Does your Greater Chicago commercial facility and grounds have curb appeal?
You might not know if it has the kind of curb appeal that can drive business growth and attract more people to your site.
In terms of understanding the basics of curb appeal, let’s start with a definition. Curb appeal, in general, is the overall attractiveness of your commercial property from the sidewalk or street view.
You might think curb appeal is something that only homeowners look for as they are seeking a new abode to purchase, but your commercial property can greatly benefit from a curb appeal boost, too.
Since you likely don’t look at your property from the street that often, understanding this angle can help you figure out what your facility might need to give it that better view and appeal.
In fact, the right adjustments can dramatically boost the perceived value of your facility, its reputation, and draw more people in. Everything from your entryways to your parking lots to your landscaped areas can positively or negatively impact a potential customer, employee, visitor, or guest.
A focus on curb appeal landscaping can give your commercial site just what it needs to increase your local visibility and business.
Let’s talk about landscape design and commercial landscape enhancements in Greater Chicago and how you can boost the aesthetics of your site for the better.
The Best Ideas for Curb Appeal Landscaping
A Greater Chicago commercial property’s appearance actually plays a bigger role than you think in its overall value. An improved and attractive landscape can better welcome visitors and make your business look more professional.
When your commercial property looks good, shoppers are more likely to buy, tenants are more likely to rent, employees are more productive, and your office park stays full and thriving.
On the contrary, when your property is not well-maintained, it reflects negatively on your business and vacancies become more prevalent while sales decrease.
Strategic landscaping can even reduce energy costs, improve drainage and save money.
Commercial landscape enhancements can give you this value and elevate that first impression of your business. Try these commercial landscaping ideas to get the biggest grounds management bang for your buck.
Freshen Up Mulch Beds
Mulch does so much for the trees, shrubs, and plants in your commercial landscape beds. It cools the soil, helping it retain moisture and an even temperature, and it even adds nutrients to the soil as it breaks down, improving the environment for plants.
But freshening up your mulch beds annually can also do a lot for your property’s appearance. Breaking up existing mulch, as well as adding fresh mulch applications, can enliven your entire commercial property’s visual appeal.
Mulching is indeed a curb appeal landscaping trick that offers a nearly instant makeover on your facility.
Add Seasonal Color Boosts
Every commercial property needs a wow factor. That’s why landscaping for curb appeal must include landscape color.
Adding annual flower rotations keeps your property intriguing and inviting. You want to start with spring bulbs, so your property is one of the first to showcase bits of color as the winter fades away. Then summer blooms engage visitors with incredibly eye-popping additions that pop in the sunshine.
Fall displays bring rich hues and unique elements like ornamental kale and peppers that add intrigue and depth. And never forget winter – holly berries, red-twig dogwood branches, eucalyptus, and evergreen branches can all merge together to create striking displays despite the frigid temperatures.
The key to doing seasonal color right is your color placement. Focus your efforts on highly visible areas like entrances, near signage, and around outdoor seating spots when the addition of hues will be seen.
Then shake things up each season by changing your annuals to suit the new climate conditions for beautiful blooms and a continued fresh look, particularly during holidays.
Trust your commercial landscape professional to choose the right flowers for your displays, and you can provide some color direction that matches your logo or color preferences, too, for consistency, if that suits your brand.
Consider High-Appeal Hardscaping Additions
Hardscapes are landscaping focal point ideas that can elevate your commercial property curb appeal.
Sure, softscapes like trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses, perennials, and annuals offer color and texture, but water features, landscape lighting and natural stone walkways or patios can elevate your site to a new level.
The best areas to focus these additions are in high-touch spots. Adding an elegant or relevant fountain sculpture to a courtyard, for instance, creates drama and a meeting or resting spot for visitors. Urns can elegantly mark entryways.
Well-planned planting beds installed around signage draws the eye. Landscaping lighting targeting all of these areas not only highlights special and commonly used areas, but also boosts safety on your site.
The hardscaping ideas you can incorporate on your commercial site in Greater Chicago are endless. Having a conversation with your commercial landscape professional can ensure you target your dollars in those highly visible areas and focus on improvements that can make the greatest immediate impact for your business.
Tree Pruning and Shrub Trimming
Trees and shrubs add value to any commercial property. But dying shrubs with brown leaves, trees with diseased and broken branches, and dead or withering plants can make your whole commercial property look worn out and neglected. This is definitely not something that will draw people into your site.
Proper pruning is the best way to eliminate dead, dying, or decaying branches. This curb appeal landscaping task polishes and refines the overall look of your commercial facility.
It can also provide airflow through a tree’s or shrub’s structure, boosting its healthy growth. And, most importantly, correctly trimming plants on a regular schedule increases safety on a commercial property by eliminating the chance of falling branches.
Plant Native Species
The installation of eye-catching plants can make an immediate visual impact to your commercial property.
Choosing native species means you are choosing options that ensure long-lasting curb appeal because they are best suited for the local climate and its extreme conditions.
Native trees and plants add interest, texture, and variety to a commercial space – whether that space needs a focal point with some height or plants with long bloom times for some additional color.
Native plants also attract pollinators like birds, bees, and butterflies; are more resistant to pests and diseases; and are easier to grow and maintain than other non-native plant species.
Try Sustainable, Water-Saving Ideas For Curb Appeal Landscaping
You can also make a visual statement on your commercial site by investing in proper irrigation and drainage to experience thriving plants and water savings.
Turn your passion for conserving and using water on your site into a visually appealing project by creating detention or retention ponds that help manage stormwater on your site or add a green roof to your facility to cool your building and add another place for people to enjoy the outdoors.
All of these sustainable commercial landscaping ideas bring functionality, value, and more enjoyable environments for those you frequent your site.
Design Commercial Landscaping for Curb Appeal With KD Landscape
To enhance curb appeal landscaping on your commercial facility, opt for professional commercial landscape design. Using the skillsets of experts in the field in Greater Chicago can help you optimize function as well as beautify the overall look of your site.
Let’s face it: Your business and your building represent your brand, and your commercial landscape can reflect this, giving visitors a glimpse into what your business is all about – whether that’s professional, innovative, modern, or forward-thinking.
Plants do this simply by the right combination and placement of color and texture. A modern office park, for instance, may have geometric plant shapes and straight, clean hardscapes. For a more engaging environment, lush plants with full blooms and cozy seating areas can draw people in to stay awhile.
Professional, curb appeal landscaping can also give people a chance to engage more with your business – whether that’s by directing traffic by showing them the way, attracting customers, accentuating building architecture, or conserving energy and water use.
Interested in learning more? Let KD Landscape help. We’d love to learn more about your Greater Chicago commercial business and give you some enhancement ideas that can instantly elevate your curb appeal.
Ready to see how KD Landscape can transform your Chicago commercial facility with ideas for curb appeal landscaping? We’d love to share our professional expertise with you. Get started today with a free consultation. Together, we can help you elevate your business image and reputation in the local community.
