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Robert Milani (center), Chalet senior landscape architect, accepts the PLANET (Professional Landcare Network) Judges Award from Dave Snodgrass (left), PLANET president-elect, and Bill Hildebolt, current PLANET president. Photo credit: Philippe Nobile Photography

Chalet’s Landscape Division has received the highly coveted Judges award from PLANET (Professional Landcare Network) for its residential design/construction of a home in Lake Forest, Ill. Chalet also garnered a Grand Award for the same home, as well as a Merit Environmental Improvement Award for its residential landscape design/construction of a home in Wilmette, Ill. Chalet was recognized as the sole winner of the top award for residential/design construction at PLANET’s Awards Reception on Friday, Oct. 30 at the Green Industry Conference in Louisville, Ky. The global Environmental Improvement Awards Program, which is open to only PLANET members, reflects the association’s commitment to creating and preserving the beauty of the landscape. The annual program is designed to reward independent landscape, lawn care and interior plantscaping professionals who execute superior projects.

Lake Forest Residence

Chalet’s Judges and Grand awards winner in Lake Forest is a formal, structured and manicured landscape reflecting the beauty, elegance and permanence of a period Italianesque villa. Beyond the front entryway, garden visitors are greeted by a three-tiered, limestone fountain surrounded by a large semicircular pergola with hand-carved limestone columns and a sunken garden.

Wilmette Residence

Chalet’s Merit Award winner is a stately English Tudor in Wilmette, complemented by a formal, manicured and symmetrical garden. Dense yew and Green Velvet boxwood hedges line the front foundation and are meticulously trimmed while ‘Tina’ crabapples flank the front entry, left natural to contrast with the structured landscape. As visitors travel down a bluestone walk from the brick driveway to the pool area, a diverse and colorful array of Daphne, rhododendron, viburnum and astilbe catch the eye.

For information on the PLANET Awards, visit www.landcarenetwork.org.

Chalet Landscaping, Nursery and Garden Center was featured in Forest & Bluff Magazine (July 2009) in a beautifully photographed article written by Evangeline Politis. The article mentions some of Chalet’s many awards like the four Excellence in Landscape Gold Awards and the Judges’ Award for being the best in Illinois 2009 from the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association. Another award mention was the Revolutionary 100 National Award given to the outstanding garden center in the country - Chalet.

Chalet’s craftsmanship is displayed near Forest & Bluff Magazine in Lake Forest on the fertile land of Walden Lane, once part of the McCormick estate, where it’s said the legendary family once had their garden. The owners of the newly constructed Italianesque villa on the estate valued the importance of having a garden and hired Chalet in 2004 to install a landscape to mirror the style of their home.

Senior landscape architect Robert Milani and project designer Troy Ripley were recruited for the job and the article details some of the problems the team encountered. The land needed to be drained in order to sustain the 1,000 Green Velvet Boxwoods planted on the land, so an extensive drainage system had to be installed throughout the property. Precision was another issue, since there were already gardens and a fountain outside, so anything Chalet added needed to be parallel. To ensure accuracy, they used laser equipment through the house. Ripley said, “When you want to have absolutely straight lines, it is not as easy as it may sound a lot of the time, curves are actually easier to create.” The house still gets weekly treatment from Chalet including pest and fertilizer management. Perennials get groomed and potted annuals get soil replacements to stay thriving.

Both designers have been with Chalet for a long time and reflect on their projects. “One of the benefits about working here is we don’t have a ‘look’” said Milani. “We don’t create the same type of design for every house. It’s very site-specific, which is great because it gives us a lot of design autonomy.”

Chalet recently launched its own Expert Selection line of landscape solutions, designed for Midwest soils and climate. The line includes grass seed, fertilizers and organic potting soil, mulch and compost, as well as locally grown Chalet Farms plants.

Read more about Chalet’s landscaping services and product line.

Learn more about Forest & Bluff Magazine and contact them for a July 2009 issue to see pictures of Chalet’s work at the old McCormick estate.