Landscaping involves adding plants, changing the terrain, constructing structures and managing the existing garden. This includes maintenance tasks like mowing the lawn, uprooting weeds and pruning shrubs. Color is an important element of the landscape design. It creates a mood and accentuates a theme. For example, warm colors convey excitement while cool colors create calmness.
Attract Customers and Tenants
The old adage “first impressions are everything” is as true for businesses as it is for people. When potential customers and tenants drive up to your shopping center, office building, or strip mall, the landscaping is often the first thing they notice. Whether your commercial property’s Palm Beach Landscaping is lush and vibrant or barren and drab, it sends a message about your business’s professionalism and care.
Well-manicured lawns, seasonal color displays, and thoughtfully placed greenery will give your property a manicured look that signals that your business is upheld to high standards and that you pay attention to details. These are qualities that consumers and tenants appreciate in a business, so they will be more likely to patronize your company.
Commercial properties with beautiful landscapes are more appealing to tenants than those without, and this is particularly true when it comes to leasing retail space. Tenants are willing to pay higher rents for spaces in buildings and shopping centers that are attractive, as they perceive these locations to be more desirable and well-managed.
Attractive landscaping will also increase the appeal of your company’s brand, as it can serve as a silent marketing tool that promotes and highlights your business. Many companies use their commercial landscapes to feature logos and images in advertisements, which reinforces their brand image and generates consumer interest in their products or services.
Landscaping can also benefit the environment by protecting the surrounding area from erosion and reducing runoff. Plants and grass hold soil together with their roots, decreasing the amount of dirt that washes into rivers or streams. This can prevent clogging in waterways and improve the quality of drinking water for the local community.
In addition, landscaping can boost morale and productivity by providing an attractive outdoor space for employees or tenants to relax and unwind. Studies have shown that being outdoors in nature is a natural stress reliever, so this is an effective way to keep your employees or tenants happy and engaged at work. Incorporate landscape features such as patios, seating areas, gardens, or even a professional community garden to encourage social interaction and teamwork among your employees or tenants, which in turn can improve their job satisfaction and productivity.
Increase Property Value
Landscaping adds both immediate curb appeal and long-term value to a home or business. This makes it an attractive investment for those looking to sell, especially in a hot real estate market. However, determining whether or not landscaping upgrades will yield a return is often difficult. Factors including cost, labor fees, maintenance requirements, and zoning regulations influence how landscaping affects property values. With a bit of research, homeowners can better understand how to invest in landscaping that will increase property value.
The first impression a potential buyer has of your property is the landscaping. If your lawn is well-maintained and features colorful flowers, you are creating a welcoming first impression that will encourage them to take a closer look. Other landscaping improvements that will boost your property value include a well-designed patio or deck, water features like ponds and fountains, and outdoor lighting systems.
Studies show that well-maintained landscapes improve the quality of life for city residents. Having access to green spaces can lower blood pressure, improve attention and memory, and reduce stress levels. In addition, landscaping can help reduce a city’s carbon footprint by providing shade and acting as wind breaks.
If you are thinking of selling your home in the future, a professionally designed and maintained yard can increase its resale value by up to 14%. Even small changes can make a big difference, such as trimming shrubs and weeds, edging the yard, adding new mulch, and discarding unused plants or materials.
The addition of trees can provide privacy and make your home more appealing to prospective buyers, while a well-designed retaining wall or fence can add visual interest and value. Water-saving features such as xeriscaping can also be beneficial to your property, as they will reduce water bills and conserve water in drought-like conditions.
A well-designed landscape is an effective way to improve your property’s resale value and curb appeal. It will also increase the functionality of your property, making it more livable and enjoyable for you and your family. Landscaping can also benefit the environment by reducing soil degradation and atmospheric carbon effects, as well as by attracting bees and birds.
Create a Sense of Community
A healthy and vibrant community is built on strong connections among residents. Landscaping can play an important role in fostering these connections. Thoughtfully designed landscaping can create a sense of place in a development by incorporating local materials and plants or by referencing the area’s history and culture. When a community feels connected to its surroundings, it can develop a stronger sense of pride and ownership of public spaces, which are essential for fostering the connections that make communities thrive.
The landscape design of a community can help promote sustainability by reducing energy costs, air pollution and water runoff. For example, the planting of trees and other plants can provide shade to reduce solar heat gain in buildings, lowering heating and cooling bills. In addition, proper maintenance of the landscaping can prevent soil erosion and nutrient runoff that can harm the environment.
Moreover, landscape features like benches and walking paths encourage community interaction and can help people connect with nature. These benefits can be further enhanced by integrating landscape elements like ponds, streams and lakes. However, these water bodies require a lot of care to keep them in balance with the surrounding ecosystem. In addition, they need to be regularly aerated to prevent algae and other infestations that can harm wildlife. Landscape architects can help by designing a water management plan for the community to ensure that these natural resources are preserved and kept in good condition.
In urban and suburban communities, landscape design is a critical component for fostering a sense of place. Landscape designers can improve the aesthetics of a community by designing aesthetically pleasing entranceways and by framing vistas with a combination of hardscape (decking, concrete and paving) and softscape (trees, shrubs, flowers and lawn). The key is to integrate views throughout the landscape so that people are constantly reminded of the beauty of the natural setting and feel connected to the community they live in. By highlighting these landscape elements, residents can be encouraged to visit and enjoy their community more often. Then, they will be more likely to invest in the community and become involved in making it better.
Increase Productivity
A well-maintained landscape offers more than aesthetic appeal. It increases the property value, attracts tenants and customers, and improves employee productivity.
Many studies have shown that a connection to nature is good for people, helping them relax and focus on the task at hand. This is called biophilic design, and it’s becoming increasingly popular in corporate offices and other workplaces that want to boost employee happiness and engagement.
Landscaping is an excellent way to incorporate biophilic elements, especially if it’s easily accessible by employees. That’s why commercial landscapes should have walking trails, open spaces, and plants that provide shade and privacy. Those types of landscaping features can help employees disconnect from their work and relax during their breaks. They can also serve as meeting areas, promoting teamwork and bonding.
Adding trees and shrubs to your landscaping can also reduce energy costs. By blocking out wind and sunlight, they can lower the temperatures inside a building in the summer and keep it warmer in the winter. They can also cut down on noise pollution by blocking out street and highway traffic. Additionally, they can help reduce glare from the sun or headlights on vehicles.
In addition to the environmental benefits of landscaping, it also improves worker morale. A study by the University of Oregon found that people who lived near parks and green spaces reported lower stress levels, less depression, and lower healthcare costs compared to those who didn’t live near such areas.
Another benefit of landscaping is that it can reduce crime. A study in California found that neighborhoods with landscaped yards had fewer burglaries than those without any landscaping. Landscaped areas are also attractive to visitors, making them a less likely target for graffiti artists. Lastly, commercial landscaping can increase tourism revenues by increasing the number of guests to your business. For example, the tropical landscaping at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville has resulted in a higher occupancy rate for its rooms and an overall increase in tourism revenue for the city.
As a business owner, you can incentivize your landscapers by offering monetary and non-monetary rewards to motivate them and retain them. You can also create a clear career path for them to advance to full-time supervisors and designers so they can stay engaged in the company and be more productive.
