While it’d be nice if all areas of a commercial property were ideally suited to landscaping, that’s not the case.
Slopes and shaded areas are two of the biggest trouble areas, and they can be particularly challenging when it comes to finding landscaping options for them.
Fortunately, landscaping difficult areas takes some innovation and forward thinking to tackle. The key is to work with a commercial landscape provider that is willing to problem-solve and create a custom solution for your individual needs.
In this article, we’ll talk about landscape ideas for challenging areas, including actual plans that have worked for our clients.
The best ideas for landscaping challenging areas are those that address the problem while also meeting your needs, wants, and budget.
Often, for a commercial property manager, you are looking for a cost-effective solution. You don’t want a solution that is going to create more maintenance needs or hassles and headaches.
For instance, installing plants on a slope, where they are going to deal with erosion and runoff constantly, might cause more problems than solutions.
Let’s talk about some of our common solutions for landscaping in shade and on slopes.
Sloped and shady areas are two of the more difficult spots on a commercial property to design a landscape.
Let’s discuss some potential solutions that we have implemented in both of these situations.
Slopes are challenging primarily due to issues with runoff and erosion. It can be difficult to establish plants on a slope, plus they pose unique challenges with mowing, depending upon how steep they are.
In some cases, unique solutions might be required for mowing, such as using a robotic mower. If this is going to be costly, property managers might be interested in alternatives to grass.
Here are some of the ways that we address landscaping on slopes.
A structural addition, like a retaining wall, is always an option to address a slope. A retaining wall typically involves regrading and then building a wall to prevent erosion. This may level off an area where planting is possible.
A structural solution will be a more expensive option, as it requires engineering and proper construction. However, it obviously won’t require ongoing care, such as softscaping. It’s a long-term solution that will address a slope.
Groundcover can be an inexpensive way to landscape a slope. Because groundcovers have dense, mat-forming root systems, they are able to hold in place and prevent erosion.
Groundcover gives you a chance to still have green areas on slopes, without constantly fighting challenges, like mowing.
Mowing on slopes can be incredibly difficult in some cases, and property managers might opt for an alternative to turf.
Sometimes, rock gardens can be used on slopes in place of plants.
Rocks can add visual interest with some weight that won’t wash away like plants might. Larger rocks can be used for stabilization with smaller rocks and maybe some groundcover or grasses filling in space. Native plants can also grow well in a rock garden.
All of these serve as alternative solutions to grass.
Obviously, the biggest challenge posed by shade is the lack of sunlight. All plants, including grass, require sunlight to grow. But some require more of it than others.
Here are a few solutions that we use for landscaping in shade.
One way that we can deal with shady spots that have large, mature trees is by extending the mulch rings around those trees.
Mulch rings already serve a valuable purpose of helping tree roots to remain insulated from soil temperature changes while also retaining water.
They also look great from an aesthetic point of view. A fresh coat of mulch helps a tree-heavy property to look neat and maintained.
But the problem-solving aspect of mulch rings is that they don’t require sunlight. They also obviously do not require mowing. In a shady spot, we might extend those mulch rings to reduce turf areas.
There are grass types that are adaptable to shady areas. But as we mentioned, even shade-suited grasses require some sunlight.
There is no type of grass that doesn't need at least some amount of sunlight to thrive. So, if you have a particularly heavily shaded area, even a shade-tolerant grass could struggle a bit. These areas might be thinner than the rest of your grass.
There are also shade-loving plants that might perform better than grass. You might want to consider plants in shade zones as opposed to grass. This could even be done in conjunction with extended mulch rings.
When trees are regularly pruned, it allows more sunlight to filter in through the canopies, which can help whatever is growing there perform better.
Even some filtered light can be enough for shade-loving plants or shade-tolerant grass to grow better. Keeping up with pruning in shaded areas can help facilitate landscaping solutions.
Rock gardens are doing double-duty on our list because they also work as a solution for shady spots.
Since rocks require zero sunlight, they are a low-maintenance option that will perform well regardless of the sunlight conditions.
At the end of the day, finding effective solutions for challenging spots within your property will boil down to partnering with a forward-thinking, trouble-shooting landscaping company.
The best commercial landscaping companies will also talk you through different ideas so that you can determine what is going to work best for your property.
Budget is often an essential consideration in this equation. While you want these trouble areas to look nice, you probably aren’t looking for some grand landscaping installation that’s going to be complicated to maintain. You want something budget-friendly that will perform well in a difficult spot.
And you don’t want added stress on your plate!
We know you already have numerous facilities and operations headaches that need your attention. The last thing that you need is to have to worry about landscaping difficult areas. You want a Greater Chicago commercial landscape design company that can handle that for you…with solutions that will work.
Ready to solve your most difficult landscaping challenges? Request a proposal for a customized plan. Together, we can solve your problems.