Excellent service and the firewood burns very well. The delivery crew does an outstanding job.read more

Best mulch and firewood in the area! Super friendly folks. Definitely will be buying my next cord…read moreof wood from them.

Again, the damn Tribune has led me astray with their "recommendations". Sigh. When will I ever…read morelearn. Ida & Sal's was written up in an article not too long ago with a glowing review about the produce and the flowers they sell. They are a semi-permanent produce stand with (as of right now) tons of pumpkins and gourds littering the yard and a small trailer that houses other vegetables and the cashier station. I am *guessing* if you live in Lake Villa, specifically at the junction of 45 and 132, and don't have any means of transportation to get to any other grocery store or farm stand, this might be the place for you. Otherwise, someone over there got it into their head that "quaint roadside joint = big profits" and "people in this area have more money than brains" because every time I laid eyes on a price it was like getting hit in the chest with a thrown brick. TWENTY DOLLARS for a SINGLE gourd? FIFTEEN DOLLARS for a pumpkin no bigger than the ones you see in front of any Jewel for $4? Hey, I am all for supporting local businesses, but COME ON people.

About a week before Christmas, my husband and I bought a live Christmas tree from Ida and Sal's…read more The man who sold us the tree at about 7:00 at night, didn't come out of the trailer until we were there for about 10 minutes - unfortunately, he stunk of alcohol when he greeted us and didn't end up being very helpful. We were looking to spend no more that $50 for a 6-8 ft tree. He pointed to the trees that were leaning against a fence (not standing up nicely like the other trees) and said, you should be able to find one for $35 over there. As we looked at the trees, I noticed they did not smell as nice as the pricier trees. We didn't have a lot of money to spend and decided on a $35 tree and took it home. As soon as we began to set it up, I smelled a fowl odor. We filled the tree holder with water and left undecorated overnight. As soon as I walked downstairs in the morning I smelled the worst odor - it was a disgusting smell similar to old urine. I was absolutely disgusted and told my husband that something was wrong with the tree - after all, a live Christmas tree should smell like pine, not urine! We called Ida and Sal's. I asked if we could bring the tree back and get a refund - they said no. I explained that the tree smelled fowl and was not soaking up any water. They still refused - and rudely, may I add. I googled this perplexing situation, "live Christmas tree smells like urine" and found that some lots try to sell trees that they have stolen off of other people's property. Trees are purposely sprayed with a synthetic urine and are then tagged with a warning of the odor for those who try to steal them. I suspect that this is what happened. Perhaps Ida and Sal's thought the smell would go away, but it did not. My husband and I ended up trying to live with the tree for a few days, but we ended up disposing of it - the fowl-smelling odor in the house became unbearable. We ended up going to Home Depot and found a beautiful, 8 foot Frasier Fur for about $40. Similarly-sized Frasier Furs at Ida and Sal's were over $100!!! I really like to support my local vendors, but I WILL NEVER PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM IDA AND SAL'S AGAIN! It was such a disappointment to have to go through this ordeal during the busy holiday season. When I called Ida and Sal's to explain, the woman who answered was rude and also pretended like she couldn't hear what I was saying or understand the situation. I was disgusted by both the drunken man who scammed us and the rude woman who I tried to work with to rectify the situation. What a poor display of character!

Bob is easy to work with and always answers his phone. Reasonably priced mulch and nice selection…read moreof evergreen trees.

Bob was great. Very nice and extremely customer centric. I will be using them every year.read more

Laurie Bujack was fantastic to work with as a planner and designer. Her work ethic is bulletproof,…read morewith the responsiveness to the changes and modifications as the design evolved, especially as the price proposals came in and there was the need to help the phases fit the budget. She was also very responsive to a few glitches that arose in the complex and timely communication, as well as tweaking needed for last minute adjustments. Laurie is a very competent project manager AND designer, for those reasons! She is a consummate professional. The only observation to recommend improvement: that our kind lead installer take moments to teach his crew about guarding the safety and treatment of more fragile perennials and the final placement of shrubs needing to be plumb/vertical...a sharp eye before accepting the final results of his workers.

Well I tried to buy soil... $42 a yard you would think that I would get pulverized screened…read moresoil.... nope I got weeds, huge rocks and blocks of soil... see the pic... thats what I got... that huge piece of concrete is about 12" x 8"... omg.. thats right .. there was screening or pulverizing... I would go to another place for top soil... now the reason why I gave them a 2 was that I did speak to the manager and she gave me a half off discount on my next yard... but that soil was the same as the original... I know they were short on soil but then charge less and do not say it's pulverized.... thats shameful. !!!

Just want to give a shout out the the Barn Nursery employee that helped me carry heavy items and…read moreload them into my car at SAMS club. Barn nursery-thanks for employing kind individuals and you are lucky to have them representing your business. I will definitely be a customer moving forward.

My review pertains to the classes they offer. I did the spring basket class earlier this year. We…read morewere provided a large planter, many types of flowers to pick from and a cute decoration. I do not know much about gardening, they provided flower types that are hardy enough to withstand the cool spring nights. Yesterday I did the pumpkin decorating class. We got two large pumpkins and got to pick either a white or blue pumpkin. The supplies to decorate were plentiful. They provide all kinds of ideas and examples. The instructors are very friendly and helpful. I do not consider myself a creative person but after these classes I do! Many people brought snacks and drinks. Definitely a fun night out.

I have been coming here for years. They have an excellent selection of shrubs, flowers, and garden…read morestatues. However, i do feel there is room for improvement with customer service lately. I often feel like im bothering them if i need help with something. Work on enjoying what you do and wanting to help your customers.

Lame plants. I wouldn't have got anything, but I had a gift certificate. Went before mothers Day…read more All the plants were super leggy as they had never been piched and needed water desperately. Many plants just sticks with a few leaves. I got a 6 pack of hot pink impatient. I waited forever for them to fill in my pot, but they still have very few blooms. Normal impatients bloom like crazy! Summer is almost over. Additionally, while I was shopping, I asked an employee if the had tuberous begonia. She ignored me the first time. When I asked again, she was very snippy as if was was bothering her. Not worth the time it took to drive there. Very disappointed as a friend highly recommended.

Mario, Richard, and Frankie were very helpful and knowledgeable while we were choosing and…read morepurchasing trees and shrubs for our yard and around new construction. Somehow along the way it was not communicated that the beds need to be defined and established before the planting began. Eleazar and Arturo called Richard and he came right out to give us the estimate for cutting the beds and it was completed within an hour and all of the planting was completed. We could not be more happy with the results. Pictures coming soon!

They are very knowledgeable in helping with trees and shrubs that fit into different spaces.read more

I needed to purchase a few bales of hay for my garden beds and bales of straw to cover my backyard…read morelawn to keep the dogs' paws from getting too muddy. Prices are reasonable. This store is perfect for buying these sort of things. It was my first time there; so, I found them to be quite helpful, polite and efficient. You just go inside and pay, drive your truck to the loading areas, someone loads your items and you're on your way!

This place typically has the lowest prices you'll find, but their customer service is not good…read more I've had a number of interactions here that have left me feeling bad and not wanting to shop here anymore. 1) There was a time when they weren't sure if they had my dog's food in stock. They called the back to see if they had it, and it was a lot of back and forth about whether or not they had it. The phone call ended with them saying it was out of stock. Then a minute later they called and said they did have it after all. So I pay and pull around back, only to be told they don't have it and I would have to get a refund. This was followed by "just kidding." I was prepared to let this go, but the other interactions on top of this...it all adds up. 2) My dog hates car rides, so I put my sleeping bag on the back seat for her. It smells like me and calms her down. Someone working in the warehouse saw it and asked me if I'm homeless and live in my car, as he laughed. 3) Someone gifted me a bag of dog food in the correct brand and wrong line of food. I brought it here (unopened and brand new) to exchange it for the correct one, and was told I couldn't do that, because I had no proof it was from there, and they don't know how it's stored. This would make sense if they didn't take their own product back either, because they also don't know how the person stored it. They told me I was trying to get a free bag of food from them, which makes zero sense, considering I was trying to exchange an unopened unexpired product that actually cost more than the one I wanted, and I didn't even want the difference given back to me. It didn't matter to them I'm a long time customer of theirs. They treated me like I just randomly walked in off of the street and was demanding they hand me a free bag of food for nothing. 4) I purchased a bag of dog food, and afterwards, realized there was a small hole in the bag. I brought it back to them, and they told me if I kept the bag they would refund me $1. One dollar. They have raised the price of my dog's food by $10 per bag in the last six months or so, when it has remained the same price everywhere else. They are now about the same price as any other brick and mortar or online store. I will be taking my business elsewhere.