Landscape Design & Build in Rockford, IL
Tree Care Enterprises has been designing and installing landscapes across Winnebago County since acquiring Forsgren Landscaping in 2000 — twenty-six years of building patios, retaining walls, outdoor living spaces, and planting designs around the mature tree canopies that define Rockford-area properties.
We are a landscape design AND build company, not a maintenance crew. Every project starts with an in-person site assessment by a designer, leads through scaled drawings or 3D renderings, and ends with our own crews handling installation start to finish. No subcontracted hardscape; no design-only handoff to someone else; no "we'll get to it next year." Most projects move from initial consult to install in 6 to 12 weeks.
What Sets Our Design-Build Approach Apart
Tree Care Enterprises is one of the few landscape design-build firms in northern Illinois operated by ISA Certified Arborists. That credentialing matters more than it sounds. Landscape mistakes that compromise mature trees — root zone compaction during patio installation, volcano mulching around trunks, planting incompatible shade species, trenching through critical root zones for irrigation — are some of the leading causes of tree decline on residential properties. We design with your mature trees, not around them as an obstacle.
Properties we work on in Rockford and the surrounding area often have 50-, 80-, even 150-year-old oaks, maples, and walnuts as their primary landscape asset. A well-designed patio enhances those trees. A poorly-designed one kills them within a decade. We've seen both outcomes; we know which decisions drive each.
Project Types We Handle
- Paver patios and walkways — concrete pavers, natural stone, permeable systems
- Retaining walls — engineered solutions for sloped sites or grade transitions
- Outdoor living spaces — fire pits, pergolas, seating areas, full outdoor rooms
- Outdoor kitchens and fire pits — built-in grills, masonry fireplaces, gas and wood-burning fire features
- Hardscape design — full property hardscape master planning, drainage, lighting conduit
- Planting design — beds, borders, native plantings, Zone 5b plant palettes
- Landscape grading and drainage — solving wet spots and erosion as part of redesign
- Mulch and soil preparation — sustainably-produced mulch from our own yard
Pricing Context
We can't quote a price without seeing your property — site conditions, access, materials, and scope drive cost more than any rough rule of thumb — but here's the rough range for design-build projects in the Rockford area:
- Smaller residential projects ($8K–$20K): Single patio or seating area, modest planting, no major grading
- Mid-range projects ($20K–$60K): Patio + retaining wall + planting + lighting on a typical residential lot
- Estate or full-property projects ($60K+): Multiple hardscape features, drainage work, mature plant material, integrated lighting and irrigation
Design fees roll into the build cost on signed projects. The site consultation itself is always free.
Who We Work With
Our typical landscape design-build clients fall into a few buckets:
- Homeowners doing a major outdoor renovation — they've lived in the property long enough to know what's not working and want a thoughtful, integrated solution rather than another piecemeal addition
- New construction owners — fresh sod, no mature plantings, ready to develop the property's outdoor character from scratch
- Estate property owners — large lots with mature canopy where the design has to work with significant existing landscape
- HOA and association boards — common-area landscape redesign, often with phased budget over multiple seasons
- Commercial property owners — office parks, retail centers, healthcare facilities that need landscape character to match their architecture and brand
Service Area
Tree Care Enterprises designs and installs landscapes throughout Winnebago and Boone counties in Illinois — Rockford, Loves Park, Machesney Park, Roscoe, Rockton, Belvidere, Poplar Grove, Cherry Valley, Pecatonica, Winnebago, South Beloit, and surrounding communities. We do not currently offer landscape design and build services outside of northern Illinois.
Get Started
Call 815-965-5757 or request a free estimate online to schedule a design consultation. We'll come to your property, listen to what you want, and tell you honestly whether what you have in mind is feasible — including budget — before any design work begins.
