Wave Outdoors Landscape + Design — Local services in Elk Grove Township

We initially found Wave Outdoors while we searched online for a company that did it all. We loved the idea of Yardzen, but when I asked them if they researched permitting rules and stuff like that when they created their designs their answer was no. I was shocked and knew there was no way we were paying all that money for a design that we might not even be able to do! Luckily we found Brian while searching for yard contractors. We made an appointment and Brian came to our house. We laid out our dreams of a three seasons room, attached porch and gazebo, exterior lighting, lush landscapes and buried sump pump hoses. Our dreams were big, and Brian listened to it all. After a little time he came back with pricing. Our dreams were WAY too big for our budget, but it was such a helpful step in our education of yard renovations. Brian was wonderful in helping us brainstorm ways to get the general functionality of what we wanted in a way that met our budget better. He provided excellent plans that were very detailed and included all the information about our home and yard and what work was projected as well as the materials. He also was able to advise in financing. We decided on a plan that we would do over two phases, one in mid summer 2023 and the second the minute the ground unfroze in 2024. Once ground broke we gleefully watched Lupe and his crew transform our yard every day. The crew is incredibly hardworking and kind. I daily was shocked at how much got done. In the first phase they built a deck, a paver patio, and steppers, built our pre fab gazebo, ran electricity to the gazebo, and buried our sump pump. Picking materials was a little frustrating but we got there. Thanks to all the home shows I was expecting samples to be pulled and a meeting to be held where we saw everything laid out and together mixed and matched until we had our perfect selection. Instead we went to locations Brian suggested to look at their walls of materials and also ordered our own samples from the companies. I can picture in my head how things will come together, but my husband has a harder time doing that, so this process was not ideal for us. However it did work out, and Brian was patient and great at answering our (many) questions. Once phase 1 was done we did a walkthrough addressing anything we had questions about or issues with. Everything was either fixed immediately or slated for phase 2. Communication during the winter was a little slow, but in fairness we were excited and anxious to pay our deposit to ensure we were first to break ground. Once the ball got rolling we found out that the grading of our yard was a bit more steep than we thought and the original patio plans were going to have to change to take that into account. I was very unhappy about the needs but understood that it was what was necessary to create a safe and sturdy patio. Brian was great at listening to my concerns and being open to all our ideas on how to adjust the plan while still keeping it to code. He was able to rework some things to make it work in all ways. The cost also ballooned due to this change but again Brian was so wonderful in working with us to make adjustments to get us back to our budget. This phase we got a second paver patio, exterior lighting that includes path lights, spotlights, and decorative lights. They also installed large posts around the patio, installed a new mailbox, and beautiful landscaping that started with some large shrub removal. Lupe and his crew got this done so quickly! Just as we’d hoped we are set up to enjoy the entire summer in our new yard. I am so thankful that we found Wave Outdoors. We are so pleased with the work they have done and the patience they showed us as we navigated this big project that we knew nothing about when we started. We are so proud to show off our new spaces and the neighbors won’t stop commenting at how much they have enjoyed watching the transformation. We recommend Wave...

Our back yard garden bed (partly in sun, partly in shade), along the rear property line, was in need of some landscaping. Over the nearly 40+ years we have lived here, we had randomly planted several lilac bushes, a few hosta plants, several patches of narcissus, some pachysandra, and a small number of ferns, but there was no unifying design. Everything we had planted competed with weeds and unwanted brush that had sprouted up around them. We had always wanted to look out our kitchen window and see a beautifully planned display of perennials, shrubs, and trees and finally decided to do something about it. We found Wave Outdoors and started working with designer Mary DiCarlo last fall, after we cleared much of the bed of unwanted foliage and installed a backyard fence to allow our newly adopted rescue dog to run free. We were looking to get a design created and the landscaping installed early this spring. Over the fall and winter months, Mary worked with us via several on-site visits, email exchanges, and Zoom sessions to finalize a design. Mary was a careful listener and tried to incorporate our wishes from the start, while making several small adjustments to the design several times at our request. Just a few days before the installation, when a particular specimen tree she had planned for us was in short supply, Mary made several weekend visits to local garden centers to find us the perfect tree. This was above and beyond the call of duty! The installation work was planned for two days in late April, but was completed by the Wave Outdoors 3-man crew, led by Rob, in a single day. Good timing, because the next day it rained almost all day, giving the plantings a good drink. The crew worked hard all day, doing additional unplanned tasks, such as trimming overhanging branches to make room for newly-planted (but sure to grow tall eventually) spruce trees, and also repairing some lawn spots from our dog. They also cleaned up better than any crew who has ever worked on our property. We are so happy with the finished result already, but knowing that perennials operate in a “sleep, creep, leap” fashion in the three years after planting, we expect the bed to look fantastic over the next 2-3 years as the plantings mature. The plantings were designed to be a mixture of tall, medium, and short heights, of a variety of textures and foliage color, with bloom colors expected in at different times in spring, summer, and fall. The evergreen plantings will remain blue-green throughout the year. We highly recommend Wave Outdoors and designer Mary DiCarlo for your landscaping needs (they do hardscaping also)! The entire process was well-documented with excellent communication from start to finish. Any small issues found after installation were taken care of very quickly. Initial and final payments were easy using Zelle, but Wave Outdoors also accepts personal checks and credit cards. Looking forward to warmer weather when we can be outside on our patio enjoying our beautiful...

Last summer (2023) Wave built for us 2 new porches, 2 walkways, a patio, pergola, and arbor, landscaped both our front and back yards, added lighting, and replaced our scraggly lawns with new sod. Everything turned out great. Mary worked with us to design every element: the color schemes and materials for the porches, the walkways, and the patio and landscaping. She listened to what we wanted and came up with porches, patio and walkways that look contemporary, with colors that look good with the house. The front porch is concrete with beautiful coordinated stone facades and steps, and a paver walkway that goes to the public sidewalk. Mary put a lot of thought into finding shades of color that look great together and with our house. They also built a roof for the porch; it’s nice to be able to open an umbrella BEFORE we get wet. The back porch is composite and is much easier to maintain than the old wood porch it replaced. They also suggested putting a door on the side of the stairs so now we have protected storage underneath. (We never thought of that!) The decks on both porches are much larger than what we had before, when only one person could stand there to open the door. The paver patio and back walkway are wonderful. The walkway covers the area where our dogs had churned it to mud, and now we don’t have to wipe their feet every time they come in. The patio is just awesome. We didn’t have one before, and sitting outside is so relaxing. Especially since we now have lovely bushes and flowers to look at! We wanted landscaping that would attract pollinators, use as many native plants as possible, and create space and food for birds and small animals; Mary worked hard to create a design that integrated a lot of color for spring, summer, and fall, and in winter snow on the bushes and dried seed heads adds interest. She also designed a small garden for pollinators on the side of our house, and was even able to get milkweed for monarch butterflies. Everyone was great to work with; there were several teams: landscaping, hardscaping, electrical, and plumbing, and they all worked hard to get each project done. Brian came to check on progress frequently and often came up with suggestions and small changes that smoothed out issues that we had not thought of. He also spent a lot of time working with village inspectors and the permit office. I would recommend Wave to anyone who wants beautiful, quality work and attention to detail. The photographs I’m including speak...