10 minute read
The Pros at Home ILCA visits Mary DiCarlo
(continued from page 41) they’re starting out small, growing larger as the chicken gets older, then eventually decreasing in size after the chicken reaches its peak.” Who knew?
Why Participate? Check out these testimonials for ILCA’s Women’s Networking Group
“Other women should join because it gives them an opportunity to get involved with the industry. By hosting these events, we can work together and help bring each other up,” said Noel Street, McGinty Bros.
“I was the only woman in my office quite a few times in my career,” said Brenda Ward, Beary Landscape Management. “To find support and camaraderie with others that are in or have been in that situation is very powerful to developing and retaining a strong, active voice.”
“They just may find their life more enriched, both professionally and personally,” said Janie Grillo, Midwest Groundcovers. “And, an added bonus is becoming acquainted with others in the industry.”
“I enjoy making genuine connections with women in the industry,” said Kristen Kinsella, Beary Landscape Management. “It’s often quite inspiring to hear the stories of women working in and leading in a male-dominated industry. I’ve been able to make connections that have led me to exciting opportunities that I would not have found otherwise. For example, after meeting Amanda Arnold of PlanIt Landscape Perspectives at a WNG event, she reached out to me and asked if I would guest lecture for a landscaping course she teaches at the College of DuPage and I did, and it was a great experience.” Why join?
“Contacts, camaraderie and cocktails,” said Karen Olah of Coldspring.
The chicken jokes are just a bonus. What day do chickens hate most? Fry Day.
Cherry Blossom Cocktail
Cocktail shaker
Ice cubes 1 oz. lime juice 1 1/4 oz. Tequila 1 oz. fresh grapefruit juice 1/4 oz. Grenadine
Place ice in shaker. Add lime juice, tequila, grapefruit juice and grenadine. Shake well. Dip glass rim in lime juice and then on dish with pink Himalayan pink sea salt. Fill the glass and enjoy.
Want to get involved with the WNG committee? See https://www.ilca.net/ professional/committee_involvement/
ILCA Member Renewals for 2021-2022 Renew by June 30, 2021!
Starting April 15, please be on the lookout for your dues renewal notice via email and mail. Renewal emails are sent to the main contact on the account. If you do not know your login credentials, please email Alycia Nagy at anagy@ilca.net. You can also reset your password if needed on the member login page: www.ilca.net/member-login.
Payment Options:
Automatic Renewal – By providing your credit card information, your membership dues will be automatically deducted from your account every year on June 30th.
Pay Online – One-time credit card payment on the date you enter the information. You will need to go in every year and enter your credit card information to renew.
Pay by Check – If you cannot renew by credit card, you can mail a check to: ILCA 2625 Butterfield Road, Suite 104S, Oak Brook, IL 60523.
We look forward to your continued support of the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association!
ILCA Visits Industry Members at Home
Nina A. Koziol
Editor’s Note: This is another in a series of articles that feature the home landscapes of green industry professionals— ILCA members, plant breeders, nursery owners, public garden staff and educators. After all, who wouldn’t like a little peak at what peers are doing around their own homes?
Mary DiCarlo, owner of In and Out Design, came to a career in landscaping in a roundabout way. “When I started the business, my background was in interior design—that was about 35 years ago. I added the landscaping part of it in 2012. That’s where my passion is. The more I get into it—that’s what flows my creative juices.” She works with local realtors doing home staging consultations and with homeowners who need assistance with decorating, remodeling, and landscaping.
“I started doing planters on my patio many years ago. I bought a single family home so I could garden and I took any class I could at the Chicago Botanic Garden. But it was my design experience that helped with landscaping. Design, whether inside or out, has a lot of commonalities—texture, scale and color, and can be incorporated in similar ways. It’s kind of unique—not everybody does what I do and I wear a lot of hats.” Her home landscape in Arlington Heights is a testimony to her design experience.
Tell us how you approach landscaping your own home.
“I’ve been in this house for 30 years. The backyard was a clean slate—just patio, lawn and fence on one-fifth of an acre. There was a 20’ x 15’ concrete patio. The front of the house was basically a row of yews and the parkway tree had nothing around it. There were some perimeter and foundation plantings on the side of the house. And, an old crabapple on one corner of the house was just way too big and had blight. I took it down right away. And then it felt naked so the garden beds started creeping in.”
What type of changes have you made? “We’ve done a lot. One of the first things we did was turn the patio into a four-season room. We had two kids, no basement and toys everywhere. Now that the kids are grown, it’s become my space. My husband built a small koi pond 20 years ago but we’re putting in a new pond with a waterfall. The front was an old asphalt drive and concrete walk to the porch. About 20 years ago, stamped concrete was in vogue. We took out the (continued on page 46)
Renee Garrett’s back garden is a low-maintenance place for entertaining and relaxing.
What plants do you favor?
“I’m always seeing new plants I’d like to incorporate in my designs. The workhorses include perennials like May Night salvia, sedum, coreopsis, Stella D’Oro day lilies—they come up year after year. Hakone glass (Hachonechloa) All Gold or Aureola gives that pop of color in the garden. I’ve used a lot of Gold Mop cypress and put some of those in my front garden for year-round color.”
DiCarlo also makes plenty of room for annuals, and she switches them out from spring and summer into fall. “I knew I wanted pockets of annuals and I have a little trick. I buy hanging baskets
(continued from page 44) driveway, walkway and patio and replaced it with stamped concrete. That was great for the time, but now I’m going to do a paver driveway and rework my front porch. And, the beds just kept growing—I think the garden is always a work in progress. Plants have to earn their space—producing color or flowers. I’m changing them all the time.”
What challenges have you encountered?
“I’m allergic to bees. I was on a job site, got stung and ended up in the emergency room. So, we added a
screened gazebo with a flagstone patio. The view from the gazebo is lovely.” In 2019, she installed Perfect Turf artificial pet grass in the backyard to address lawn damage from her two dogs. “It’s one of the best things I’ve done and we just started installing it for our clients. It was a hard sell to my husband, but now that it’s in place he likes it. The installation is similar to how you would do a patio. There’s six inches of gravel—it’s a larger size gravel so it drains better and the turf itself has holes. My husband was worried about odor but there’s no odor. Artificial turf is becoming popular especially in the city with small spaces.”
How much time do you spend maintaining your home landscape?
“I could spend two hours every three weeks and then I’m done. I’m incorporating more shrubs because they’re the workhorses. You still want to have perennials with different bloom times. When it comes to my favorite shrubs, I definitely like panicle hydrangeas and I have several varieties.” Quickfire, Little Quick Fire, and Monrovia’s Magical Flame hydrangeas bolster the pond. “I love the change of color and the structure. Limelight and Little Lime hydrangeas are nice, too. Everything in my garden earns its space. In 90 percent of the landscapes I design, almost every client wants low maintenance. People don’t want to spend time deadheading day lilies.” and the whole thing comes out of the pot and goes into the ground. When the pansies come out, in go the summer annuals. That creates much more impact than just putting in individual plants.”
Come spring, the lime hue of Gold Mound spirea makes it one of her favorite shrubs. “Callicarpa (beautyberry) caught my eye one fall with its yellow leaves and purple berries. They’re planted around my gazebo and in between boxwood. I also use blackeyed Susans and purple coneflowers that perform year after year.”
She limits the number of trees on her small property, sticking to a few Japanese maples and two crab apples— Prairifire and Perfect Purple. “Japanese maples are probably my favorite tree whether weeping or spreading. Fireglow is like a dwarf Bloodgood. It’s got the most striking red color in fall, so I’ve (continued on page 48)
711 S Material Road Romeoville, IL 800-762-5738 • 815-836-0086 rocksetc@att.net (continued from page 46) been putting those in my designs as well.” She admits that between the polar vortex and heavy snows of recent years, both of the maples are struggling a bit. And, she’s prone to bringing home new plants to try them out before using them in her clients’ gardens. “My crew is so funny when I bring home new plants, but there’s always room for one more.”
Spring is right around the corner!
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18715 Route 84 N Cordova, IL 800-736-1356 • 309-654-2261 sales@xylemltd.com Are there any particular landscape designers (or books) that you admire?
“When I first started out, I feel like I bought every book that I could. Now, I get a lot of ideas from online sources and social media.”
What do you like best about your job?
“So many things—I love my job. The number one thing is the design process. I love that it lets me create beautiful but functional spaces for my clients. I like the look on my clients’ faces when their project is done. I can see how happy and excited they are and it warms my heart. One client was on vacation and when she came home she couldn’t stop smiling at her new landscape—it was like a grand reveal for her. It warms my heart that I can affect people’s lives like that.”
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
“It’s the time factor—I do everything—the initial consultation, the design work, the pricing, I pick out the plants, I’m there for installs. I may take on an assistant for the interior design part. It’s not having enough hours in the day. When you own your own business, you really can’t take time off.”
What do you like most about your garden?
“Our garden was featured in the 2019 Arlington Heights Garden Walk and we had thousands of guests come through. I loved sharing my experiences with those who attended the walk.”
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