Van Zelst

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Van Zelst Designing landscapes is a great way to make a living. The work is varied, interesting and rewarding.

Founded by David Van Zelst in 1979, Van Zelst provides landscape design, installation, and maintenance services throughout Chicago’s Northshore and Lake Geneva Wisconsin. Founded as a landscape design/build firm in 1979, Van Zelst has always been focused on satisfying the design needs of our client. As it turned out, that’s one of the aspects of the business we find most rewarding. Year after year, the Van Zelst team has designed, installed and maintained beautiful landscapes where clients can play with their children, entertain friends and build their private histories. Over the years, we have continued to seek new ways to ensure the complete satisfaction of our clients. That’s why we now grow 90% of the perennials we use—plus trees and shrubs—in 60 poly greenhouses behind our headquarters. It’s the only way to be sure we’re providing the quality our clients deserve. Today, the Van Zelst team has grown to more than 75 members—including landscape architects, horticulturists, foresters, field managers, stone masons, maintenance teams and more. While we all bring different skill sets, each of us is focused on the same thing—making sure you’re at home in what we create for you.

The plan was drawn for October.Most landscapes are designed for June. This one was laid out so the best week of the year...
10/13/2026

The plan was drawn for October.

Most landscapes are designed for June. This one was laid out so the best week of the year is the one where the maples turn. The gate frames it from the street. From above you can see the whole argument: a firepit circle at the far end, a stone path pulling you toward it, a terrace that holds the evening once you get there.

Heater on, chairs out, three more weeks of this.

Fall is for planting.Warm soil, cool air, and six months of rain before the first hot day. Trees and perennials that go ...
10/05/2026

Fall is for planting.

Warm soil, cool air, and six months of rain before the first hot day. Trees and perennials that go in now spend the winter making roots instead of fighting for water. By June they look like they have been there a year.

The window on the North Shore closes when the ground does, usually mid-November. Spring installs book now.

DM us about your fall planting.

09/24/2026

Most people think landscape design starts at an acre. DaShan does not. 
 
DaShan Nixon, Designer and Client Representative at Van Zelst, on why the small Chicago lot is some of her favorite work. A city yard has no room to hide a bad decision. Every foot has to do something. The brick, the seat wall, the one tree that gives the whole space its shade: each one gets chosen harder because there is nowhere else to put it. 
 
We have designed North Shore estates for 45+ years. We also design the yard behind a two-flat. Same standard, less room to miss. 
 
DM us about the space you have, not the one you think you need.

The brick was here before the house was.Salvaged Chicago common brick, laid in a herringbone on a city lot. Every one of...
09/21/2026

The brick was here before the house was.

Salvaged Chicago common brick, laid in a herringbone on a city lot. Every one of these came out of a building that was taken down somewhere in the city. The color variation is not a finish. It is a hundred years of different kilns, different clay, different weather.

Five plants that earn their place in a North Shore garden.Annabelle hydrangea. Eight weeks of white, then a dried head t...
09/17/2026

Five plants that earn their place in a North Shore garden.

Annabelle hydrangea. Eight weeks of white, then a dried head that holds through November. Cut it to the ground in March and it comes back.

Purple coneflower. Blooms July into September, then seedheads for the goldfinches. Leave it standing through winter.

Liatris. One vertical line in a bed full of mounds. The pollinators find it before you do.

Astilbe. The plume for the shaded side of the house, where nothing else blooms in July.

Creeping thyme. Fills the joints of a flagstone path, takes foot traffic, and flowers in June.

September is planting month. Perennials that go in now spend the winter making roots. Save this for the walkthrough with your designer.

Where the materials meet.A patio is decided at its edges. Tumbled pavers curving into a bed, with a spade-cut line holdi...
09/10/2026

Where the materials meet.

A patio is decided at its edges. Tumbled pavers curving into a bed, with a spade-cut line holding the lawn. Natural flagstone with creeping Jenny filling the joints, so the path reads as if it grew there. A cut stone step set into granite chip, forest grass softening the corner.

The wide shot sells the yard. The edge is what makes it hold.

The art of the pool room.  A pool is not the point. The room that holds it is. The coping decides where the water stops....
09/03/2026

The art of the pool room. 
 
A pool is not the point. The room that holds it is. The coping decides where the water stops. The decking decides whether anyone walks barefoot in August. The screen, the seating, the shade, and the light decide whether the family uses it or looks at it. 
 
Six decisions, four North Shore properties, one last long weekend to use them. 
 
Save this for the pool conversation. DM us about the room your yard wants to become.

The Lake House, Part Two.  A Williams Bay property on Geneva Lake, built around a simple idea: the water is the destinat...
08/18/2026

The Lake House, Part Two. 
 
A Williams Bay property on Geneva Lake, built around a simple idea: the water is the destination, so every space should point at it. The spa faces the horizon. The pool terrace steps down toward the shore. Stone walls hold the lawn as it falls to the dock. 
 
Part One showed a property where the lake holds the view and the pool holds the day. This one goes further. Here, you never stop moving toward the water. 
 
Williams Bay, Wisconsin.

08/10/2026

The last 8pm sunset of the season, and we’re spending it exactly like this. 
 
Fire on, string lights up, a couple of chairs pulled in close. Chicago’s daylight starts giving back after tonight, so if you built the backyard for evenings, this is the version of it that pays you back. 
 
Get outside for this one.

07/30/2026

Everyone talks about the big moves. We obsess over the small ones. 
 
The sound of water before you see it. The way grass moves in a breeze. Lighting you feel but never notice. These are not finishing touches. They are the difference between a yard that looks designed and one that feels alive.

Address

39400 U.S. 41
Wadsworth, IL
60083

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

(847) 243-6587

Website

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