Landscaping Services in Chicago, IL

Landscaping in Chicago

Chicago gardens have to survive a genuinely severe set of conditions: zone 6a winters with wind off the lake, heavy clay soil, a short growing season, and a municipal salt regime that few plants tolerate. What works here is a narrower palette than the catalogues suggest, and it is worth knowing which side of that line your plans fall on.

The Parkway Belongs to the City

The strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street is the parkway, and it is city property regardless of whose house it fronts.

• Trees on it belong to the Chicago Bureau of Forestry. Pruning or removing one without authorisation is an offence.
• New trees are free through 311. The waiting list runs long, but the request costs nothing.
• You may plant low perennials in the parkway, subject to height limits that preserve sightlines and access to parked cars. Woody shrubs, raised beds and permanent structures are not allowed.

Trees on your own property are largely unregulated in Chicago, though a permit is required if work encroaches on the public way, including placing a dumpster or a lift on the street.

Salt Is the Underrated Killer

Chicago's winter salt application is heavy, and its effects on plantings are consistently underestimated.

How it does damage:

• Spray and splash from traffic carries salt-laden slush up to fifteen feet from a busy street. It desiccates evergreen foliage on contact.
• Soil accumulation from shovelled snow piled onto beds. Sodium displaces calcium and magnesium in the soil structure, which degrades the soil itself and not just the plant.

What to do:

• Choose salt-tolerant species in the splash zone: Little Bluestem, Switchgrass, Daylily, Rugosa Rose, Juniper, Sea Green Juniper, Hackberry and Ginkgo among trees.
• Do not pile shovelled snow on beds. Direct it to the parkway or the alley.
• Water deeply in early spring to flush accumulated salts below the root zone.
• Consider calcium magnesium acetate on your own walkways. It costs more than rock salt and does far less damage.
• Wrap or screen vulnerable evergreens near the street with burlap through winter.

Clay Soil

Most of the Chicago region sits on heavy clay left by the glaciers, and much of the developed city sits on compacted fill on top of that. Clay holds nutrients well and drains badly.

The productive response is not to replace it:

• Do not dig a hole in clay, fill it with rich compost, and plant into it. You have made a bathtub. Water enters and cannot leave, and the plant drowns.
• Plant high. Set the root flare an inch or two above grade and mound soil to it.
• Amend broadly and shallowly, over the whole bed rather than in individual holes, so root growth is not confined.
• Use plants adapted to clay. Much of the regional native flora evolved on exactly this soil and is entirely comfortable in it.

Native Plants Are the Practical Choice

The tallgrass prairie and oak savanna communities native to northern Illinois are adapted to clay, to zone 6a winters, and to the region's rainfall pattern. They also require far less input than a conventional planting.

Reliable performers:

• Perennials — Purple Coneflower, Black-Eyed Susan, Butterfly Weed, Wild Bergamot, Prairie Blazing Star, Aromatic Aster, Wild Geranium for shade.
• Grasses — Little Bluestem, Prairie Dropseed, Switchgrass, Sideoats Grama.
• Shrubs — Ninebark, Grey Dogwood, American Hazelnut, Serviceberry.
• Trees — Bur Oak, Swamp White Oak, Hackberry, Kentucky Coffeetree, Ginkgo for tough street conditions.

Stormwater and Rain Gardens

Chicago's combined sewer means every gallon of roof runoff you send to the storm drain contributes to the surcharge that backs up basements across the neighbourhood in a heavy rain. Managing it on site helps you and your neighbours.

• Downspout disconnection — redirecting roof water to the lawn or a garden bed rather than the sewer. Simple, cheap, and effective. Check the discharge is at least six feet from the foundation and pitched away.
• Rain gardens — a shallow depression planted with species that tolerate both inundation and drought, sited at least ten feet from the foundation. $8-$20 per square foot installed.
• Permeable paving in place of a solid concrete gangway or parking pad.

MWRD and the city have periodically offered rain barrel and green infrastructure programmes; terms change, so check current availability.

Costs in Chicago

The Season Is Short: Plan Around It

• Spring is compressed. Soil is often too wet to work until late April, and everyone wants planting done in the same three weeks.
• Autumn is the better planting season for trees and shrubs in Chicago. Soil is warm, air is cool, and roots establish through October without the plant supporting foliage.
• Do not plant broadleaf evergreens in autumn. They desiccate over winter before roots establish. Spring only.
• Cut perennials back in spring, not autumn, where you can. Standing stems catch snow for insulation and provide overwintering habitat.

Tips for Chicago Homeowners

1. Call 311 for a free parkway tree rather than planting one yourself. It is city property.
2. Never pile salted snow onto planting beds.
3. Plant high in clay and amend the whole bed, not the hole.
4. Plant trees and shrubs in autumn, perennials in spring.
5. Disconnect a downspout to a garden bed. It helps your basement and the neighbourhood's.