Nature's Perspective Landscaping

We've used Nature's Perspective for 3 rounds of landscaping, and this year for regular maintenance. The landscaping work has been pretty good, although on the expensive side. The maintenance work has been a nightmare since day one. Despite a hefty weekly price tag, their crews zip across our 0.6 acre property and are sometimes in and out in 40 minutes flat, leaving grass, sticks, leaves, and other debris on site. We've had multiple plants die, and our grass is brown despite repeated calls to address. We've had to prompt their crews to do all the things they promised in the contract -- weeding, pruning, cleanup. The few times we have managed to get the maintenance manager Ben onsite to see the mess, he always apologizes and says he's going to make things better, but then the next week we get the same messy, rushed service.

Thanks to Tina Sevilla-Velasco for her design and the execution of our project which was an overhaul of our patio landscape and total refurbishment of the patio and walkway hardscape. We were blown away by plant selections and many ideas we would never have considered without her guidance. She recommended relocating rather than removing existing plants that were not fitting in. the Natures Perspective Team did an incredible job planting and resetting all of our brick work. Patio and walk ways level and look like new! Very talented crew.

I can’t say enough about Nature’s Perspective, the crew and our rep Mark Watson. We’ve used a few of the other big landscape services on the north side of Chicago but have always been let down by the quality and service they provide. We’re not a huge account, a 16 home townhouse HOA, but they treat us no differently. For us some of the key call outs are: •They are not out to sell you more than you need. A good case is point is our bushes in front were looking ragged so I asked for a quote to replace them. Marked recommended that they just do a detailed hard pruning, which we did at a fraction of the cost. Two or three years later they look fantastic. •They can get grass to grow where others couldn’t. We have large maple trees and lots of shade. There was one section that always looked bad. The last landscaper even resodded it but the sod was gone in probably 2 years. Nature Perspective continually reseeds areas that need it. That section of grass has never looked better in the 10 years we’ve been here. •With Fall season lasting longer than normal, our previous company would disband their crews long before all the leaves have fallen. Nature Perspective keeps their crews on into late Fall doing the last clean ups after nearly all leaves have fallen. •They are environmentally conscious where possible and making efforts to be so even more so. A good examples is during the 4 or 5 years we’ve used them they always shredded up the Fall leaves and spread them around as mulch, versus hauling them off to landfills. If you’re looking for a new landscape service, there’s no one I could recommend more highly than Mark and his crew at Nature’s Perspective.

An update to my update! 6/8/2021: Last summer, we took care of the backyard, and holy cow, were we happy! So, this summer, we decided that we were going to do something with the front yard. It was a mess. We're a corner lot, and people cut a path across the corner. It was more weeds and chaos than calmness and greenery. Enter the Nature's Perspective team (again)! We came back to Tim Benz and we talked about what we wanted to do with our front yard. Plants, new sod, greenery, and a SMOKIN' new serpentine walkway to the front door were in order. Oh, right! We also added some trees and other cool things in the backyard to make it look even better. Tim came up with the plan, and when the time came, the whole team showed up. Victor the foreman, Raul the supervisor, and the team of Adrian and Enrique. Let's be frank: these guys all worked their brains out in the first heat wave of the year to put together an amazing front yard! Next up: some more lighting, upgraded bluestone, and who knows what else we might come up with! Tim's become a family friend, and a trusted advisor! He and the team are why we keep coming back and coming back and keep coming back. UPDATE: MORE AWESOMENESS THAN EVER! (September 2020) I'm doing two reviews for Nature's Perspective because they are just that awesome. Here's what happened: we planned for the first phase of our project this summer, and you see the photo. Oasis, step 1 was rocking. We were so happy with it that we decided to do Oasis, step 2 this summer as well. Spoiler alert: it's absolutely brilliant. We're even happier than we were before. The award for best director, or landscape architect, goes to Tim Benz again, for listening to our North Shore waffling and our thoughts, then rolling out a really cool step 2, which is the first step of the "greens". Patience and fortitude should be Tim's middle names. Roberto, the foreman, and Jonny and Anselmo--remember them--rolled in and worked their butts off to put together some amazing greens around the patio and fireplace. It looks amazing! Do exactly what they tell you to do, and it'll all be great! Next we're on to step three, the decorative stuff. Poor Tim. He has no idea what he's in for, but he will do something amazing as he always does. Original review for step one: I cannot begin to say how fantastic it's been working with Nature's Perspective. It's COVID, and we're not going on vacation, so we decided we'd turn our small and dated Evanston backyard into a place we could love and enjoy. We looked all over the place, and finally came to Nature's Perspective. They'd been recommended to us by numerous people, so we gave it a shot. Enter Tim Benz, the mystery man in the mask. He showed up, we talked from a proper social distance, we told him what we wanted to do and gave him a general budget. He came back with something wonderful: a firepit, a seating/dining area, new sod, and the beginnings of phase II, the greenery. See Google and Yelp for more.

We've worked with Mark Watson on several projects including creating an area for a hot tub, garden borders and fire pit. He is very creative, offers great ideas, and is responsive regarding scheduling and completion. We will certainly call NP again when our next project arises!

I’ve worked with Mark Watson from NPL on projects at my previous and current home. He has been a pleasure to work with. He was very attentive to our thoughts on what we wanted including colors, textures, and required maintenance (or lack thereof in our case). In addition, he brought creative solutions to challenges that we didn’t have the first idea on how to solve. For example, our home sits on a slope and he proposed creating a bed with a short stone wall that blended into the slope and defined the space beautifully. After incorporated existing trees and adding plantings to the design, we now have a balanced, colorful and low maintenance garden that compliments and accentuates our home. We couldn’t be more pleased. The crew arrived on time, were respectful of our property and executed the work efficiently and effectively. We look forward to enjoying the space for years to come.

I have never had such a positive experience working with a landscaping company. Britta at Nature's Perspective was a pleasure to deal with from her customer service to ability to listen to what I was asking and following through with designs and ideas that were tailored to my requests. Britta was extremely organized, work was scheduled and happened on time, workers were a pleasure and cleaned up afterwards. Highly Recommended!

This is my second large project with Nature's Perspective Landscaping. The first was restoration and installation after an extensive home renovation/addition in 2004. The owner/designer listened to our preferences, designed and installed landscape and hardscape which still is admired by us and neighbors alike. As our family has grown and needs changed, we decided to enlarge our patio, use bluestone as the material, add a built-in Wolf grill and a large, awesome built-in gas fire pit. The large project required the coordination of electric and gas subcontractors by Nature's Perspective and was done in a timely and professional manner. The project manager was responsive and helpful. The crew is friendly, skilled and easy to work with. Many of the installers have been employed by Nature's Perspective for years - and worked on our first project too! It is a pleasure to spend time in our back yard grilling and chilling in the warm months and sitting by the blazing fire now that it's cold out.

I love Nature's Perspective. They have done hardscape and landscape in our previous and present homes. They are professional, careful and very knowledgeable. Besides, it is a family business and they really care about their workers.

Nature's Perspective is very professional. From the architect's to the contracted employees everyone was easy to work with. Design ideas are current. We will use them for additional projects.

Corner lot with narrow backyard and water flowing toward the foundation. We had them regrade and resod to improve drainage away from house, and toward our side yard. This included cutting some weird concrete and mulching new beds. They were very booked so it took two months (contracted early July, work done in late August) to get us scheduled, but once they were here they did a beautiful job and we were very pleased with the work. Highly recommend. We were so happy with their work and their crew that we also used them for reseeding parts of our lawn later that fall. The picture is before the sod was installed.

For years we had ugly bushes in front of the house. After reading an article stressing the importance of the “outside” look of homes, I knew it was time I called Nature’s Perspective Landscaping. I use private owned companies. They came quickly, listened to my ideas. I was enthralled with their ideas. This project was completed within three weeks. I love pulling into the driveway and say “Thank You Nature’s Perspective Landscaping”. Its so lovely!