7 Old Landscape Design Trends to Avoid (& The Best Ways to Update Them)

Do you feel like your Greater Chicago commercial landscape is a little stale? Maybe it’s time for an update.

You can’t deny your landscape can add significant value to your commercial business in so many ways. Attracting new customers and amplifying your community's reputation and presence are two of them.

Creating stunning, inviting commercial landscapes is the best way to get these perks. Having modern, eye-catching landscaping can impress anyone who comes to your facility.

Perhaps you have owned or managed your commercial property for years or maybe you’re new to the property. In either case, it may need some sprucing up.

Let’s talk about outdated landscaping for commercial buildings so you can get the makeover you need to elevate your site.

Why Landscape Design Trends Are Important to Follow for Commercial Property Managers

You might think your commercial landscape is all about showing off your preference for various perennials and annuals in your landscape.

That’s not the case at all. Commercial landscaping, which includes those colorful blooms, as well as trees, shrubs, hardscapes, and other outdoor amenities, is one of the most significant contributors to your curb appeal.

As potential customers, employees, tenants and visitors come to your commercial property, your landscaping will communicate your care for your property and everyone who ventures into it. It shows you want them to have a good experience on your site – one that is safe and guides them from place to place with ease.

Landscape design trends for 2024 speak beyond the flowers, showcasing your dedication to your facility’s needs and impact on the local community.

7 Landscape Design Trends On the Way Out and What to Do Instead for Commercial Buildings

There’s no better way to polish up your commercial site than with fresh landscape design ideas for commercial buildings.

Here are some trends on the way out and our project recommendations for commercial property facility managers looking to spruce up their exteriors.

1. Neglecting to Replace Or Fix Outdated Landscaping

No landscape can stay perfectly planted and arranged forever. The reason trees, shrubs, perennials, and annuals add beauty to your commercial property is that they grow, change and adapt. They emerge in spring and blossom with bright colors, and then transition in fall to deeper, richer hues.

But they also grow. Without some TLC, plants can lose vigor or just become overgrown and messy.

That’s where pulling up or replacing old, dead, or sparse plants becomes a key landscape design trend. After a time, inspecting current beds and removing landscaping that’s seen much better days can help you figure out what you have to work with and where you have holes and need some updated plants.

2. Not Having a Plan

By piecemealing your outdated landscaping, you could be addressing a problem only temporarily. This doesn’t necessarily contribute to a bigger goal or vision.

Hiring a professional commercial landscape firm to assist you with planning out your commercial landscape design and strategy can make this process simpler for you. A company with creative ideas can add a bit more color and texture to your landscape or enhance your signage in ways you may not have considered.

They can also help you choose the best trees, shrubs, and flowers for your area and site conditions, as well as address problems like drainage and erosion, without breaking your budget. Budgeting out for multiple seasons can make it easier on you while still working to achieve your overall goals.

A plan can also help larger commercial facilities create a plant palette to use as a guide so the look across the property is consistent no matter how many times the landscape changes.

3. Ignoring Focal Points

Depending on the type of commercial property you manage, you may want to draw more attention to different areas.

For example, a retail center may want more color and vibrancy near signage areas and around ground-floor shops. A hotel may want to draw focus and attention to its lobby areas, as well as outdoor tables or pools. Ignoring these areas is a big landscaping trend that is on the way out.

The best landscaping for commercial buildings can guide people in the right direction and draw their eyes to specific areas of your property.

Your goal is to focus on areas that can make maximum impact. Places that are used most frequently, such as driveways, signage, walkways, and entrances, tend to be the most vital ones.

4. Forgetting About Your Commercial Building’s Community Impact

It is important to think about how landscape improvements will affect the people who visit the property.  Will it make their life easier? Will it provide a safer environment?

Commercial landscapes and people interact in many different ways so it’s important to design and plant with people in mind. How will different areas look from different perspectives? What will people see when they first drive into the parking lot, walk on the sidewalk, and look out windows?

Landscape design trends for 2024 put the people experiencing your commercial property first.

5. Lack of Seasonal Color

Flowers aren’t just for one season as part of your commercial landscape. You can have seasonal color all year long, changing things up as the weather changes in Greater Chicago.

You can have the first color in spring with bulbs like tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, pansies, and violas. In the fall, flowers like mums, kale, ornamental cabbage, ornamental peppers, purple fountain grass, and sweet potato vines can add texture and impact to your containers.

Seasonal color is a great addition for entryways to draw the eyes in, as well as around signage to boost brand recognition. Areas where people hang out – outdoor break and lunch spots, common walkways, etc. – can also get a dose of some vibrant color to keep the area interesting and engaging. You can update outdated landscaping easily with seasonal color.

6. Lack of Hardscaping

Hardscaping, which includes all nonliving elements in the landscape like patios, pergolas, walkways, benches, bricks, stones, rocks, boulders, gravel, wood, and lighting, can also be a key component of landscape design ideas for commercial landscapes.

Paver patios and walkways can complement other areas of your property while providing key spots for function, direction, and guidance. Hardscapes like retaining walls can control erosion and create tidy landscape beds while also looking aesthetically pleasing.

7. Neglecting Commercial Landscape Maintenance

You don’t want to waste budget dollars and effort updating outdated landscaping if you’re not going to take care of it. In fact, the most important element in your commercial landscape is to keep your property looking top-notch at all times.

Weekly maintenance is important year-round, whether pruning overgrown plants, clearing out dead plants, or cleaning walkways.

Another key point of maintenance is to choose plants that fit into your environment and its conditions. Plants that can’t adapt easily to their surroundings will cost a lot more in the long run to maintain or replace.

Get a Commercial Landscape Design Trend Boost with KD Landscape

Renovating your outdated commercial landscaping is an effort that is well worth it, considering what it does for your business.

It can help visitors more easily find your facility. It can boost brand recognition and your reputation in your neighborhood or community. It can elevate the perception of your business. It can show everyone on your property that you care about your business.

While the benefits far outweigh the effort, updating your commercial landscape can also feel a bit overwhelming.  Even with the best intentions, you don’t want to do anything that might accidentally detract from your business. You want to focus on just the right amount of impact that can offer the best return on your investment.

Let KD Landscape help. We’d be happy to review your brand image, goals, and concerns, and come up with some great ways to incorporate some of these landscape design trends into your commercial property landscape, helping you meet your short- and long-term goals within your budget.

Want to learn more about how we can help you amplify your commercial landscape design and maintenance in Greater Chicago? Get started today with a landscape consultation. We’ll review your options together so you can feel confident and make a great choice.