’ve worked on estates in Barrington Hills and Lake Forest that are 25+ acres. At this scale, you’re not just designing gardens, you’re managing entire ecosystems. Native woodlands, prairies, wetlands, trails—it all needs to work together. We handle the master planning, phasing it out over time if needed, and figuring out what makes sense to install versus what you can let naturalize on its own. Takes more time to plan, but that’s the point.

This is what sets us apart. We only use plants that are native to Illinois—species that have been here for thousands of years and are adapted to our weather, soil, and wildlife. Prairie grasses, sedges, woodland wildflowers, wetland species, whatever fits your property. Native plants handle droughts and floods better, need less water and fertilizer, and actually support local birds, butterflies, and pollinators. We pick species based on your site conditions—sun, shade, wet, dry—so they thrive without constant maintenance.

Patios, walkways, walls, fire pits trails—basically anything that isn’t a plant. We figure out where it should go and what materials make sense. Pavers, flagstone, bluestone, whatever works for your budget and how you use the space. We use UniLock products for most driveways and patios. We make sure water drains properly and your hardscape is proportional to plantings later. Planning ahead saves you headaches and money down the road.

We install rain gardens all over Lake County, and they work wonderfully to soak up and cleanse stormwater and look great. If you’ve got water pooling after storms, we can design a solution that catches it before it floods your yard or runs into the street. We pick a spot where water naturally drains, size it right for your property, and plant it with native plants that handle sitting in water one week and being dry the next. Your drainage problem gets solved and you end up with something that looks planned, not accidental.

We design patios using pavers, flagstone, or bluestone, depending on your aesthetic sense. Size and layout depend on how you’ll actually use it—dining, fire pit, or just somewhere to sit with coffee in the morning. We figure out the grading so water doesn’t pool up, make sure it connects well to your house and the rest of your yard, and spec out materials that’ll hold up. Design now, install later, or both at once.

We work with businesses, HOAs, corporate campuses, and business parks. Commercial projects are different than residential—you’re dealing with parking lot islands, entryways, common areas, things that need to look professional without requiring a full-time gardener. We lean mostly toward native planting because they handle neglect better than ornamentals and don’t need constant watering or replacing. The goal is something that looks intentional, and lasts season after season.

We’ve designed trails and park spaces for municipalities, townships, and park districts around Lake County. Walking trails, bike paths, nature trails—whatever fits the property and gets people outside. We think about where people actually want to go, how the trail connects to existing paths or parking, and what native plantings make sense along the route. Public spaces need to handle foot traffic and look good without requiring weekly maintenance crews. Native grasses and wildflowers along trails do that job better than ornamental beds that need constant attention.

Here’s the thing about gardens—most people want butterflies and birds showing up, but they don’t want to spend their weekends out there with a hose and fertilizer. We get it. That’s why we design using native plants that have been growing in Illinois for thousands of years. They evolved here, surviving for centuries. Pollinator gardens, perennial beds, whatever fits your space. We walk your property, see where the sun actually hits, figure out if your soil stays wet or dries out fast, then pick plants that’ll thrive without you hovering over them. Less babysitting, more life in your yard.

Water pooling in your yard, running toward your foundation, or creating erosion problems? We’ve solved these issues dozens of times across Lake County. During our site visit, we look at your property’s grading and watch how water moves—sometimes the problem is obvious, other times we need to see it during an actual rainstorm. The solution might be to regrade, adding a rain garden, creating a swale, or just redirecting your downspouts better. Our design plan lays out what needs to happen to get water flowing where it should and keep it from causing damage.