Best Landscape Design and Hardscaping Services for a Backyard Makeover in Chicagoland

August 25, 2026

Tommy Pollina Landscape Company handles backyard makeovers as one integrated project: design, drainage, hardscape, and planting under a single contract. We're based in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, and we've been solving landscape problems for 45 years since Joe Pollina founded the company in 1982 on Chicago's Northwest Side. That combination is what separates a real makeover from a patchwork of separate hires.

Key Takeaways

• Founded in 1982 by Joe Pollina, we've spent 45 years combining landscape design, drainage engineering, and hardscape construction into single projects.
• Our drainage team has completed more than 10,000 successful installations using laser-guided grading and multiple underground collection points.
• Landscape design includes 3D renderings and walkthroughs that map grading, drainage, hardscaping, and planting together before construction starts.
• Bluestone hardscape installations are built to handle Chicago winters, salt, ground movement, and vehicle weight on patios, walkways, and driveways.
• We hold NDS Professional Drainage Contractor Certificates and carry proper licensing and insurance.

What a Real Backyard Makeover Actually Involves

A backyard makeover isn't a lawn mowed and a few shrubs swapped out. It's grading, drainage, hardscape, and planting mapped together before anyone breaks ground. Our Landscape Design service builds detailed 3D renderings and walkthroughs so you can see the finished patio, the new plant beds, and the drainage path before a single yard of stone gets ordered.

That plan then feeds directly into construction. We map landscaping and hardscaping services as one connected scope, priced and phased together, so the crew building your patio knows exactly where the drainage line runs underneath it. A lot of yard failures we get called to fix started as two separate jobs that never talked to each other.

How Do You Choose a Landscape Designer for a Backyard Project?

Look for a designer who plans grading, drainage, hardscape, and planting as one connected system. At Tommy Pollina Landscape Company, every project starts with a 3D rendering and walkthrough, so grading and drainage decisions get made before pavers or plants ever go into the ground.

Ask what happens after the design is finished, too. We offer design-only plans for clients who want to build with another contractor, and design-plus-installation for clients who want our own crews to execute the plan exactly as drawn. Either way, the underlying grading and drainage engineering is the same work, done by the same team that has managed it since 1982. You can see the process, and the About Tommy Pollina Landscape Company page covers the company's roots as a one-truck operation on Chicago's Northwest Side.

Hardscape Materials: Bluestone, Pavers, and What Holds Up in Chicago

Chicago winters put real stress on outdoor stone: freeze-thaw cycles, road salt, and heavy clay soil that shifts as it saturates and dries. The material and the base underneath it both matter.

Every bluestone installation we build starts with excavation, a compacted stone base, and grading worked into the drainage plan, not just laid on top of dirt. Our hardscaping services cover walkways, driveways, patios, steps, retaining walls, and firepits across all of these materials.

Why Hardscapes Fail, and Why We're Called to Fix Them

Most hardscape failures trace back to what's underneath, not what's on top. A patio that heaves in the winter usually had a thin or uncompacted base to begin with. A retaining wall that leans usually never had drainage designed behind it. A driveway that cracks along one edge often has water running under it every time it rains.

That's the work we get called for most: restoration projects where the original installation skipped the base prep or ignored where the water goes. We handle both new construction and repair of brick and stone hardscape, and every repair starts with the same grading and drainage assessment we'd do on a new build.

Drainage Has to Be Designed In From the Start

Drainage isn't an add-on to a backyard makeover. It's the layer everything else sits on, and it has to be engineered before pavers, sod, or plant beds go in. We've completed more than 10,000 drainage installations over 45 years, using laser-guided measurements and exact elevations to move water below grade and away from the home.

Our drainage systems work supports French drains, channel drains, PVC drainage, downspout connections, swales, flow wells, and river rock drainage, tied to multiple collection points and controlled underground dispersal. Grading and regrading get built into the same plan, addressing foundation water flow, recurring wet spots, and permit-compliance requirements at the municipal level.

The University of Illinois Extension recommends placing a rain garden at least 10 feet from a building foundation and grading the surrounding area at a 1:12 slope away from the structure. That kind of precise, distance-and-slope thinking is exactly what goes into our grading plans on every drainage project we build.

What Do I Do If My Backyard Is Flooding Right Now?

Call Tommy Pollina Landscape Company at 847.698.6868 as soon as you notice standing water. We offer emergency and expedited drainage service for active flooding, foundation water intrusion, and sump pump failures, and our crews carry NDS Professional Drainage Contractor Certificates for exactly this kind of work.

Beyond emergency response, we also handle sump pump solutions and basement waterproofing for homeowners dealing with recurring water problems rather than a one-time storm event. One Arlington Heights homeowner, Julia Denne, left this Google review after we tied her sump pump into a new underground drainage line: "Great job of creating a seamless pipeline for the sump pump drainage in Arlington Heights! They were friendly, nice, and worked hard in the hot weather. Highly recommended."

Plantings, Privacy, and the Finishing Layer

The planting plan is what makes a backyard feel finished. Our installation work has included Arborvitae and Green Giants for privacy screening, Blue Arrow Junipers, Judy Zuk Magnolias, hydrangeas, Spirea, Dogwoods, Lilacs, a Cornelian Cherry tree, Allium perennials, Japanese Maples, ornamental grasses, seasonal annuals, and Kentucky Bluegrass sod. Beds get prepped with compost, fertilized, and mulched, with grading corrected and decorative stone worked in where it fits the design.

On one Chicagoland property, our planting plan included more than 240 annual flowers, with over 125 of them going into a single backyard bed. We also install custom planters and seasonal potted plants, including fall and holiday color, for clients who want the finishing touch refreshed through the year. You can browse real completed projects, plantings and all, in our photo gallery.

Outdoor Living: Kitchens, Fire Features, Putting Greens, and Lighting

An outdoor kitchen turns a backyard into a room you actually use. Our outdoor kitchen builds have included built-in fire features, lighting, heating upgrades, grills, fireplaces, and hardscape construction integrated around all of it. We also build custom putting greens, waterscaping features, and landscape lighting as part of a full makeover, or as standalone additions to an existing yard.

Irrigation and sprinkler systems get planned alongside these features too, so watering doesn't become an afterthought once the sod and beds are in.

Keeping the Makeover Looking Good Through the Year

A backyard makeover is only worth what you put into maintaining it afterward. Our lawn maintenance runs spring through fall, and we handle spring cleanup, core aeration, power raking, mulch installation, tree trimming and pruning, and stump grinding as ongoing service. We publish practical seasonal timing guidance too, like reseeding a lawn before summer ends or getting backyard projects finished before Labor Day, on our blog.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I hire Tommy Pollina for design only, without installation?

Yes. Our landscape design service works two ways: design only, where you get the plan and 3D renderings to install yourself or hand to another contractor, or design plus installation, where our own crews build exactly what we drew. Both start with the same grading, drainage, and hardscape planning before anything goes on paper.

Does Tommy Pollina Landscape Company serve my suburb?

We serve Chicago and the North Shore and northwest suburbs, including Arlington Heights, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Deer Park, and Deerfield, out of our Mt. Prospect office. If your property sits in this part of Chicagoland, reach out and we'll talk through your backyard project.

Do I need a permit for grading or drainage work in my backyard?

Grading and drainage projects sometimes involve municipal or permit-compliance requirements depending on your village or city. We build that compliance check into our grading and regrading planning during design, before construction begins, so it's accounted for rather than left as a surprise on the day the crew shows up.

What's the difference between landscaping and hardscaping?

Landscaping covers the living elements of a yard: lawn, trees, shrubs, perennials, and planting beds. Hardscaping covers the built elements: patios, walkways, driveways, retaining walls, steps, and outdoor kitchens. A backyard makeover usually needs both working together, with grading and drainage engineered underneath everything.

If you're weighing a backyard makeover, from a full design-and-build project down to fixing a drainage problem under an existing patio, tell us what your yard looks like right now and what you want it to become using the form below. Include your suburb and whether standing water, a failing patio, or a bare backyard is the starting point, and we'll take it from there.