Arlington Heights Backyard Landscape Project on N Highland Avenue

This Arlington Heights backyard project brought together five coordinated pieces of work on an established suburban property: redefined mulch beds, new garden bed creation, tree planting, a concrete slab installation, and a river rock zone with a concrete paver pathway connecting it back to the existing patio. The yard already had a generous round concrete patio that worked well as an entertaining space — the project focused on everything around it. The mature maple in the back corner sat over patchy, struggling turf. The back fence line had no real privacy planting. The existing beds had lost their definition.

Rather than rebuild what was already working, we focused on the elements James wanted addressed and tied them together as a single coordinated landscape. Every change was made to coexist with what was already there — the existing patio, the established maple, the picket fence, and the homeowner’s furniture and entertaining setup.

Garden Bed Creation: River Rock Around the Mature Maple

The back corner of the yard is anchored by a mature maple with a wide canopy that had effectively shaded out any grass underneath it for years. The new garden bed in that corner takes that condition and works with it — instead of trying to grow turf in deep shade, the entire footprint under the canopy was converted into a low-maintenance river rock garden bed.

The new bed is shaped in a long, curved outline that follows the natural drip line of the tree and ties into the existing patio edge on one side and the fence line on the other. We installed dark green metal landscape edging along the full perimeter to hold the rock cleanly against the surrounding turf and prevent migration into the lawn. The bed is filled with warm tan-toned river rock — a small-to-medium round profile that reads as natural rather than decorative — and graded carefully around the existing maple root flare so the tree stays healthy and visible.

The result is a defined garden bed that turns what was previously a problem area into a feature, eliminates the recurring chore of trying to grow grass in deep shade, and frames the maple as the centerpiece of the back of the yard.

Concrete Slab Installation

Set inside the river rock bed, just off-center from the maple, is a poured concrete slab with a clean broom finish. The slab functions as a visual anchor inside the rock bed — a flat, intentional surface that gives the rock garden a focal point and breaks up what would otherwise be a single uninterrupted expanse of stone.

The slab was formed and poured on site, set flush with the river rock so the transition between concrete and stone feels deliberate rather than dropped in. Wood form stakes are visible in the in-progress photos and were pulled once the slab cured.

Concrete Paver Pathway to the River Rock Garden

Connecting the existing round patio to the new river rock garden is a series of square-cut concrete pavers set into the lawn as a stepping path. The pavers are set at a walking gait spacing, slightly recessed into the turf so a mower can run over them cleanly without catching an edge.

The path is intentionally simple — no curves, no inlays, no decorative banding — because the rest of the landscape is doing the visual work. Its job is to give a clear, dry route between the entertaining zone and the new garden bed without competing with the patio or the rock for attention. The pavers carry the same broom-finish concrete look as the existing patio and the new slab inside the rock bed, which keeps the materials visually consistent across the yard.

Tree Planting Along the Back Fence Line

Along the back property line, we planted a row of large balled-and-burlapped arborvitae spaced for a continuous evergreen presence as the trees mature. The trees were sized large at install — full enough to give the back fence line immediate visual weight rather than waiting several growing seasons for them to fill in.

Each tree was set with the burlap and wire basket properly handled, backfilled with native soil amended for drainage, watered in at install, and mulched at the base to lock in moisture during establishment. The spacing was planned around the existing fence and the established shrubs already in place along that line, so the new trees integrate with the existing planting rather than overwhelming it.

Mulch Bed Redefined and New Bed Lines Cut

The side-yard bed running along the brick foundation was fully redefined as part of the project. We pulled the old mulch and weed growth, redefined the bed edge with a clean spade-cut line against the lawn, and topped the bed with fresh dark hardwood mulch at proper depth for moisture retention and weed suppression. The same edge-and-mulch treatment was applied to the redefined bed lines around the patio perimeter and the new river rock garden, so the entire property reads as one coordinated landscape rather than a patchwork of separate beds.

A Coordinated Landscape That Works With What’s Already There

This Arlington Heights project is a good example of what a landscape job can do for a property that already has good bones. The existing concrete patio, the established maple, the picket fence — none of that needed to change. What it needed was the five pieces James spelled out: bed lines redefined, new garden beds created, trees planted, a concrete slab installed, and a river rock zone with a paver pathway tying it all back to the patio.

At A&N Outdoor Services, our approach to landscape projects in Arlington Heights and the surrounding North Cook County area is to deliver exactly the scope a homeowner asks for, executed cleanly, and tied together so the finished property reads as one coordinated yard rather than a list of separate line items.

Planning a Backyard Landscape Project in Arlington Heights?

If you’re an Arlington Heights homeowner with a yard that needs some combination of bed line work, tree planting, concrete installation, river rock or gravel beds, or paver pathways, our team is ready to help.

From initial walkthrough through planting and final cleanup, A&N Outdoor Services handles the full scope of landscape and hardscape work for Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, and surrounding NW Cook County properties — mulch bed redefinition, garden bed creation, tree planting, concrete slab and paver installation, and river rock features.

Contact us today to start planning your Arlington Heights backyard project.