Chicago Specialty Gardens

Transform your unused rooftop, terrace, or deck into a spectacular outdoor living space with our comprehensive rooftop garden services. As pioneers in this specialized field since 1995, we understand the unique challenges and incredible opportunities that elevated surfaces present in Chicago.Our process begins with a thorough assessment of your space's structural capacity, access points, and microclimate conditions. We handle all the technical complexities—from load calculations and waterproofin...

Create a seamless transition between your indoor and outdoor living areas with our expert urban landscape garden design services. We specialize in transforming Chicago's often compact and challenging city lots into beautiful, functional extensions of your home.We approach every landscape as a unique outdoor room, considering how you want to live in and move through the space. Our design process focuses on creating flow, maximizing limited square footage, and solving common urban challenges like...

Protect your investment and keep your rooftop or landscape garden thriving year-round with our professional garden maintenance services in Chicago. Beautiful gardens require consistent care, especially in Chicago's variable climate, and our specialized team understands the unique needs of urban green spaces.Our maintenance programs are tailored to each garden's specific requirements, whether it's a delicate rooftop container garden or an intricate ground-level landscape. We provide seasonal clea...

Our rooftop garden design starts with a close look at your roof or terrace: how much weight the structure can carry, how you get up there, how sun and wind hit the space, and how water drains off. We take care of the load calculations, waterproofing and permit paperwork so you can focus on how you want to use the area. From there we plan a layout that feels like an outdoor room, with seating, shade and planting zones that suit how your household actually lives. We choose plants that handle expos...

Landscape garden installation covers the full build, from excavation and grading through hardscaping, planting and finishing touches. We install natural stone and wood paths, patios and edging, set in the right plant material for your light and soil, and add drip irrigation and low-voltage lighting where they make sense. Our crews work to the design we agreed on, keep the site tidy as the work moves along, and walk you through how to care for the new garden once it is planted. Whether you are st...

As a rooftop garden contractor, we manage the physical build on roofs, decks and terraces across Chicago. That means checking structural capacity, protecting the membrane, setting up drainage and access, and coordinating the permits that the city requires. We install decking, pergolas, planters and irrigation, then plant the space with materials that will hold up to wind and temperature swings. Because we handle both the construction and the planting, there is one point of contact from the first...

Urban garden design is about making a small city lot work harder. Many Chicago yards are narrow, shaded or hemmed in by neighboring buildings, so we look for ways to create flow, add privacy and cut down on noise without crowding the space. We plan paths, seating and planting beds so that every square foot earns its place, and we choose contemporary materials that still look right years from now. Our design work covers hardscape, plants, irrigation and lighting, so the finished garden reads as o...

Our garden maintenance services keep your landscape or rooftop garden healthy through Chicago's freezes, thaws and summer heat. Each program is set up around your garden and your goals, and it typically includes seasonal clean-ups, pruning, feeding, pest and disease checks, and irrigation and lighting adjustments. On rooftops we also inspect drains, waterproofing and structural elements so small problems do not turn into expensive ones. Since we designed and built many of the gardens we maintain...

Rooftop deck garden installation turns a bare deck into a planted outdoor living area. We lay the decking, build pergolas or shade structures, set up planters and an efficient drip irrigation system, and add lighting for evening use. Each material is chosen with the load limits of your deck in mind, and drainage is planned so water moves off the surface without damaging the membrane below. Once the hardscape is in, we plant with species that suit wind exposure and reflected heat, so the space lo...

Commercial rooftop gardens can serve offices, residential buildings and hospitality spaces as shared outdoor amenities. We work with building owners and managers to assess structural capacity, access, drainage and the permitting process before any design is finalized. The garden is then planned for durability, low upkeep and ease of use by the people who will share it, with planting, seating and irrigation suited to heavy traffic and exposed conditions. We can carry the project from concept thro...

Residential landscape design begins with how your household lives: where you gather, where kids or pets play, where you want quiet and where you want privacy. We draw up a plan for the yard that connects the house to the outdoor space, using paths, patios, plantings and lighting that fit your property and your taste. We choose plants for the amount of sun and shade your yard gets, and we plan the hardscape and irrigation so the finished design is practical as well as attractive. You can hand us...