Native plant landscaping means building your beds and borders with plants that grew in northern Illinois long before lawns did. They are built for our winters, our clay soil, and our summers, which means less watering, less fertilizing, and less replacing plants that couldn’t handle the weather.
Why homeowners are switching to natives
A native bed, once established, mostly takes care of itself. Deep prairie roots find their own water, so you’re not dragging hoses around in July. They feed the birds and butterflies your kids like watching. And Lake County itself encourages native planting through the Forest Preserves and county programs, so you are gardening with the grain here instead of against it.
What we plant
Proven northern Illinois natives, chosen for your yard’s sun and soil: purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan, wild bergamot, butterfly milkweed, little bluestem and prairie dropseed for structure, and shrubs like serviceberry and ninebark. This isn’t a wild prairie dropped in your yard. It’s a designed bed that happens to be planted with natives, with clean edges your neighbors will appreciate.
Natives around your hardscape
This is where we’re different from a nursery. We build the patio and plant the border around it as one project. A new paver patio wrapped in coneflower and prairie grasses looks intentional from day one, and nobody has to cut into finished work later.
Common questions
Will it look messy? Not the way we design it. Defined beds, mowed edges, and plants placed by height read as landscaping, not neglect.
How long until it fills in? Natives spend their first season putting down roots. Year two looks good and year three looks like the photos. We plant densely enough that year one is respectable.
Is it really less work? Less, not zero. You’ll cut it back once a year and weed while it establishes. What goes away is the constant watering and fertilizing.
Serving Lake County and beyond
We design and install native plant landscaping throughout Lake County, McHenry County, and northern Cook County. Call (224) 321-4462 for a free consultation.
