Category Archives: What’s New at ILT Vignocchi

February Newsletter 2022

A Message from our President
I humbly welcome you to a happy new year.  Humbly because it has been a journey for many of us.  There is something about adversity that brings out the best in people.  I feel that way about our team.  They have continually come to work during a pandemic, following our strict safety rules.  It wasn’t easy.

What I found so enchanting is that we focused on building comradery.  We instituted weekly meetings, headed by one of our trusted coordinators, that attempted to bring people together and create a sense of community when it felt like there was not one left.

This is the company you employ.  We strive for the best, so you are elated with your services.  But we also strive to make a safe place of health and happiness for our hard-working employees.  Coming from immigrants, I know their struggles and their fears.  It is our pleasure to combine service to you with the service to them.

We look forward to a new year with you.  We thank you for your business.  Most importantly, we thank you for helping us to make the world better for our environment, which includes our employees.

Donna Vignocchi Zych

Landscape Maintenance Update
Can you believe that April is around the corner?

Monthly, we will inform you of what you can expect on your property, generally.  I say generally because nature is a living thing.  Conditions change, plants die for little to no reason and diseases can be prevalent.

For February you should have received your landscape management renewal if you have one.  You should have received a site improvement proposal as well as an irrigation proposal if applicable.  If you don’t have one and would like to request an estimate please let us know.  The contact information is at the end of the email.  If you are not certain whom to call…call me!  Donna Vignocchi Zych at 847.613.5102.

Other than that know that we are very diligently preparing for spring 2022 and cannot wait to see all of you again.

Reminder of a great project

On a personal note
This year we experienced the passing of Carol Asher.  It had a profound effect on those of our staff that worked with her and personally within our ILT Vignocchi family.

For anyone that knew her she was a force…elegant and intelligent.  My memories of her are her love of plants and gardening.  She appreciated it as art, which most people do not.  Her and her husband, Mr. Asher, have been so generous and influential in the lives of my father and I as well as our staff.  For us at this time, it feels as though there isn’t enough gratitude.  But with gratitude for people that think selflessly, there is responsibility.  To perpetuate beauty of nature and kindness of spirit.  I for one will take this to heart and try to disseminate it to our work family.

We will miss her deeply and hope that there are the most beautiful gardens where she is now.  But those tending those gardens be assured she might know more than you.

Peace to you Mrs. Asher.  You will always be in my prayers, Donna.

Many of you might not know that we own a wholesale perennials groundcover nursery…here is our plant spotlight of the month!

Viburnum carlesii ‘Spice Baby’

Viburnum carlesii Spice Baby is an improved substitution for Viburnum carlesii ‘Compactum’. Standing at 4 feet tall and 4 feet wide, this petite shrub is an excellent selection for smaller landscapes.  This is a personal favorite of mine.  People love the smell of lilacs, but they can be problematic with blooming and disease.  This is a lovely alternative.  Happy planting!!!

New You Tube Post: Video Presentation

Our design staff is constantly experimenting with new technology to better communicate our creative vision.  This new video is presenting a virtual experience for a large scale community in Burr Ridge that is implementing a multi year redesign and installation that will be focused on making the landscape more beautiful and sustainable.

When creating sustainable landscape options for our customers, we achieve not only the satisfaction of doing the right thing for our environment while creating an atmosphere of plants native to Illinois, but help reduce long term maintenance costs for our customer.

Spring Orientation and Training

We have been holding spring orientation and training for years.  It is a time not only to make certain our staff understands our expectations and our standard operating procedures, but also a time to get their feedback and say thank you.

This season, due to extensive self reflection and customer feedback, we are overhauling our training and quality monitoring system.  Our quality coordinator, Aaron Zych, along with the aid of our sales and supervisory staff has created a comprehensive system of checks and balances.

Our new quality monitoring board

We are excited to start our season and are reminded that it is invigorating to constantly challenge yourselves to learn, improve, have FUN, and most importantly be the best.

Below are some photos from our event!

Bed edge training

Small Equipment Training by Juan Nunez

Classroom orientation by Aaron Zych

New pad for rack deliveries by Juan Miquel Ortiz, Miquel Ortiz, and Juan Morales

 

 

Houzz – check us out

Personally I love Houzz.  I should say that my husband loves it even more!  He is constantly browsing their easy to navigate site for high quality, stylish ideas for both his customers and our own home improvement ideas. It is not only a must for people considering home renovations, additions or new construction.

It is FUN experience for those of us who love design and love to ponder “dream” situations in our own homes. ILT Vignocchi is pleased to contribute photos and content so consumers can tap into our ideas and use them in their Ideabooks.  We are also grateful to have customers who are fans enough of our services that they rave about us on Houzz.

If you haven’t played around with this super exciting website…the largest home renovation website in the WORLD, get to it!  Like I said.  It is FUN.  And don’t we all need a little more fun?

Welcome to our New Website

What am I most excited about at the moment? Why our new website of course! For those of you that consider yourselves creative you will understand the labor of love involved in crafting something new, exposing a part of yourself to criticism, and hopefully more than a little praise. We have reinvented our landscape company’s website more than once before, trying to stay fresh and ahead of the curve. But this time was different. This time I feel we had the right team and the correct vision. I thank Aaron Zych, project manager and design department manager at ILT Vignocchi, as well as Carla Baldwin, our website’s designer. What a pleasure.

We hope existing customers and those new to our firm will enjoy useful tips and information in my blog as well as our monthly newsletter, What to Expect, which outlines what to expect in your landscape throughout the growing season. If you have not signed up for our emails, just click on the link to do so!

You can also peruse ideas in our gallery, both residential and commercial landscapes. Our sites include some of the most beautiful and noteworthy on the North Shore and throughout Chicagoland.

Last but not least…use the handy links to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Houz and Pintrest!!

I sincerely hope you enjoy our new site…we’d love to hear your feedback…just post it on our facebook page!