Twig Landscape Design, LLC

We are so late doing this review! This is definitely not a reflection of Michelle and her team! Twig designed and installed all of our landscaping this past fall (2024). This was a mix of hard and soft scaping, with many new plants and existing ones moved. The result is amazing! We are so pleased with Michelle and her team. Why? 1. Michelle is responsive, transparent, and authentic. She brings her full self to her work, which translates into a combination of experience, voice, and empathy. She listens and works with you to create exactly what you want. She also tells you if what you are thinking won't work. I value this as a client. 2. Michelle knows her stuff: she understands plants, landscape, lighting, and sustainability, and she is able to bring it all together into a cohesive vision. 3. Michelle listens. So important. 4. Michelle's installation crew are amazing! Jose et al. are creative in understanding the unique situations and are also extremely transparent and communicative. I am so excited to see her work emerge this spring. If you are in the Chicagoland area, you are welcome to come by to take a look!

We strongly recommend Twig Design based on our experience with Michele Kruegel and Twig last summer. Our landscape had devolved into an overgrown and haphazard mix of plantings, some of which worked and some didn’t. We had a truly delightful experience with Michele as she guided us through major renovations of both our front and back yards. From the start she was a pleasure to work with, a great listener who was upbeat, energetic, and attentive to detail. She was efficient and respectful of our time, an excellent communicator who made good use of technology to set appointments, exchange information, and express ideas in a timely manner. Michele developed multiple options for our renovations based on conversations aimed at understanding how we use our outdoor space and other considerations such as upkeep that were important to us. For our final plan we chose elements of the designs that we liked most. We appreciated her creative ideas for providing visual interest, installing paths leading from one section of the yard to another, visually separating our patio from our large driveway pad, and creating circular planters out of corten steel for our vegetable garden. Michele cares about her clients and is generous with her time. She also genuinely cares about plants – she was mindful of reusing existing plant material that fit into our new plan, and making the most of our budget. Her thoughtful designs emphasized plants that make sense for our area including native perennials, with an eye also to maintenance considerations and how our landscape will change visually through the seasons. Twig's preferred contractors Jose and Lima Arroyo were professional and personable – our installation went surprisingly quickly. The work involved not only plantings but also a fair amount of hardscape work, which went smoothly. Our installation was done just before a torrid stretch (during a parched summer) when we were out of town, but Michele went the extra mile, helping us find someone to take care of watering while we were away. We greatly enjoyed working with Michele and we look forward to seeing our plants mature over the next few years into her final vision.

ichele is a fantastic landscape designer. She is passionate about her work. She is knowledgeable but listens to your views and does a great job of designing what works for you. Her drawings are works of art. Michele incorporated significant elements of my existing gardens in ways that make it seem fresh and vibrant. In partnership with her hardscape partner, she delivers a breathtakingly beautiful design within budget and on-time. I highly recommend Twig.

Michele was easy to work with. She quickly understood my desire to reuse my existing plants and add pollinator-friendly native plants. Jose's team was incredibly fast and efficient. She is a good communicator and attentive to my questions and concerns. Highly recommended!

We contracted Twig Landscapes for a total overhaul of front, back, and side yards. The process was simple and the results were better than we imagined. Michelle has a great creative eye and a contagious love of plants. We know what each of ours are now and have even named a few, like pets. Jose leveled and rebuilt our old uneven soil, our grass, our walkway and our patio in 3 days. Can’t say enough good things. Really grateful to have had the privilege of working with them.

I strongly recommend Twig Landscape Design. After living in my home for many years, I finally decided to invest in some extensive landscaping after seeing Twig's fabulous work on my walk home from the train! Every part of my experience with Michele was a dream. Though she is a one woman operation, she is incredibly organized, and transparent about her process. I did not have a strong vision for my front yard, and she guided me to something I'm excited to show off. Additionally, I really appreciate her dedication to sustainability, and her deep knowledge of plants. Her drawn designs are truly a work of art. She is also a very patient, super lovely and kind person-- and works with an excellent yard crew. I plan on using Twig for my larger backyard project, and I recommend unreservedly.

I really appreciate Michele's professionalism and enthusiasm. Her process is will organized, with set meetings that are easy to schedule. She explains every step of the process at the first call, which helped me feel confident that everything would go smoothly. And it did! The design meetings were a lot of fun. Michele came up with a great design for my front and back yards, which were previously just sod. The installation process was stress-free. Jose and his team were professional and courteous and did a great job. The final walk-through with Michele was detailed and informative, with tips on caring for the plants and trees in the future to keep my new babies thriving. She has been there every step of the way and has answered all of my questions quickly and thoroughly. My house feels more like a home now.

Michele was so much fun to work with! Her knowledge of plants, water mitigation and hardscape is so extensive, and she is so creative in her designs. Every plant was chosen carefully and with purpose. Jose & his crew installed beautiful pavers and our backyard is an entire new "room" that we love to hang out in! Even after install, Michele continued to check back in and answered all of my questions. We couldn't be happier with Twig!!

As soon as we began the design process with Michele, we knew we had picked the right person to help transform our small backyard space which was overwhelmed with concrete into a beautiful and usable space for our family. We discussed issues we had with our current space and how we might address them, as well as changes that could be made to help us enjoy the space more. Michele ended up presenting us with three designs, and we ended up picking the elements (hardscapes, plants, ground covering) we most liked from all three. The process was fun and stress-free. In advance of installation, Michele and Jose (the landscape installer) were prompt and communicative. Even when we had some slight hiccups during the permitting process, they were vigilant and persistent. In the end, Michele designed and Jose and his team installed a space that has been a great fit. Even the inspector from the city noted that the space was beautiful in his report.

Michele was amazing to work with. She listened to my needs and designed and executed beautiful, cohesive, and detailed plans while working with my budget. She is extremely professional and knowledgeable on landscape, hardscape, water mitigation, and building/property codes. Jose lead the install team and they were just as detail oriented as Michele. Great team to work with and I hope I get to work with her again! It was a late fall install and these pictures are year 1.

I hired Michele to work with me to beautify our outdoor space- both front and back yards. She thoughtfully obtained insight from us on what we wanted to see and how we wanted to use the spaces. Sustainability and low maintenance were key- in addition to staying within budget. We were happy with the options that she presented to us and the facts that we can do the installment in phases! She also works with a great landscaping crew. We also appreciate how she worked with our timeline on things. We could not be happier!

I couldn't be happier with the work of Twig Landscape Design. Mchele is one of the most fabulous designers. She works with people in an incredibly caring and thoughtful way. She takes great time, thought, and creativity to understand who her clients are and what they are looking for. She then enhances their ideas with her own brilliant ideas and plans. All of this excellence led to our gorgeous backyard patio and front yard. I am especially grateful that Michele put so much effort into not only the design but the kinds of plants and trees she suggested. Every single plant was chosen strategically--for it's colors, for how it changes throughout the seasons, etc.--and all of the plants were considered in relation to each other--and towards ensuring the larger yard flows together but also has diversity and something extra special and exciting to look at and watch over time in every single corner. THANK YOU MICHELE! We feel so lucky to have had you design our yard. Our neighbors and anyone walking by stops and remarks on how gorgeous it looks. One neighbor texted me as soon as it was done saying..."I'm coming over to relax in your yard! It looks GORGEOUS"