Taking care of a lawn on the North Shore isn’t a once-a-year chore — it’s an ongoing process that changes with the seasons. A quick cleanup might make things look better for a little while, but true health and curb appeal come from consistent, year-round care. Just like people need different things in spring, summer, fall, and winter, so do lawns and landscapes. With a structured yearly service plan, you can avoid costly mistakes, protect your investment, and enjoy a beautiful outdoor space every month of the year.

Introduction: Why Yearly Service Plans Matter
Spring Maintenance Checklist
Summer Maintenance Checklist
Fall Maintenance Checklist
Winter Maintenance Checklist
The Role of Preventive Care
Why a Yearly Plan Pays Off
How Van Zelst Supports North Shore Homeowners
Conclusion & Next Steps

Introduction: Why Yearly Service Plans Matter

Your lawn and landscape are living systems that change with the seasons. In spring, new growth needs nurturing. In summer, heat and activity create stress. In fall, your landscape needs time to recover and prepare. And in winter, the focus shifts to protecting and planning. Without a structured plan, it’s easy to miss a step that could have long-term consequences. Yearly service plans keep everything on schedule, safeguarding your property while making sure your home looks great year-round.

Spring Maintenance Checklist

Spring is the season of renewal. After months of cold weather, the soil starts to thaw and plants begin to wake up. The way you treat your lawn now sets the tone for the entire year.

Key tasks include:

Aeration: Loosen compacted soil so roots can breathe.
Fertilization: Apply the right nutrients to jumpstart healthy, green growth.
Mulching: Refresh mulch beds to conserve moisture and block weeds.
Pruning: Remove damaged or dead branches to keep plants in shape.
Weed Prevention: Apply pre-emergent treatments before weeds have a chance to spread.

For more seasonal inspiration, Better Homes & Gardens shares practical spring yard care tips that align with these essentials.

Summer Maintenance Checklist

Summer is when lawns see the most stress. Long, hot days combined with high humidity can take a toll. This is the season when regular maintenance makes all the difference.

Summer checklist:

Irrigation checks: Inspect sprinklers to make sure every area gets coverage.
Deep watering: Water less often but more thoroughly to encourage strong roots.
Pest monitoring: Keep an eye out for grubs, insects, and fungus.
Mowing practices: Keep grass at a slightly higher setting to protect roots.
Soil testing: Use soil results to fine-tune your fertilization plan.

Fall Maintenance Checklist

Fall is when your lawn really shows whether it got the right care earlier in the year. It’s also your chance to repair summer wear and set yourself up for success next spring.

Fall tasks include:

Overseeding: Fill in thin or bare patches for a fuller, stronger lawn.
Leaf cleanup: Prevent suffocation and fungal growth by removing fallen leaves.
Fertilization: Apply a fall blend to strengthen roots before winter.
Winter prep: Protect delicate plants and drain irrigation systems.
Soil enrichment: Add compost or organic material to boost soil health long term.

Winter Maintenance Checklist

Winter on the North Shore means snow, ice, and freezing temperatures. While it may seem like downtime, this season still matters for your landscape.

Winter service plans often include:

Snow & ice management: Keep walkways safe without harming beds or turf.
Dormant pruning: Trim trees and shrubs while growth is paused to set them up for spring.
Hardscape protection: Inspect patios and walkways for cracks before they worsen.
Equipment servicing: Tune up lawnmowers, snow blowers, and irrigation systems.
Landscape planning: Use this quieter time to map out spring projects.

By tackling these items early, you reduce winter damage and make sure your property is ready to thrive when warm weather returns.

The Role of Preventive Care

A yearly plan isn’t just about fixing problems as they appear. Preventive care is about reducing the chance of emergencies — like pest outbreaks, soil depletion, or plant failure — before they happen. Small, regular steps like aeration, overseeding, and seasonal fertilization protect your investment and keep your property strong. Think of it like insurance for your lawn’s long-term health.

Why a Yearly Plan Pays Off

The benefits of sticking to a structured lawn plan go beyond convenience.

Here’s why it pays off:

Consistency: Every task gets handled on time.
Stronger growth: Healthy lawns and plants bounce back faster after stress.
Higher property value: Well-maintained landscapes boost curb appeal and resale potential.
Cost savings: Preventive work reduces the chance of expensive repairs.
Peace of mind: You can relax knowing your property is in good hands.

How Van Zelst Supports North Shore Homeowners

At Van Zelst Landscaping, we’ve supported North Shore homeowners for decades with tailored seasonal care. For example, our Chicago landscape design work shows how thoughtful planning and collaboration can completely reshape an outdoor space, balancing artistry, architecture, and the way families actually use their yards. Likewise, our Northbrook landscaping projects highlight the full-service approach our clients count on — from design and installation to ongoing maintenance that keeps properties thriving year after year. Whether you’re considering a new project or simply want consistent seasonal upkeep, our team understands the unique challenges of the region and brings that experience to every client we serve.

Conclusion & Next Steps

A beautiful lawn doesn’t just happen on its own — it’s the result of consistent, thoughtful care all year long. Yearly service plans keep your lawn, garden, and hardscapes strong and ready for whatever the Midwest climate throws their way. For North Shore homeowners, this approach delivers long-lasting value, healthier outdoor spaces, and greater peace of mind.

If you’re ready to take your property to the next level, contact Van Zelst today. Our decades of experience and seasonal expertise will keep your landscape thriving year after year.

Design Foundations

With 40 years of experience, we can tell you that the first consideration when designing any substantial property enhancement is water management. From the first semester in a design program we were taught to mitigate water on a property. To be able to show it graphically; as to not endanger the house, not direct water irresponsibly onto adjacent properties and to ensure that standing water does not exist for an extended period after a rain event.

From a business and sales standpoint, calls about drainage problems are welcomed in the industry because they present a high priority service necessity, rather than another landscape enhancement that may be a luxury. Water problems, if left unattended, could threaten a home to the point of doing tens of thousands of dollars of damage. For this reason, many homeowners will place absolving water problems as the highest item on their home improvement list.

As a designer, solving drainage issues in a creative matter has always been a goal of ours. We strive to look at problems as opportunities to not only improve the situation, but to improve the aesthetics on a property as well. There are several ways to disperse the water from your property. As is often the case it is necessary to put pipes in the ground to solve grading and drainage problems. However, there are many cases where an opportunity for an alternate approach could be presented for at least a portion of the drainage enhancement.

When introducing these alternate drainage concepts, in our experience, they are often described in many different terms, depending on who may be describing the size, scope, shape or design intention of the concept. These terms include; swale, dry stream-bed, rain garden, bioswale, open french drain or even “old riverbed”. They are all designed to accomplish 4 basic goals:

To move water from one area of the landscape to another

To detain water in a designated area where it may be absorbed into the ground over a larger area

To reduce maintenance related problems in an area of extreme moisture

To look aesthetically pleasing and natural

Essential Elements of Successful Drainage

There are a number of rules to follow when it comes to designing a drainage solution on a property. It is always best to get a copy of the client’s topographical site plan and if this is not available, at a minimum a plat of survey to determine lot lines and location of easements or public sidewalks. Some communities require permitting for drainage work, and in this case, local codes vary regarding the distance from a drain line outlet to a public sidewalk or lot line. Examples of this kind of code stipulation are; ensuring that the outlet is 10 feet away from a public walk and no less than 5’ away from a property line. Permits through the building and development office of your township may NOT be required, but it is always best to see what local codes dictate. Some communities even require silt fencing, engineer stamped grading and drainage plans, or permission to commence the work from a Home Owners Association.

Once the issue of permits is determined, design can commence. Designs will address any requirements that the permit dictates. If a permit is NOT required, minimum design standards will include illustrations to indicate the following elements on the drainage plan; location of all downspouts, location of sump pump outlet, installation of any solid or perforated pipe, location of intended swales and the direction of water flow, intended detention areas and location of ejector pump if necessary. Additionally, a cross section of the connection from downspouts to any underground pipes could be helpful to communicate to the client or the installation crew.

Included in this cross section would be the detail showing the essential element of successful drainage, which is an air gap that must exist in our freezing environment to prevent downspout back-up or sump pump back-up. When pipes holding water slowly freeze over time due to freeze/thaw cycles, the positive flow of water away from the home ceases to exist and the water coming from the downspout or sump pump needs a place to exit, even if it is at the foundation of the house. For this reason, it is also essential to have proper grading around the foundation to ensure that surface water is flowing away from the house.

Lemons to Lemonade

Multiple times in the 2019 season, the team at Van Zelst turned a wet, often unsightly and difficult to maintain area of the landscape into a new, naturally irrigated area of the property enhancing the overall aesthetic on the site. New opportunities for color through revolving perennial blooms, to give the landscape an element of form and movement utilizing ornamental grasses and flowering shrubs and providing winter interest through evergreen species. All of these clients have reacted positively to the change and were pleasantly surprised by the positive impact a surface drain can have on the property, when they thought they would be spending their money on just putting pipes into the ground, rather than creating a whole new garden opportunity.

The most typical landscape rock used for creating dry stream-beds is what we commonly refer to as washed gravel, river rock or Grade #6 stone. Essentially, this is stone with 1/2”-2”, rounded shape with no fines in the mix. Occasionally,when we are solving a drainage problem with permeable paving, we use CA #7, or angular ¾” chip with no fines as a drainage medium. The reason for the angular stone is that it compacts more effectively and it performs as a perfect base for permeable pavers. On top of these types of functional drainage stone, we typically use a more desirable and colorful gravel which we refer to as red flint. Additionally, various sizes of rounded cobbles and boulders are used to closely imitate the type and size of rock seen in streams and rivers.

Once the intended plant material fills in the areas surrounding the new dry stream-bed, these become easy to maintain areas of the property and successfully move water away from the house into a practical and legal outlet area, improving the landscapes function and value.

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Seasonal Maintenance Checklists: Yearly Service Plans

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