Creating an aesthetically pleasing commercial landscape in Greater Chicago can greatly impact your business.
It can improve your image and reputation in the local community, create a more welcoming environment to help you draw in new tenants, customers, or guests, and even set your property up for competitive success in your market.
Part of a great commercial landscape design is creating areas for privacy.
Dense foliage layered correctly can reduce noise pollution from busy roads or nearby properties. Private areas create a more enjoyable environment where employees can relax during breaks or tenants can enjoy themselves when they aren’t in their homes.
Landscaping for privacy can encourage extended visits and increased spending at retail centers and boost positive first impressions with potential clients, tenants, or buyers. Trees and shrubs can even act as windbreaks, offering shade and cooling to make a commercial property function better than it did previously.
What kinds of commercial landscape design ideas contribute to this elevated privacy
Jump to Section
- Living Screens
- Layered or Tiered Planting Techniques
- Pergolas and Pavilions
- Trellises and Lattice Screens for Landscapes
- Consider Views From Inside and Outside the Property
- Combine Landscaping and Architectural Elements
- Staggered Plantings and Buffer Zones
- Balance Aesthetics and Function
- Rooftop Gardens and Terraces
- Custom Solutions
Let’s dive into the best ways to create privacy in commercial landscapes so you can benefit from some of these strategies to improve your property and reap the many benefits these commercial landscape design methods offer.
Best Landscaping Privacy Ideas for Commercial Properties
Your visitors or guests may have to live, work, or shop in a busy suburb or urban area of Greater Chicago, but that doesn’t mean they must be visible to everyone nearby the entire time.
Creating serene, private environments means eliminating sightly views, reducing noise, and enhancing one’s experience on your commercial landscape.
Embrace tranquility while boosting aesthetics and function with these clever strategies.
Living Screens
Living screens of evergreen and/or deciduous trees can bring beauty and privacy to your commercial landscape design. Hedges have been a hallmark of privacy landscaping for years.
Depending on your chosen tree or shrub species, you can even plant them to reach varying heights.
Some of the best trees for privacy and best shrubs for privacy we use in Greater Chicago for screening include:
Layered or Tiered Planting Techniques
With landscaping for privacy, you don’t want to just shut the world out; you want to create a sanctuary within.
You can do this by planting trees and shrubs in tiered layers. Each layer will have a role in the privacy setting, and it won’t feel forced or artificial since you’re using natural elements to build the privacy effect.
The basic idea is to start with a taller layer of trees or tall shrubs bordering a section of the property, outdoor eating area, or recreation space. Then, incorporate medium-sized shrubs in front of that. Finally, add dwarf plantings and perennials in the nearest layer.
This multi-tiered concept can bring varying colors and textures to the space, adding beauty and seclusion.
Pergolas and Pavilions
A wide-open area can have many benefits, but it’s not ideal for landscaping for privacy.
You can create intimate spaces with a pergola and surrounding plantings that form a nook in your commercial landscape. The open pergola frame permits light and wind to pass through, making the space breezy, bright and cozy.
Pergolas also enable privacy and great views. Filling the sides and top with vines can also bring serenity in the form of floral color and a nice scent. Retractable shades can ensure year-round usability. For high-end properties, private cabanas can give visitors nooks for seclusion.
A pavilion is another way to create a private area, but it’s more of an outdoor room with a ceiling to protect people from rain and open walls to let in sunshine and views.
You can block unsightly or noisy areas with plantings on one side. There are lots of options that come with using these structures.
Trellises and Lattice Screens for Landscapes
When space on your commercial property is limited, using a tall trellis or lattice screen for the landscape can help create privacy.
Adding plantings, like flowering vines, to these light hardscape elements creates a more natural feel that can be softer than a solid wall or fence.
This creates a green wall effect, which might be great for an outdoor seating.
Consider Views from Inside and Outside the Property
When focusing on commercial landscaping for privacy, you want to balance privacy and openness. No one wants to feel claustrophobic.
Since your commercial property must create some seclusion while drawing people in, it’s important to consider the sight lines from inside and outside the property. This ensures a great look from all angles.
For instance, tall, ornamental grasses can create a living wall that adds privacy but also creates movement from both sides. Adding a layer like a trellis can allow filtered light and airflow while maintaining privacy.
Combine Landscaping and Architectural Elements
You don’t have to opt for just hardscape or plantings to create a great privacy screen in commercial landscape design. Sometimes, it takes a combination of elements to create secure environments that ensure privacy and maintain a connection to the surroundings.
For instance, raised planters or sunken courtyards can help shield spaces better than imposing walls.
An outdoor fireplace with a hearth and chimney, in addition to an expansive stone wall, can define a space, adding the warmth and light a fire feature brings.
Add some strategic plantings around it to soften the edges, and the space becomes more intimate and less imposing.
Staggered Plantings and Planting Buffer Zones
A straight row of evergreen trees can certainly create planting buffer zones.
But this can be uninspired. Instead, you can stagger the row and even add mixed heights and textures to create more depth and visual appeal. For instance, arborvitae can bring that year-round screen, while native trees in Illinois that have berries or flowers can add seasonal interest that also attracts birds, elevating the overall space.
This strategy can create seclusion without making the spot look like a fortress. Staggering plants can also ensure strategic air circulation gaps while maintaining seclusion.
Balance Aesthetics and Function
Your commercial property may be located in a busy or noisy area. But as you create some privacy, you must also have a site for visitors, tenants, shoppers, employees, or guests.
This means considering and incorporating all your needs into one cohesive commercial landscape design. For example, in addition to visual screening, noise-reduction techniques like dense hedges or water features can mask unwanted sound and create a more peaceful and private atmosphere.
Vince Sammartano, business development, KD Landscape, explains, “Signature courtyards can captivate guests while offering areas that serve a useful and aesthetic purpose.”
Rooftop Gardens or Terraces
Install vibrant rooftop gardens to offer breathtaking views and quiet spaces for reflection or private events.
This takes landscaping for privacy to a new level — literally. It also “maximizes your space, ensuring you can use underused areas,” Sammartano explains.
Custom Solutions
When you want landscaping for privacy in your commercial landscape in Greater Chicago, a long, boring solid fence doesn’t have to be your only solution.
KD Landscape can create many custom ideas in Greater Chicago based on your needs and unique commercial space challenges.
We can create anything you can dream up. Maybe you’re picturing a rock wall with plants growing between the layers or a privacy area that uses multiple ideas to create a secret garden effect.
“We can tailor landscaping and custom features to align with your property’s unique style and personality,” Sammartano says.
Ready to Elevate Your Commercial Facility With Landscaping for Privacy?
You can have an elevated and functional commercial property in Greater Chicago and a beautiful space that offers visitors, tenants, employees, and guests the privacy they crave.
KD Landscape can help. We prioritize function while planning for year-round interest to design inviting outdoor spaces—whether shaded seating areas or flexible-use plazas. The goal is to consider future growth, improve efficiency, and use the elements of horticulture and our commercial landscape design experience to elevate your space.
“We meet with you to understand your vision, priorities, and challenges,” Sammartano says. “We collaborate with community stakeholders to refine the design. We balance aesthetics and functionality. We incorporate native plants and trees to create a sustainable, low-maintenance landscape. We conduct thorough inspections to ensure all installations meet design specifications and safety standards. And throughout the process, we communicate progress updates, fostering trust and enthusiasm.”
The result is an inviting and intimate privacy and noise buffer that boosts commercial property use and community value.
Ready to see how KD Landscape can transform your commercial property in Greater Chicago with more privacy areas? We’d love to share our expertise in commercial landscape design with you. Get started today with an on-site consultation. Together, we can prepare a plan that brings you the relaxation you’re after.
