Landscaping reviews in Chicago, Illinois

Where to begin. We had hired this company once, and they did a decent job cleaning up our yard prior to the fall. We hired them again, and they removed a bunch of items my wife explicitly requested be left in place. We contacted Craig, the owner, multiple times, attempting to resolve the issue, and he constantly dodged our calls. Finally, absolutely fed up with his inability to respond to our concerns, I called and left a message saying we would refuse to pay our invoice because the services were not rendered as discussed. I continue to get invoices mailed to me, as though nothing happened, with no attempt to communicate with us. I left another message expressing our disappointment, and still no one responded, and the invoices continue. Absolute garbage company, run without any consideration for customer satisfaction. Avoid like the plague.

We have had Williams Landscaping do work at our house for at least 20 years. The quality is always exceptional!! Craig, the owner has often stopped by when work is being performed to make sure that we are pleased. I’m very detail oriented regarding our landscaping and Williams consistently comes through!!

I’m kinda soured that Williams decided it was ok to place a lawn ad on the newly landscaped corner of Lawrence and the expressway. The work was done by Eagle Scouts as a community service. True Williams assisted, but I just thought it was pretty tacky. Also, no lawn ads on city parkway space. City Ordinance violation. Stay classy Williams.

Should have trusted the Google reviews. Did an amazing job on a cleanup for me and a few mowings, then got inconsistent, showed up at random times to mow, did a fall cleanup I specifically excluded from my contract and damaged plants in the process. I signed a snow removal contract and they never showed. Then doesn't answer emails about what is going on.
Stay away.

Thanks so much to Williams Landscaping for coming out and trimming back the forest that was growing in our parking lot. We had called several other services and never got a call back. It’s like the building got a haircut and a shave today.

It's as though Craig, the owner, has multiple personalities as you deal with him and from the posted reviews. He'll answer your call and finds an excuse to hang up. He says he'll call back and never does. I was asked whether I wanted a Fall cleanup to which I said no and I happened to be running errands, returned to find they did show up and ruined a number of items. I was upset and I was also charged for services a few weeks prior that I never ever requested. The worst in Customer Service ever and the company along with Craig should be investigated and questioned about how they engage with their clients. I've never ever dealt with CS like this before. If you don't like engaging with your clients, hire someone who will or get out of this business. You really have nerve, Craig.

I've been working with Williams Landscaping for years and wanted to write a review.

Craig and his team (who are amazing) have worked on my property for 6 years. They always get their services completed on time weekly with no issue. I've used their team for landscaping (design) as well. The recommendations made my yard more beautiful than I could've imagined. Trust the process.

I will say that they are sometimes hard to get a hold of. It's true, but honestly, that doesn't change my review.

Just what I was looking for. Grade A soil ! Literally called and looked everywhere but this place had pallets of Fox farm and Happy frog. Only soil I'll ever buy, very good results with these brands way better than miracle grow, yuck ! Highly recommended and definitely coming back for my soil needs !

Yes the prices are higher the the big box stores, but the quality and selection is so much better! I bought a bird of paradise 6yrs ago still doing great and a fig tree 1yr ago still doing great. A few little plants here and there still still ok.... If you are looking for the “I can find it anywhere”, shop elsewhere.

The first time I stopped in, I was definitely a little overwhelmed and unsure of what to get, they have such a huge selection. Jesus, was extremely friendly and accomodating from the moment we walked in. He was able to give us a tour of the property and showed us a variety of different options and pots that could work within our space. Because of his guidance, we've been able to not only grow our lovely home garden, but also develop a newfound hobby of plants and gardening. They are also maintaining healthy Covid-19 precautions, so I felt safe shopping there.

The various indoor and outdoor designs are always beautiful and make for excellent pictures. I look forward to their winter layouts! I now make it a point to visit City Escape at least once a month to check out their latest inventory, and sales. Their entire staff is always welcoming and extremely knowledgeable of their products. I would definitely recommend it, although it is a little pricy it's definitely worth checking out, even if it's just for a nice relaxing walk!

Their plants are of excellent quality and healthy. You pay a little more but but by the time you replace all the dead plants you bought at Home Depot..... the staff is amazing and always guide you in choosing plants that will thrive in your space. It doesn’t matter if you are spending $20 on a plant or commissioning an$20k landscaping job, you are treated with equal kindness and respect.

Really wanted to love this place; it’s beautiful and has amazing options. Unfortunately we purchased an expensive house plant and immediately after taking it home, it developed two diseases and died. Customer service would not do anything to replace or refund. Really unfortunate- heads up to anyone looking to purchase high priced plants here.

Overall bad experience. For this store to be two blocks away from black communities I, as a black woman, did not have a great time here. I was haggled with questions when I was browsing plant selection. And when I stated that I did not need help and that I was highly versed in plants (degree in biology with over 6 years in plant hobby)… I was later asked again 5 mins later by the same employee. I was followed around the store until ultimately I decided to leave. Would not be shopping here, and I urge my POC’s to not entertain this establishment either.

Beautiful place to visit for plants, trees, and all your gardening/decorating desires ... indoors and outdoors. You will enjoy just walking around and looking at everything! They are a bit expensive but they have some beautiful, high-end, unique things. If you want something special or different, this is the place to go!

Overpriced! So overpriced and the owner is so very rude and unpleasant it’s disgusting. In a world where we should be kind and nice to each other she is not. She won’t even crack a smile or even say good morning back to you. It’s actually disgusting and disgusting to think that people can be so unfriendly and unpleasant. You see all the riches in the world won’t ever buy happiness or kindness. That is something that is learned when you are little and if you were raised right. I think she needs to take a long weekend and reflect on her ways and actions especially towards people. She still might have a little time left to change. If you are reading this Connie, a simple hello, good morning, even a smile or have a good day can go a long way. It’s takes very little effort to be kind. Please take some time alone and reflect on your ways. At the end, it will make a difference. Just remember that.

I bought a lemon tree for $80. I brought it home and after a day it was spewing little white worms. I called and they said it was normal and was fine for the plant. They suggested Neem Oil if the worms bothered me. Unacceptable.

I make a huge mistake. Thinking this place was great I replanted the plant immediately in new soil ($40) and a new pot ($100 not from city escape). I saw the worms during transplanting but it just didn't register in my brain that they were pests. Once it was transplanted and watered they came out like locusts.

I have been treating the soil (hydrogen peroxide) and maybe I will end up killing the tree but I can't have it in my house. Hopefully this will fix it by end of summer.

I've spent a couple grand at City Escape and will never buy anything else here. Mostly I have purchased pots. They have some beautiful pots but you can get them for less elsewhere. Everything is overpriced. Shop Lowes, Costco or HomeDepot.

Horrible experience with associate! A man opened the door for us which was the right thing to do given they open at 9 am and we arrived just after.. once we were ready to pay, the man went to get the cashier/associate and we could hear her complaining to the man because he opened the door to customers. I thought businesses wanted business. She then proceeds to tell us she doesn't know when the registers would be working and kept walking. So after spending over $400 yesterday, we wanted to pickup a few more items today but this associate was horrible and I hope she was not reflective of the owners or rest of the team. I have no problem spending my money where customers are appreciated. Invest in training your associates and for all other customers, do not put up with this type of experience.

This place has a great selection of plants,, flowers,, decorative pots of all kinds and many other great gift items. Also a great place for all your gardening & landscaping wants and needs big or small. Great selection of everything you could want. Very classy place with kind, helpful and knowledgeable staff. Just an awesome place.

I stopped there with a friend. Absolutely beautiful items to put in your tree. One bulb is priced at $25-$50.00 or more. That's if your into spending that kind of money in a bulb. They have a lot of things and they are beautiful...

This place is a disaster, with either misinformed or ill intentioned staff pushing overpriced plants that are destined for painful swift deaths. Don’t worry though, as you attempt to save the ‘healthy’ $800.00 tree they just sold you, they are quick to sell you another $300.00 worth of goods, two days later to expedite its death. They sell sick plants and are not accountable. Not to mention they ‘accidentally’ ripped off four main branches before even getting the tree to the check out desk.

We’ve been coming to City Escape for a couple years for both our indoor and outdoor plants as well as for pottery (they do have a great selection of pots).

We’ve decided to stop buying our house plants from there after our Natal Mahogany tree we purchased from there had a disease called scale (tree bugs that leave a sap like residue everywhere, which eventually went onto a chair sitting next to the tree in our condo). We went in and showed photos to their management and explained how we had been trying to treat it for months (and this was direction they gave to us), and none of our other plants had this issue. They told us there’s nothing they could do.

We ended up giving them a second chance and replaced the tree with a Dracena, it unknowingly had gnats in the soil which hatched days after bringing it home. We called and asked if they could potentially give a discount or any level of service to compensate for the second large plant we took into our home from this business which came with bugs. They said again they can’t help us or offer anything for the issues we experienced.

We want to support this store and local business but in a case like this where the level of customer service doesn’t justify their price tags, quality of products (faulty in fact), or time we’ve had to invest in plant treatment and cleanup we’ve experienced, it leaves us not much choice but to do our plant shopping elsewhere.

I would still recommend them for pottery and outdoor plants, but I would not chance bringing any of their indoor plants into my home again.