Hillside Landscape is a family-owned landscaper serving Lake County and Chicago's North Shore since 2001. Fertilization and weed control used to live inside our maintenance plans and as a grub-control add-on — now it's a program you can book on its own: a soil-test-informed feeding and weed calendar built for our region's cool-season turf and alkaline clay.
A full-season feeding & weed calendar
Each treatment is scheduled for the window where it does the most good — not on a generic national calendar. Here's what a Hillside program covers through the year.
Fall is the most important feeding of the year
Our lawns are cool-season turf — bluegrass, rye and fescue — and they do their most important root-and-energy work in autumn. That's why the primary feeding is in fall: it builds the root reserves that carry the lawn through winter and green it up fast in spring. A lighter late-spring secondary feed supports growth heading into summer without pushing soft, disease-prone top growth. Summer-long nitrogen dumps do more harm than good here — we feed when the grass can actually use it.
Pre-emergent crabgrass control
Timing is everything: the barrier has to go down before soil temperatures hit the mid-50s and crabgrass germinates — typically late April into early May in our area. Miss the window and no amount of spraying later catches up.
Grub control
Preventive grub control goes down in late June through July, before the new generation of larvae starts chewing roots and inviting skunks and birds to tear up the turf. Catching grubs early is far cheaper than reseeding the damage.
Broadleaf weed control
Dandelion, clover, creeping charlie and plantain get targeted post-emergent treatment — spot-treated or blanketed as needed, in spring and fall when weeds are actively growing and most vulnerable. A dense, well-fed lawn is the best weed defense of all.
Soil-test-informed programs
Lake County's heavy clay tends to run alkaline, which can lock up iron and leave turf pale even when it's fed. We test first, then match the nutrients, pH adjustments and micronutrients to what your soil is actually missing — the timing science is broken down in our Lake County lawn-care FAQ.
Typical investment
A typical range for Lake County and the North Shore — every lawn is quoted by size, condition and the number of treatments. Your free on-site assessment is exact, and programs can be bundled into a full seasonal maintenance plan.
From soil test to a lawn that fills in
Walk & soil test
We assess your turf, trouble spots and sun exposure, and pull a soil sample so we know the pH and what's actually missing. Free, no obligation.
Build the calendar
You get a season plan with the right products at the right windows — fall-primary feeding, spring feed, pre-emergent, grubs and weeds — priced clearly up front.
Treat on schedule
Our own crew applies each treatment at the right time — not whenever a route happens to come by — so the pre-emergent and grub windows are never missed.
Monitor & adjust
We watch how the lawn responds through the year and fine-tune feeding and weed treatments, so it gets thicker and more weed-resistant season over season.
Local lawns, local know-how
We've been maintaining lawns on this clay since 2001. We know how North Shore soil behaves, when the windows open and close, and why a program timed to the season beats a bag of fertilizer thrown down whenever.
Fertilization & weed-control questions
- When should fertilizer go down in Lake County?
- For our cool-season lawns, fall is the primary feeding — it builds roots for winter and a fast spring green-up — with a lighter secondary feed in late spring. We avoid heavy summer nitrogen, which stresses turf here. Our Lake County lawn-care FAQ walks through the timing science in detail.
- When do you treat for crabgrass and grubs?
- Pre-emergent crabgrass control goes down in late April to early May, before soil temperatures trigger germination. Preventive grub control follows in late June through July, ahead of the new larvae. Both are timing-critical — treating late dramatically reduces how well they work.
- Do I really need a soil test?
- It's the difference between feeding your lawn and guessing. Lake County's clay often runs alkaline, which can tie up iron and other nutrients. A test tells us the pH and what's missing, so we're correcting the real problem instead of adding fertilizer the soil can't use.
- What does a program cost?
- Fertilizer and weed-control programs typically run $300–$600 per year, depending on lawn size, condition and the number of treatments. We quote every lawn individually at the free assessment, and it can be rolled into a full seasonal maintenance plan.
- What areas do you serve?
- Lake County and the North Shore — Glenview, Northbrook, Deerfield, Highland Park, Winnetka, Lake Forest, Riverwoods, Lincolnshire, and the surrounding communities.
Start with a free lawn assessment
Tell us about your lawn and the trouble spots you're seeing. We'll set up a free on-site walk, pull a soil test, and build a feeding and weed-control calendar timed to your yard.
- Free, no-obligation on-site assessment
- Soil-test-informed feeding calendar
- Crabgrass, grub & broadleaf weed control
- Applied by one local crew, on time
