GreenMark Public Relations®, Inc.

Learn to create stunning container gardens, plant with style, cook season’s bountyChalet, an award-winning landscape, nursery and garden center on Chicago’s North Shore, presents a free lecture and workshop series on seasonal gardening and garden design topics from June 3 through July 16, 2010. Lectures, which often include slide presentations and demonstrations, are held at the Chalet Education Center, 3132 Lake Ave., Wilmette, Ill., on Thursdays, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. and repeated Fridays, 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.The schedule for mostly free summer education events are as follows:June 10 and 11: Don’t Forget the Summer Flowering ShrubsFlowering shrubs are wonderful additions to the landscape as specimen plants and members of mixed borders. Learn the favorite summer flowering shrubs of Jennifer Brennan, Chalet’s Horticulture Information Specialist. See slides and enjoy a walk through the nursery to get a personal introduction to these excellent showpieces for summer. Free. No registration required.June 17 and 18: Roy Diblik Presents … Right Plant in the Right Place with StyleSustainable perennial gardens do not need to look “wild and wooly.” Selecting the right plant for your garden is the key to its longevity in that “right place.” Roy Diblik, owner of Northwind Perennial Farm, will teach you how to use plants to create your own unique garden style. By using his trademarked concept of “Know Maintenance,” you can create a garden that you will enjoy because of its continuous beauty and unique characteristics. Free. No registration required.June 25 and 25: Butterfly Gardening with FreyaFreya Wellin, Chalet’s perennial buyer, has been busy raising butterflies! She will teach you about the life cycle of these special creatures and the host plants they need to sustain life. Even at summer’s peak, there is still time to add elements to attract butterflies to your garden. Free. No registration required.No classes July 1 and 2 due to holiday weekend. Happy Fourth of July!July 8 and 9: How to Water ProperlyA Chalet expert will discuss why correct watering is the most critical factor in the survival of our garden plants. Many of the problems diagnosed by Chalet’s experts aredue to inadequate watering techniques. Free. No registration required.July 15 and 16: Dave Esau Presents … Cooking with Your Summer HarvestDave Esau, chef and owner of Dave’s Specialty Foods (www.davespecialtyfoods.com), will demonstrate how to creatively use the harvest from your garden (or the farmers’ market). Esau was trained in France, has worked at Le Titi de Paris, Charlie Trotter’s and The American Club in Kohler, Wis., the only Five-Diamond resort in the Midwest. Enjoy the sights, fragrances and tastes at this fun demonstration. Free. No registration required.Lectures are free with no registration required. Tapes or DVD’s of each lecture can be rented for $3 for three nights. For questions about the series, contact Brennan at 847-256-0561, ext. 225, or jenniferb@chaletnursery.com.The goal of Chalet’s public education series, offered since 1997, is to provide timely, current and accurate horticultural information as a public service. The series reaches 3,000 adults and 700 children annually and regularly attracts industry leaders as guest lecturers. Education seminars are led by Brennan, who has a degree in ornamental horticulture and is an Illinois Certified Nursery Professional. The company’s Education Center and online resources offer tips and ideas on a broad range of subjects, from lawn care and pest control to caring for roses and creating a vertical garden.Click here to visit Chalet’s web site for more information.

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.

Lawn & Landscape Magazine included Chalet Landscaping, Nursery & Garden Center in it’s annual “Top 100″ list of the landscape industry’s top revenue earners. Chalet was ranked number 47 for 2007.

Congratulations Chalet! We hope to see you climb this list in the future.