Commercial properties in Greater Chicago can be quite busy places.
Everyone is moving about – from employees at office parks and industrial facilities, customers at retail centers, and tenants at multi-family properties. And these repetitive comings and goings are what drives the success of these businesses.
On consistently bustling sites like Greater Chicago commercial facilities, adding a bit of color can continue to draw people in.
But what if you choose the wrong plants, and they end up withering and suffering? Or what if you don’t maintain them properly and they end up looking small, shriveled, or faded?
These issues can make you look bad – all from something like seasonal color landscaping, which you were installing to actually draw more eyeballs and interest to your property, not less.
Let’s talk about seasonal color on commercial landscapes to ensure your facility looks good through each and every season.
Seasonal color landscaping is an investment in the appearance of your commercial property in Greater Chicago, and it enhances the experience of employees and visitors alike.
In fact, seasonal color can transform a property very quickly and easily.
To maximize your seasonal color impact, check out these important tips.
One of the reasons seasonal color landscaping makes such a positive impact is because it brings new color and interest to your commercial site each season.
But that’s the trick: You should have at least three bright and bold color change outs per year to encourage and display new colors and textures and keep visitors interested and engaged.
The more you can change things up each season with relevant blooms that fit the season’s conditions, the greater appeal you create on your facility.
Summer has so many options, but you don’t want to neglect spring and fall. For instance, in spring, remember to try forced bulbs of hyacinths, tulips, and daffodils, as well as emerald and asparagus ferns, snapdragons, stocks, and hydrangeas. And in fall, some options to consider include mums, cabbages, kales, and pansies, as well as branch accents such as red/yellow dogwoods, birch poles, curly willow, fantail willow, kuwa, and dipped birch of various colors.
Seasonal color plants can be used to accent your existing plantings and provide additional visual interest.
This can enhance your current landscaping and give your property new life.
Target areas that lack other interest, as well as high-profile/high-traffic areas, and entrances for both vehicles and employees/visitors.
To maximize seasonal color plants, you want to make choices that work with your site and your landscape design.
Start by considering the timelines of plant bloom cycles, so you know how long the material will last during a season. For instance, forced bulbs have a shorter bloom time and need to be placed appropriately in a pot to avoid becoming eyesores when they fall out of their bloom cycles.
Next, remember to compliment the growth habits of certain varieties when designing a planter, as well as considering the vantage point for those who will enjoy the planter.
That age old “tall material in the center of the planter” approach to a container design can leave you with a lot of wasted material that no one will see if the planter has one side that doesn’t face any vehicle or foot traffic.
For landscape beds, consider interplanting very early emerging bulbs like corcuses and anemone to provide splashes of color throughout the spring season as the main bulbs begin to emerge.
After you have perennials, shrubs, ornamental grasses, trees, and turf taken care of, the next thing you need is some color.
The best way to tackle seasonal color on commercial landscapes is to embrace a proactive planning approach so that your color is installed and refreshed seasonally to match the changing weather patterns.
Proper care is also essential in keeping flowers fresh and healthy and weeds at bay. Adequate and timely watering, especially, can ensure success.
If the job sounds challenging, and you’re not sure which flowers to choose, let KD Landscape help.
We offer year-round grounds maintenance services in Greater Chicago and will help create a plan with you that fits your property's needs and your organization's budget. We will create a customized proposal that will describe the services we recommend to keep your commercial property beautiful, functional, safe and healthy with just the right amount of seasonal color all year long.
Want to learn more about KD Landscape’s commercial landscape offerings and seasonal color expertise? Get started today with a free quote. We’ll review your options together so you can make a great choice.