When considering commercial landscaping for your business, whether you operate a retail center, industrial facility, HOA, warehouse, healthcare facility, school, or office park, several key factors should be taken into account.
You want to make a good first impression on visitors to your site, whether it’s for the first time or a repeat visit. You want your landscape to look good, giving people a positive feeling that amplifies your business reputation.
You also need to stay within a budget, keeping maintenance costs in check, so your commercial landscape appears effortless, tidy, and professional.
When choosing plants for your commercial site, it can be overwhelming. There are so many options available. How can you possibly know what will work best for your specific location and conditions?
This is what makes native plants an excellent choice for commercial properties. These plants can be more tolerant of drought and stress. And being from the local region they grow in, native plants can thrive best in the conditions of that region.
Additionally, you can find native plants, trees, groundcovers, ornamental grasses, and shrubs, offering plenty of options. These choices can also benefit the environment.
Let’s talk about some options for plants native to Chicago that you can try in your commercial landscape.
All About Chicago Native Plants
As you try to figure out how to beautify your Chicago commercial property, you might be wondering what native plants are and how they can fit into your design vision.
By definition, native plants of Illinois are those that occur naturally in a particular area or ecosystem.
As you search for native plants, you might also hear the term “naturalized plants.” Don’t be confused: a naturalized plant is not technically native, but it reseeds itself and spreads, attracting pollinators as if it were native. So you are looking for native vs. naturalized plants.
In fact, in Chicago, we tend to use plants called nativars, which are plants developed from other native species. These plants are unique because they offer all the benefits of traditional native plants, allowing them to fit into trendy commercial landscape designs with brighter colors, enhanced foliage, or even a more compact size, if needed.
Now that you know what a native plant is, understanding why they are beneficial can be helpful as you make your decision to choose these types of plants.
Native plants are a great addition to your site because they support the local ecosystem. This means the plants will attract pollinators, such as beneficial insects, birds, and butterflies. This helps the local environment, meaning your business is contributing to sustainability.
Native plants also better tolerate regional weather extremes, keeping the plants healthier for longer and avoiding unnecessary replacement expenses.
In addition to these benefits, native plants typically require less care and maintenance. They also require fewer inputs, such as water and fertilizer, to maintain their health and strength. This means your overall maintenance costs can be lower.
In a well-designed landscape, you shouldn’t be able to tell what’s native or non-native. A design can be just as grand and artfully arranged with native plants. Of course, just like any plant, you must plant native varieties in the right locations, taking into account sun and water conditions.
The Top 5 Plants Native To Chicago
Now that you know the benefits of native plants, you might be asking yourself, “Which plants are native to Illinois?”
Let’s examine some of the plants that thrive in Greater Chicago commercial landscapes and highlight their characteristics, providing options for new additions to your facility.
1. Oak Trees
Not only are oak trees on the Illinois native plants list, but the white oak is the state tree of Illinois, and you can find it in every county in the state.
White oaks can grow to a height of 60 to 70 feet. However, there are roughly 20 species of oak trees native to Illinois, so the heights will vary slightly between the red oak, white oak, and swamp white oak.
In terms of care, oaks are fairly drought tolerant, and with proper mulching, fertilization, and pruning, they can thrive, providing vital wildlife habitats and acorns as food for more than 100 species of wildlife.
2. Wild Black Cherry Tree
This Chicago native plant is a showstopper, featuring showy, white flowers that appear in clusters in early spring, adding a touch of pizzazz to your commercial property.
Then in late summer, dark, pea-sized fruits appear. The tree’s bark is dark with scales and has attractive edges.
This tree can reach a height of 50 to 60 feet with a width of 20 to 30 feet. Plant it in full to partial sun.
3. River Birch
This fast-growing native plant of Illinois boasts attractive reddish-brown bark that peels to reveal a lighter color beneath, adding significant interest to your commercial site.
The foliage on this tree is dark green, and it turns a soft yellow in fall.
It’s also a great medium-sized tree for smaller spots, reaching 25 to 40 feet in height with a 20- to 30-foot width.
For optimal growth, this tree requires full sun and moist, well-drained soil.
4. Chokeberry
Red and black chokeberries – both native plants of Illinois – prefer full sun to partial shade and can tolerate wet and dry areas of your commercial facility.
When choosing between these two types of chokeberries, consider their distinct features. Black chokeberry has pretty white flowers in spring, followed by edible fruit.
Some great varieties of black chokeberries are Aronia ‘Iroquois Beauty’ and Aronia melanocarpa ‘UCONNAM165.’ Red chokeberry, on the other hand, grows 6 to 10 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide, with clusters of small, white flowers in mid-spring, followed by small, round, bright red fruit in late summer and fall.
5. Bush Honeysuckle
This Chicago native plant has dense, dark green foliage that turns yellow-orange and then reddish-purple in autumn – great, showy colors for highly visible areas of your site.
Ensure you plant this one in full-sun locations to maximize its color.
As a small, mound-shaped shrub, bush honeysuckle makes a great choice for shrub borders. Yellow, honeysuckle-shaped flowers turn red as they mature, attracting butterflies and other pollinators throughout the growing season.
Looking to Add Chicago Native Plants to Your Commercial Facility? Ask KD Landscape For Help
Illinois is certainly home to some great native plants that you can incorporate into your commercial property landscape design.
And since native plants are so well-adapted to the local climate, temperatures, sun exposure, and soil, they can be highly drought-tolerant and develop deeper, stronger roots. This results in stronger plants and trees in the long run, which require less water and inputs, and can ultimately save you money. Additionally, they appear attractive and professional, drawing in butterflies and birds to the scene as well.
Reading to explore adding native plants of Illinois to your commercial site in Chicago? Perhaps you have some ideas, but you’re unsure where to start. Let KD Landscape help. We can leverage our years of commercial property experience, working with a wide range of plants, to bring something truly special and unique to your space, enhancing your brand.
Ready to see how KD Landscape can transform your Chicago commercial facility with native plants? 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.
Image Sources | White Oak, Wild Black Cherry, River Birch, Red Chokeberry, Bush Honeysuckle
