Certified Tree Arborist Services
Helping your trees to help themselves with expert arborist care.
Why Trees and Shrubs in the NW Suburbs Need Professional Care
Healthy trees and shrubs do more than dress up a yard. They shade the house, frame the front walk, and quietly add value to a Palatine or northwest-suburb home. When they struggle — yellowing leaves, early drop, thinning evergreens, beds swallowed by weeds — the problem is rarely one thing. It is usually a mix of clay soil, freeze-thaw winters, road salt, and pests that thrive in this climate.
Northwest Cook and nearby Lake County yards look lush in June and then take a beating by February. Clay-heavy soils hold water in spring and bake hard in a dry July. Winter winds and road salt pull moisture out of evergreens. And several pests and diseases that matter here are not “wait and see” problems.
What we see most often on local properties:
- Apple scab on crabapples and rust on hawthorns after a wet April and May
- Anthracnose on maples and mildew on lilacs when spring stays cool and damp
- Scale, aphids, mites, and boring insects that weaken already-stressed trees
- Emerald ash borer pressure on remaining ash trees across the Chicago region
- Oak wilt risk on valuable red and pin oaks — timing and diagnosis matter
- Winter desiccation on arborvitae, boxwood, holly, and other evergreens
Our Approach
On Target Tree & Shrub Care is a family-owned plant healthcare company serving Palatine and the surrounding northwest Chicago suburbs. Our ISA-certified arborists inspect the property, identify what is actually stressing your plants, and build a treatment plan around those plants — not a one-size-fits-all spray schedule.
Helping your plants to help themselves is the point. We treat insects, disease, nutrition, weeds, mosquitoes, and winter burn so your landscape can do the rest. A 30-minute property inspection is how we sort symptoms from causes. You get a clear recommendation, not a menu of extras.
Our Tree Healthcare Process
1
Inspection
We walk the property and look at trees, shrubs, and planted beds together. Species, soil conditions, sun and shade, past damage, and current symptoms all go into the plan. Most inspections take about 30 minutes. You leave knowing what is healthy, what needs attention this season, and what can wait.
2
Treatment
Treatments are scheduled around the plant and the calendar — not our convenience. Some work happens in early spring. Some is timed to insect life cycles in late May or June. Winter protection goes on in late November or early December. Where it makes sense, we offer spray, soil drench, or injectable options, including organic choices.
3
Follow-Up
Plant healthcare is seasonal. We review results, adjust the plan, and offer annual service you can renew — or cancel — without a long contract. If weather interferes or a treatment does not perform as expected, we stand behind the work.
Some of Our Certified Tree Arborist Services
Disease Control
Fungal diseases are common in this climate because spring is often cool and wet. Left alone, they dull the look of a yard and, over several seasons, weaken the plant.
We identify the disease and treat it at the right window, usually beginning in April and May, with follow-up applications about three weeks apart when the weather and the plant require it. Treatments may be foliar sprays, soil drenches, or injections on larger trees.
Conditions we regularly manage on northwest-suburb properties include:
- Apple scab on crabapple
- Rust on hawthorn
- Anthracnose on maple
There is no blanket recipe. A crabapple on a wet lot and a maple in full sun are not the same job.
Insect Control
Insects damage plants and they take over the patio. Our program starts with horticultural (dormant) oil in early spring to smother overwintering eggs. That oil is not a conventional insecticide, and it holds up through rain once it dries. Typical targets include aphids, psyllids, scale, beetles, mites, and other insects that feed on trees and shrubs in northern Illinois. Treatments are guaranteed. If pressure returns in the treatment window, we come back.
Root Feeding
Surface fertilizer often sits in the thatch or washes off clay. Root feeding puts liquid nutrition into the soil where feeder roots can use it. Well-fed trees and shrubs handle drought, disease pressure, and winter stress better than plants running on empty. If weather interrupts the application or you are not satisfied with the result, we retreat.
Anti-Desiccant Winter Protection
Illinois winters dry plants out. Arborvitae hedges, boxwood, holly, and recently planted evergreens show it first — browning from the outside in.
An anti-desiccant spray slows that moisture loss. It is one of the simplest ways to protect a landscape investment before the first hard stretch of winter
Mosquito Control
A healthy yard is not much use if no one will sit in it. Mosquito control is part of our insect program for homeowners who want evenings on the deck without a cloud of bites. We time applications to local mosquito activity and coordinate them with the rest of your plant healthcare visits whenever we can.
A Year of Care for Your Property
Late winter / early spring (March–April)
Property inspection. Pre-emergent weed control in beds. Dormant oil where insect history calls for it. Planning for disease applications before bud break.
Spring (April-May)
Disease control on crabapple, hawthorn, maple, lilac, and other susceptible plants. First-round fertilization on properties that feed in spring.
Late Spring / Early Summer (May-July)
Insect and mosquito treatments timed to activity. Mid-season weed control in beds. Monitoring after wet or hot stretches.
Fall (September–October)
Root feeding for trees and shrubs that need a nutrient reserve heading into winter. Review of what worked and what to change next year.
Late fall (November–early December)
Anti-desiccant application on evergreens and other plants prone to winter burn.
Why Homeowners Choose On Target
- ISA-certified arborists and members of the International Society of Arboriculture and the Illinois Arborist Association.
- Green industry experience since 1985. On Target Tree and Shrub Care, LLC was established to bring that experience to residential plant healthcare in Palatine and the NW suburbs.
- Custom plans. Organic options available when they fit the problem.
- Satisfaction guarantee on the services we perform.
- Annual programs you can renew or cancel. No pressure contract.
- A small, family-owned company. You talk to people who actually work on the property.
Ready to Get Your Trees and Shrubs Healthy Again?
If the crabapples scab every June, the arborvitae browned last winter, or the beds are losing the weed fight, the next useful step is an inspection — not another guess from the garden center aisle.
Call On Target Tree & Shrub Care at 224-671-9377 to schedule a property walk-through in Palatine or the surrounding northwest suburbs. We will tell you what your plants need this season, what can wait, and how to keep them doing the work they were planted to do.