Appropriate Budgets & Timelines for Large Commercial Landscape Installations

You want your Greater Chicago commercial property to look good. What property manager doesn’t?

But how much of your budget should you put toward large landscape projects for your commercial property? And how long should these projects take? What kind of planning and time is necessary? Commercial landscape costs can differ greatly, as well as project timelines, so you want to be prepared.

And this isn't the place to skimp or to go in unprepared. The appearance of your property tells your customers a lot about the quality of service you provide inside through your operation.

Let’s talk about commercial landscape project timelines and commercial landscape project budgets so you can get a better understanding of how to proceed on your Greater Chicago commercial site.

Understanding the Importance of Commercial Landscape Design in Greater Chicago

First impressions are important for commercial businesses.

Think about it this way: if your lawn is full of brown spots or weeds, you can give your business a nasty reputation. On the contrary, a healthy, green lawn that is trimmed and bordered with beds of bold and beautiful blooms shows you care about your property and your customers.

While you may be concerned about your interior – your retail center store shelves, your hotel rooms, your medical procedure rooms, your offices, etc. – if the front entryway is neglected and flowers dying or overgrown with weeds, your clients won’t trust that your interior is properly cleaned and maintained.

Attracting potential visitors, customers, tenants, and guests requires professional commercial landscape design in Greater Chicago. Appearance can elevate your local perception and reputation - and even your property value.

Planning Considerations For Large Landscaping Projects

When you want to renovate or add a key functional and beautiful area to your Greater Chicago area commercial property, you want to jump right in. But planning is essential.

You want to account for all of the necessary costs to help ensure you’re prepared for everything you need and really want to include in your space.

The planning phase is critical since this is when budgets are set, contracts are signed, and purchasing of materials and plants begins. Ensuring your landscape professional has all the correct and most up-to-date project data ensures the most comprehensive and accurate take-off of the project.

Here are some of the things you should consider when planning for your large landscaping project in Greater Chicago.

Planning and Budgeting Basics

For large landscaping projects, your commercial landscape professional should provide you with as much commercial landscape project budget predictability as possible.

A larger project will have pieces that cannot be anticipated and may come as a surprise, but your landscape professional should always provide expertise on the best ways to manage overages through efficiencies.

Workflow and time of season is always a factor when determining the start of any project work. Communicating what can be done versus what cannot is key. No one wants work done knowing it might have to be redone at a later point.

Handling Changes and Change Order Contract Clauses

Most large landscaping projects will have a change order process already in place.

Many projects have built-in overages or percentages to ensure added costs or requests that were not included in the original project scope.

A key piece to this is to ensure you conduct a thorough review of all the documentation to ensure verbiage is included for change orders.

What Factors Can Negatively Impact Project Timelines?

In the windy city, weather is the No. 1 factor that influences a commercial landscaping schedule.

Knowing the type of work and best time to perform the work ensures your landscape professional can meet timelines and expectations.

Your landscape provider should script the timelines and services they are providing with you and your team for clarity.

Communicating with project managers and principals, along with governmental agencies, will ensure your commercial landscape professional has a clear and transparent game plan to get the job done within the time constraints and your expectations.

Controllable and Uncontrollable Circumstances

Every large landscaping project is different, which is why communicating the expectations of each contractor involved is critical.

Clients should have a timeline or calendar of the expected completion of each vendor's work clearly spelled out prior to the commencement of work. Scheduling regular meetings helps keep all groups involved and up to speed on project progress.

A reputable contractor will also conduct a full safety assessment prior to commencing work.

Need Help With Commercial Landscape Construction In Greater Chicago? Call KD Landscape

As you look at your budget and your commercial landscape project timelines, you want to feel good about your choice, knowing your dollars are being spent wisely and that you know how the project will go and that your expectations are being met.

But you are swamped, and it might be hard for you to plan all this out and stay abreast of all the project updates and changes as well as keep the budget in check. You need a partner to help you stay informed and use your dollars wisely.

Let KD Landscape help. A knowledgeable service provider will give you options that can help you do the right things for your property within your budget and timeline.

We can help keep you abreast of the best options and any impacts so the expertise and outcome are positive and beneficial for your business.

Want to learn more about our commercial landscape services in Greater Chicago? Get started today with an on-site consultation. We’ll review your options together so you can feel confident and make a great choice.