What You Need to Know
As an owner of a commercial property, you know the simple truth that people like to work in nice environments. In providing an enjoyable workplace for your tenants, including the commercial landscaping surrounding your building, you reap four major benefits:
- It creates a positive image—not only to your tenants but also to their customers.
- Beautifully maintained grounds help retain and extend your current tenants.
- It enhances your overall property value.
- It protects the investment you’ve already made in the property. As the owner or manager, you know that the appearance and safety of your property has a direct effect on your bottom line.
Before you start with any landscaping maintenance company, do a thorough property review process and assess the current state of the landscape: irrigation system, plant problems, turf care, design issues, renovation needs. The best landscape firms will work with you to provide a comprehensive, long-term perspective that will fit your budget. This planning approach at the beginning of the relationship helps you with future goals and cost controls—and will hopefully prevent you from having to break in another landscaping company at some later date.
Commercial Landscaping: Services
1) Landscape design and installation: In the design phase, look for someone who will work diligently and knowledgably to help you define the scope of your project, determine the scheduling, assist in the selection of materials, coordinate vendors, and develop a final budget.
2) Drainage installation: A landscape drainage system should be viewed as a whole to ensure that its appropriate functions and fixtures work together properly to combat this area’s heavy soils, low-lying areas and unpredictable weather.
3) Turf maintenance: This task includes edging, feeding and treating—all the activities that promote healthy growth—as well as timely and thorough clean-up.
4) Trimming ground covers and hedges: A regular and rigorous program keeps the property looking tidy and promotes healthy plants.
5) Fertilizations, herbicide and insecticide treatments: Commercial landscape maintenance providers should have a methodical treatment program that insures the health of all plants on the grounds.
6) Irrigation inspection: Regularly scheduled inspections of the irrigation system are very important for commercial properties. Identifying and fixing broken heads and pipes can run into savings of as much as $5,000 to $10,000 per month.
7) Landscape lighting: Landscape lighting is often thought of as an aesthetic bonus, but that is hardly all it does for commercial properties. It provides safety to your tenants, especially important to those businesses that are open during the night. It is a big deterrent for crime. And it is a marketing tool, keeping your property visible around the clock.
8) Seasonal planting: This aspect of commercial landscaping is a big part of presenting a positive image for any commercial property, creating interest, texture and color.
