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 often, understanding this angle can help you determine what your facility might need to achieve a better view and appeal.
Indeed, making the appropriate adjustments can significantly elevate the perceived value of your facility, enhance its reputation, and draw in more visitors. Aspects such as your entryways, parking lots, and landscaped areas can influence how potential customers, employees, visitors, or guests view it, either positively or negatively.
A focus on curb appeal landscaping can give your commercial site just what it needs to increase your local visibility and business.
Let’s discuss landscape design and commercial landscape enhancements in the Greater Chicago area, and explore how you can enhance the aesthetics of your site for the better.
The Best Ideas for Curb Appeal Landscaping
A Greater Chicago commercial property’s appearance 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 provide this value and enhance the first impression of your business. Try these commercial landscaping ideas to get the most out of your grounds management budget.
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.
However, freshening up your mulch beds annually can also significantly improve your property’s appearance. Breaking up existing mulch and adding fresh mulch applications can enliven the entire visual appeal of your commercial property.
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 unique selling point, or 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 winter fades away. Then, summer blooms engage visitors with incredibly eye-popping additions that stand out in the sunshine.
Fall displays feature rich hues and unique elements, such as 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 to create striking displays despite the frigid temperatures.
The key to doing seasonal color right is your color placement. Focus your efforts on obvious areas, such as entrances, near signage, and around outdoor seating spots, where the addition of hues will be visible.
Each season, refresh your annuals to match changing climate conditions for vibrant blooms and a continually fresh appearance, especially during holidays.
Trust your commercial landscape professional to choose the right flowers for your displays, and you can also provide some color direction that matches your logo or color preferences, ensuring consistency if that suits your brand.
Consider High-Appeal Hardscaping Additions
Hardscapes are landscaping focal point ideas that can elevate your commercial property's curb appeal.
Indeed, softscapes, including trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses, perennials, and annuals, offer a rich palette of color and texture. Still, 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 draw the eye. Landscaping lighting that targets all of these areas not only highlights special and commonly used areas but also enhances 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 obvious areas and focus on improvements that can make the most significant immediate impact for your business.
Tree Pruning and Shrub Trimming
Trees and shrubs enhance the value of 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 not something that will draw people into your site.
Proper pruning is the most effective way to remove 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 on your commercial property.
Choosing native species means selecting options that ensure long-lasting curb appeal, as they are best suited to the local climate and its extreme conditions.
Native trees and plants add interest, texture, and variety to a commercial space, whether that space requires a focal point with height or plants with long bloom times for added color.
Native plants also attract pollinators, such as 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, which can lead to thriving plants and water savings.
Turn your passion for conserving and utilizing 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 provide another outdoor space for people to enjoy.
All of these sustainable commercial landscaping ideas bring functionality, value, and more enjoyable environments for those who frequent your site.
Design Commercial Landscaping for Curb Appeal With KD Landscape
To enhance the curb appeal of your commercial facility's landscaping, consider professional commercial landscape design. Utilizing the skill sets of experts in the field in Greater Chicago can help you optimize the function and enhance 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 for a while.
Professional, curb-appeal landscaping can also give people a chance to engage more with your business, whether that’s by directing traffic, 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.
