On the nature and climate front, Illinois faces several risks all year round. The first of those is flooding.

The state also faces heavy snowfall and winter storms. Yet, due to climate change, it's also at a high risk of drought, heat waves, and wildfire.

Landscaping Illinois' houses now have to take all those factors into high consideration, equally. It's understandably challenging due to the complete contrast between those natural disasters.

But any landscape design now has to accommodate both heavy rain and extreme droughts.

It's recommended to use drought-tolerant plants with low water requirements for droughts and water scarcity.

On the other end, an Illinois landscape design must also include measured steps to protect the spoil against heavy rainfall, snowfall, and flooding.

That includes ground cover and large tree plantings and building a retaining wall to protect soil from erosion and direct correct drainage.

Illinois' hardness zones cover Zone 5, Zone 6, and Zone 7.

The northern parts, mainly around Chicago, fall under Zone 5.

Central Illinois is in Zone 6 while southern Illinois is in Zone 7.

Winter in Zone 5 minimally varies between negative fifteen and negative twenty. The sharp winters and short growing seasons in Illinois' northern cities falling in zone 5 demand cold-hardy plants in your garden. Snowfall and rainfall are also heavier there.

Those include vegetables like beet, chives, and butternut squash. And plants like Yarrow, Phlox, Hydrangea, and Geranium.

Zone 6 and 7 have minimum winter temperatures between negative ten and zero. That's a medium-length growing season.

Some of the best plants for those winters include Tulips, Asters, daffodils (which are technically weeds), Salvia, and Lillies.

Native plantings are always a good choice. Naturally, a native plant is more adapted to the climate and can survive without a lot of interference, watering, and fertilization.

That's getting more crucial by the day as the issue of water scarcity gets more serious.

Landscaping with native plants is also good for the environment as a whole as it's beneficial to wildlife.

Among the popular commercial landscaping designs in Illinois, functional modern landscapes stand out.

It focuses on transforming outdoor spaces into luxurious living spaces that are as functional as they are beautiful. That includes outdoor living rooms, maybe the inclusion of an outdoor kitchen, firepits, an alfresco dining station, etc.

As it is in many other states, eco-friendly landscape design is also popular now. The to-do list of eco-friendly landscaping includes water-conscious hardscaping, native plantings, and wild-life accommodating plantings.

High-quality stones, like slate, for outdoor living use and hardscaping are crucial in Illinois landscapes to endure the hard winters and heavy rainfall.

Firepits, pavers for the driveway, walkways decks/patios for the front porch, etc, are usually built with high-quality natural stone and concrete.

Hardscaping features in residential landscaping like retaining walls, which protect the soil against erosion, are also highly popular.

Our design services are nationwide and include full front yard and backyard packages. That includes 3D landscape and hardscape design and contractor estimation quotes from your local Illinois landscape contractors.