If you're a gardening geezer, this place has a lot to offer. Maybe not for its over-priced garden furniture, nor for $127.00 hanging pots, but for starter plants and flowers. High quality, decent prices for the smaller plants and herbs, but best of all lots of good, free advice from the incredible number of staff they have wandering and available. Hence some of those higher prices. You gotta pay for that great old-fashioned customer service. But I like to come here, pick the brains of the experts (and they are just generally friendly types to chat with), pick up some 4" pots here, and get the larger items elsewhere. After all, a bag of Miracle Gro here has the same contents as you would find at Home Depot. But you will pay more for it here. Also, for added value, and for you guys in your 20's and 30's, what a great place to bump into some North Shore cougars. They're just here in the green jungle of plants and shrubs, waiting to pounce. I mean, even I've been scoped out here. Of course, you will have to compete with all the good-looking young lads who work here. But hey, check it out, even if you have no green thumb. read more

I love the Chalet. The steering wheel on my Rav4 is somehow always magnetically drawn to the entrance whenever I drive by... and then suddenly... I find myself immersed in their immaculate rows of perennials, wondering how I got there. The outside nursery is beautiful, and indoors they have a large indoor shopping area of pots, chic gift/seasonal items, pet food, wild birdseed/feeders, and house plants. Come by during the holidays to see Santa, pet a reindeer, and have some cookies! Halloween and Easter offer similar festivities. The diagnostic department is fabulous. I have gone in there on more than one occasion to ask questions (ie why is my tree dying?) and have gotten excellent (and FREE) answers and advice. The Chalet also offers FREE lecture series Friday and Saturday mornings in the spring and fall, usually hosted by Jennifer Brennen. If you have not gone, run, don't walk, and get a seat, and just watch the show. Jennifer is uber-knowledgeable and just a hoot to listen to and watch. She has a great sense of humor about gardening, it's ups and downs, and also extreme patience for the sometimes poor clueless gardeners who ask unending questions. Every question is a "good question!" to Jennifer and she makes you feel like you aren't as clueless as you were when you walked in the door. You can also sign up for a gift certificate drawing at the lectures - there's a winner every lecture! Also to be mentioned are the sales... as in, end -of -season sales. I bought most of my perennials and bulbs for 50-75% off regular prices at Chalet, which, I must say, when not on sale, are a bit on the high side. But for all of the free stuff you get (lectures, advice, cookies), it's worth it even if you pay full price once in a while. read more

This place is dream-like, I've only been here once but there are many hidden spots to walk around and explore. They have an assortment of beautiful pots and different types of mosses. read more

I haven't really had a reason to Yelp for a few months but I had to now! I just returned home from Chalet and I am very impressed!!!! Some people say that this place is expensive...I don't know why they think that, unless they are so cheap and expect Ikea prices for plants! I would compare the house plants I bought there a little bit more than what you would get at Home Depot but they all look very healthy and I will pay more for a healthy plant! I would rather support this business than a big corporate chain. As a business owner myself I notice thing like friendly customer service.. I went into the greenhouse looking for some plants for my sunroom. Since I have cats I had no idea what to get. So I asked a gentleman Scott to help me find some hanging plants that wouldn't be toxic to the cats. Scott was SO helpful, patient and really knew his plants! We picked out a Lipstick Vine (surprise surprise) a spider plant and a hanging Hoya for my sunroom...and he even sold me a beautiful hanging jade plant for my studio office where the cats won't be. He carefully wrapped each and every one so they would be safe on the car ride home. He handled each with care. Then a nice gentleman took my plants out for me and the cashier was beyond helpful and had the friendliest smile. I don't know why or how people got a bad impression on some of these reviews but all I can say is my experience was worth 10 stars! Thanks Scott for making it a wonderful afternoon out and making it worth the trek from the city! read more

I really enjoy going to Chalet! The have a great selection of items and an ever-changing stock! In terms of the actual Garden Center, I love their pet products and they have many items you can't find other places! Plus it's all (I think all...) organic and natural products. They have a great selection of home goods and as someone else pointed out their Christmas selection is incomparable! During the spring they have amazing pots/sculptures/cute garden decorations...just a huge assortment of items! They have all of the top of the line garden tools and accessories! In terms of the Nursery their plants are beautiful, clearly well cared for and they have a staff that is knowledgeable and can truly help you pick what's going to work for you. Everyone who works at Chalet really takes the time to help you and understand what you are looking for. Plus you can use the Seasonal containers created by Specialty Garden Services which are always beautiful! I don't think they are more expensive than any of the other nursery's in the area plus their plants all come with a guarantee! read more

Been going to Chalet for years and a 2nd generation at that. A selection that is second to none and extremely knowledgable staff. They also have a lot of great - free - events for children that are great such as Santa, balloon making, face painting, scarecrow making and others to name a few that our kids love. We also had some major landscaping done by them as well recently that we've been getting great compliments from all of the neighbors. Their landscaping consulting service - where they come out to your place, talk to you about what you're looking for and draw out plans based on your feedback and their recommendations - is free as well. Are they inexpensive? No, but you're paying for the educated staff, extensive high quality selection, the children events, the landscape consulting staff and they're a local family-owned business. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not about overspending but for our landscaping they did negotiate and I'm personally tired of - and a little scared - of everything being Home Depot, Menards, Best Buy and Walgreen's - where gone is the personal touch, expertise and support of local businesses. These folks can't compete on a pricing level of a 1000 store chain so they differentiate themselves beyond price. Support them and your local family businesses. read more

Summary - If money is NO object or concern for you, you may love this place. You can get fairly unique home/garden items all in one place with your indoor or outdoor plants. You can even bring your leashed, well-behaved dog and get high-end dog/pet food too. Pros: Large variety of objects you might want for around your house and garden- sun dials, thermometers, shiny globes for outdoors, etc. Staff includes those with plant knowledge and willingness to satisfy the customer, if you find them and point blank ask for help. It did not seem that they have a goal of approaching every customer and asking if they need help. If you want a very tiny houseplant you can get a fair deal, for example with african violets. Cons: As you go wider and wider in house plant pot, the prices are a ton, for example a house plant with 6" diameter pot is $21.99. Pothos are generally the cheapest, hardest to kill houseplant around, and very reasonable elsewhere I've gone. There they are priced just as if they were a rare and exotic fern. I think one of the hanging pothos, a reasonable width was $39. I gasped, out loud. Like another yelper I felt out of place here, as if all the pricing were meant to 'weed out' those without trust funds. Maybe it is, or maybe they don't realize they alienate a large group of potential return customers. I came with way more money than my groupon amount, and wanted to be enticed into buying more, but I need to feel that I'm not totally getting screwed on pricing. I don't mind hunting for bargains, but if it's futile my hopes of becoming a regular go out the window. Alas, that was not to be and I spent just over the groupon amount. This place is, in my opinion, crazy expensive, with not adequate range in prices. There are no low-end prices to reel you in, on anything I could find. For example, even a simple plant hanger is $16- $20 and up. They had only two kinds, and one was the kind you an find at www.invisiclimb.com which aren't a great deal their either, actually, but of course better than at the store. I think upon closer reading invisiclimb ones are made by people in the US with disabilities, so that's cool, but again you have to be willing to spend a ton on the hanging plant then pay premium for your hanger, and I didn't even dare check the decorative pot pricing. A plant hanger, which could pull you into buying a hanging plant...... A plastic colored stake w/a plastic butterfly, which they call an orchid stick I believe, is $10. IMO that's supposed to be crazy cheap, which I'm sure it is/should have been for them, so as to tease me into paying too much on an orchid and still feeling good. Single pieces of bamboo are $10 and up- way up. So in the end this place did motivate and inspire me, but to shop elsewhere and also buy some garden products online. I'm still bummed about it because I like their creative array of products and that they are reputed to have knowledgeable staff. I just can't stomach the unapologetic high prices. Also in my ideal world they'd have a house plant section inside too, where it's cooler. Their house plants are in the "glass house" which is a green house which is/was scorching on a very hot day. It is hard to shop in that kind of heat, and some non-tropical plants don't do well in those temps. Also my home is in no way a tropical green house environment so I didn't have a ton of confidence that I was getting plants suitable for my home. read more

My favorite nursery in the whole wide world! LOVE this place. It instantly makes you smile. The plants and flowers they sell are exquisite (actually, everything they sell is exquisite). I called all over the city looking for Myke Tree Food, and they were the only place that carried it. My mother swears by this stuff. They also have a big selection of great gifts, and tons of fun things for pets! read more

They have the best lotions and potions home section here. This is a very customer service oriented, local business. Nothing like the big box stores! We will be coming in to shop for a wreath later and visit with the reindeer and Santa! read more

Amazingly vast selection of shrubs, flowers and herbs, plus indoor and outdoor gardening supplies. Knowlegable and helpful staff. Certainly the most extensive gardening center I have ever seen. read more

Great customer service and selection! I needed shade plants and after showing her pictures of the location in my garden, a manager recommended a few plants. Then she had someone come with me to show me where they all were and even helped me to select the specific plants. read more

There are plenty of landscape design services to choose from. Chalet is a no brainer. They installed a new patio and fire pit for us this summer and their workmanship, responsiveness, and follow through have been tremendous. Mark W. has an excellent eye for landscape design and steered us through the process with ease. Delighted with the final product and especially the quality of service. read more

Gethsemane was my first love, but I think I'm going to be in a beautiful, life-long relationship with Chalet! This place is a lot more convenient for me, and just as good as Gethsemane. The price points are about the same, I think, so expect to pay a lot for really good plants. They seem to have more selection than Gethsemane, and more space (naturally), but I've seen more sad, wilted plants here than at Gethsemane. However, there are always healthy varieties you can pick instead of the sad panda plants. Not a big deal in my book. Some plants conk out no matter what you do. :( The best thing about this place? You give the front gate people your plants, they write up a receipt for you, you pay and then bring your car around to the front gate place, where a strapping young man loads your plants into your car. But first, he lays down a piece of plastic to protect your car trunk! I was very impressed with this thoughtfulness. Good business practices, but probably required in Wilmette and environs north of here. People have really fancy cars, I suppose, and dirt would be a deal-breaker. In any event, I love this place. Knowledgeable staff, friendly people, great selection, easy parking, good location for north shore folks, I could go on and on! read more

We just had our home landscaped thruout. It was quite a project as we have a large lot and old growth. Chalet did an excellent design and now our home is the jewel of the neighborhood. We worked with Freya as a designer and I can't say enough good things about her. Now our neighbor and my sister are getting their places done. I had interviewed a few other companies - lots of attitude and prices that were ridiculous. Chalet came thru wonderfully! read more

Pretty good place, really big. Lots of unique stuff here. Like Houttuynia, or fish mint. They had an herb sale that had whole plants for cheaper than cut herbs at the supermarket, so I went over budget. The indoor part is huge as well, with lots of pretty pots and stuff, and a beautiful African Grey parrot. I'll be back, but because it's so far, maybe only in spring. read more

I love Chalet though I have a hard time purchasing a lot of items here as they are VERY EXPENSIVE. The people who work here, such as Earl, Elaine, Martin, and the others really know there plants and can give advice and help on just about everything. They are the must knowledgeable garden center in the entire area. I have been to a few others that I like, such as Lurvey's, however the amount of knowledgeable and easy to find people at Lurvey's does not compare to Chalet. Chalet has so many people working to help and assist that it is great. The prices of Chalet are expensive so I do not purchase all of my garden needs here though I do learn a lot from them. I have brought in photos or pieces of plants to find out what they are and Earl and Elaine are amazing at telling me what they are and how to dig them up or care for them depending if they are a weed or nice native plant (like the Solomon's Seal I have in my yard :) ) The people at the checkout are NOT so friendly, so I supposed that is why only 4 stars versus 5. I have never had a nice or friendly checkout experience but the garden center is great. Martin helped me today and was just terrific. Chalet is great, I would recommend it for a lot, maybe not to purchase all of your garden needs but some. read more

I was very disappointed in the service That I received from chalet despite continued conversations with their leadership to ensure a positive experience. They were hired to do a design both front and back yard and then do the work. Missed details, poor communication, overcharging, etc left me with a negative experience I will not be using Chalet in any capacity moving forward. read more

I had a great experience with Buddy. Gave me a lot of great info and even referred me to another nursery that had what I needed. I would come back here. The garden accessories are gorgeous. The best I've seen anywhere. read more

They responded to my prior bad review about not getting call backs and in a few days had someone contact me. So at least they do pay attention to customer complaints. That's good. Our particular landscape planner happens to be super nice. read more

If you ever shop and Chalet Nursery and need a trusted resource to consult with you, you need to find Buddy! Buddy is one of Chalet's most outstanding, dedicated and extremely knowledgeable employees EVER hired! I can always count on him to provide me with the best ideas on any project I tackle. His personality is addictive and he leaves me wanting to come back for more ideas (and plants) every time. If you want a truly wonderful experience at Chalet, ask for Buddy! read more

Great service and amazing flowers and shrubs. There service is absolutely the best. The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is because it's a little pricey but you do get what you pay for so it's worth it. read more

Their plant selection is pricey but worth it. I try to only shop the plants that aren't available at Home Depot or Lowe's but can't help myself when I see a really healthy, well-shaped one. Customer service for the outdoor plants is fantastic. There's a team of knowledgeable and patient employees actively trying to help you find the right plant. Checkout is pleasant and you can get assistance loading your car. For indoor plants, you have the greenhouse which is fun to wander through. They also have gorgeous arrangements - which are priced accordingly! They stock high quality gardening products inside the store. I enjoy their lovely selection of indoor decor and pet section along with the resident African gray parrot. The Halloween pet parade is adorable! And their seasonal selection is always a treat. read more

I would like to say that I have had a good deal of pleasant experiences with the Chalet over the years. So it was disappointing when I tried to get help with transplanting some trees which were purchased there, and the removal of an old magnolia and an old crab tree. After several calls over 3 days I was finally able to speak with Ed from landscaping. He had seemed unable to listen to my situation repeatedly stating that they have a $250 minimum, before I could even request an estimate for work that clearly would have exceeded the minimum. I felt snubbed by the snob garden center. I am well impressed by the response of the team at the Chalet to my 1 star review. Led by Garth Sager and an expert work crew all of my issues have been resolved. I am looking foreword to a great relationship with the Chalet in the future. Thanks again and my advice is if you are ever in need of help with your garden call the Chalet. read more

Went to Chalet to schedule an appointment to redo some landscaping. Was told by a helptful employee that this would need to be done online, so went home and submitted a request. Did not hear back for several days, but then finally received a call and set up an appointment. Was called about three hours before the scheduled appointment and told by the person who was supposed to assist us that she couldn't make it and we would have to reschedule, so we did. Our appointment was for 1:00 pm today. When she hadn't shown up or even called by 1:30 pm I called and left a message. It is now 2:30 and we haven't even received the courtesy of a call and an explanation. Chalet charges premium prices, so one would certainly expect a far better experience than this. Very disappointed. read more

A gardeners dream. Many varieties of perennials and annuals that are colors and varietals that you don't see at big box stores. Many lovely gifts. Whenever I go it feels like a mini vacation. Love it! read more

I used to love this nursery, felt like it was a plant paradise.I bought many outdoor plants and indoor plants from them and all was well, however, I recently purchased some indoor plants from them, and after less than a week, one started experiencing leaf drops at a very steady rate, I feel with their slightly inflated price tags, they would stand by their quality of the plants they sell. I called the store and had a very hard time reaching anyone, had to call many many times, finally, I got someone on the phone and she suggested that I email to a specific "expert", to let her diagnose the cause of the problem. I never got any response from this lady for like a week, I had to call again to see why no one had even responded to my email,and I started feeling that this store is not what I thought it was, such poor customer service, they don't want to accommodate you once that plant is paid for and leaves their store, they made me go in with an APPOINTMENT, just to see the "expert" of all plants to resolve my issue, all I wanted was a swap of a healthy plant and she simply said ,"no, we don't warranty our plants" !!!!! Told me I will only get 50% of the sick plant to put towards the exact same one! Why would I want to spend more of my money doing an even exchange?!! The f-ing nerve for them charging those prices and don't stand by their product just after a couple of weeks! I will never buy any plants there again, not worth paying that's kind of prices and getting Crappy, Walmart service. Their prices are not very reasonable comparing to other upscale plant shop in Chicago,I am almost certain that the smaller, upscale plant stores in the city would be much more pleasant to deal with. read more

I was inquiring about what to do about a dogwood tree that I purchased 15 months ago that has had very poor foliage. Seems to be dead. Of course the "professional" there (I believe it was Jennifer) told me that I have clay soil and that I probably don't water enough. The cornelian cherry is actually pretty tolerant to both clay and droughts. I've had over 35 years if horticulture experience and don't appreciate such rude employees who think they know it all. I've been shopping at chalet for years since I live just a few block away and believe it supporting local business but thanks to arrogant and rude employees like her, I refuse to ever shop here again. read more

The Chalet has a fabulous selection of plants and their container selection is excellent. But having fabulous plants and containers means nothing when there is no one able or willing to help you select and arrange those fabulous plants into the pretty containers. This is a do it yourself kind of nursery which is too bad especially when you consider the premium they charge for their plants. Therefore the Chalet is getting 3 stars for poor customer service and lack of knowledgeable employees. If you are looking for help, advice, and gardening tips, head for Gethsemane Gardens in Edgewater. They have the best personnel who are knowledgeable and happy to help you create a wonderful container garden or beautiful window boxes. Their customer service is excellent and the prices are competitive with the rest of the Chicagoland nurseries. read more

I made a trip to Chalet to see if they could offer any recommendations on shrubs to plant at our lake home. "I don't know what zone or what kind of soil" was the response. Even after being supplied with both answers, it was clear this employee just didn't want to be bothered. The entire conversation lasted less than 30 seconds. What a waste of my time. What is it with these high-priced snobs? read more

Love Chalet so much! The retail store is amazing for more than just plants--they have the best candles, beauty products, home goods, pet section, and gifts. It's fun to walk around the garden in the summer and the Christmas decorations during the holidays are incredible. I've also had a great experience ordering indoor plants from them online! read more

Finally I got out to The Chalet during the growing season, and I have to say that the selection of plants was gorgeous. (I would have expected nothing else!) and kind of interesting. I found two ferns, one of which I'd never even heard of, and chatted with the staff about a few of our gardening issues. They were very helpful. I still think they're a bit too far to the pricey side, but honestly with such a beautiful place, that shouldn't really be an issue. If you can't afford what's for sale here (and they do sometimes have really good sales!) come to look and appreciate the beauty. That's still free! read more

The staff at Chalet has advised me for 32 years on the North Shore of Chicago. Their advice is expensive but worth paying for because mistakes are expensive. They seem to have everything I need in terms of plant material. If it dies they will replace it read more

We had the Director of landscaping service come out to survey our house to redo the front. They came out took our plat of survey and have not heard from them for 3 months. Went to nursery last weekend and spoke to another director who took our information and still have not heard from them. They appear to not want the business and something is very wrong if we are dealing with management and are treated this way read more

The Chalet is a beautiful place where you can wander for inspiration, get ideas from their experts, take a class, and buy excellent, locally grown plants. I've shopped there for 25 years (and my family for 50 years before that) and am never disappointed in the quality of plants, advice, or service. Recently I had a large shrub delivered and planted, and the 2 men who did the work were great and well above and beyond - they worked carefully and thoughtfully to position the shrub just right, used the appropriate soil amendments/mulch for my yard, and even replanted some of the surrounding perennials that were disrupted in the process. Every time I've had the Chalet install a shrub or tree it's been a positive experience - the plant thrives due to the soil amendments used, the skill and care in which it's planted, plus the quality of the tree/shrub is always excellent. I love their locally farm-grown plants too - they're always vigorous plants (can often be divided the next year) that work because they're grown in the same conditions as those in my garden. I've purchased many many plants from the big box stores for less $ but they're very unreliable so I wind up wasting time and money planting cheap plants that don't work in local conditions. THe Chalet is a great place to go for inspiration, beautiful and reliable plants, and great advice and servce! read more

I cannot believe that I recently paid $11.99 for a dog toy that costs $4.99 at Chewy.com (exactly the same). I will have to treat Chalet like a showroom if stocked products are going to be more than double the price you can find online. I returned the other toy that cost me more than $25, and purchased it for $9.13 from Amazon.com. Amazon lists the MSRP for that toy as $19.99. Why is Chalet charging almost $25 before tax? Chalet needs to re-evaluate its pricing strategy. It swindles customers with a pretentious atmosphere and colorful displays. The products are the same quality as anywhere else. read more

Went today to Chalet and it was well organized with a great selection of plants. Due to the virus there is not much support so you are on your own. The quality and variety was great and not crowded. read more

They tried to squeeze us for a $100 fee just to come look at our property. We have $$$ in work for them, and they try to nickel and dime right from the start. There are dozens of excellent landscaping companies, one of which will get our business. It won't be the chalet. read more

My girlfriend and I were wanting to get quotes for some landscaping we were doing on the side of our house. We had called several people, including Chalet. I ended up playing phone tag with Ed Grevers, on of the landscape designers. He was always unavailable at normal times and would always be unavailable, even when I call him back right away. He spoke with an accent and was hard to understand on the phone. He did finally meet me at my house, right on time, to discuss my plans. His plans seemed reasonable, and I awaited my quote. The quote was outrageous. It ended up being around $7100! I was floored. In hopes that I could possible work with them to do smaller projects, I emailed Ed about possibility of breaking down the project. He was very sporadic on his responses and quite rude on some. I questioned them on some of the prices and he simply responded, "Plants come in all different sizes, how much do you want to spend?" It's not about the customer experience, it's about the money. Classic. I didn't end up hearing form Ed about my questions to break the project into different pieces. The "how much money do you want to spend" was very unprofessional and very offensive. Do not waste your time with them for the landscape design aspect of their business. Their inability to take interest in your needs is reason to stay away. I do not recommend working with Ed. He's not exactly pushing the boundaries with any of his designs either. Might as well be putting 50's landscaping up! Stay away! read more

Today I encountered some of the worst service I have ever had ... anywhere! I and my husband typically have enjoyed going to Chalet. The quality of the plants are pretty good... but no more. We have never returned anything but today I returned a wreath. It was a eucalyptus wreath that mounted at the entrance of my house. The dyes dripped all over the place. The employees .. did not apologize, only tried to make me feel like I was wrong for putting the wreath outside. I asked if they had posted something to let me people know that it should not go outside... and was told... "All our people on the floor know that they cannot go outside .. and, if you do not ask.. than how will they know?" They would only give me store credit for the wreath ... which was fine but how they told me was so unprofessional ... I will not go back. My husband is will need to use the store credit. Chalet... you need to fix your customer service. Making the customer feel like they are wrong ... is just plain wrong. The $100s of dollars that we once spent there (sometimes $1000s) will not be part of your future revenue stream. read more

Holiday shop is descent and great for kids when Santa and the reindeer are there. This is the place to go for expert advice and tips. If you are looking for something cheap and dreadful go to Home Depot, Lowes or Menards if that is what you deserve. Chalet has higher than average prices but that also comes with the northshore shore area. read more