Landscaping Design Tips that Can Decrease Commercial Maintenance Costs

As the owner of a commercial business, you probably already understand the importance of proper Landscape. From stunning curb appeal to maintaining your employee’s happiness to drawing in new customers, a commercial landscape, unequivocally, matters for your business.

Oftentimes, though, commercial business owners or managers mistakenly believe that creating an amazing commercial landscape means that you not only have to pay a pretty penny to design your landscape but also pile on the dollar signs to maintain it, too.

The good news? That’s not necessarily true.

While it’s totally possible for a commercial landscape to be downright stunning and horrifically expensive to maintain, the two don’t necessarily have to go hand-in-hand. In fact, there are several elements that you can factor into the design of your commercial landscape that can help to actually decrease your commercial maintenance costs.

Want to know more? Good—you’re in the right place. After two decades of crafting commercial landscapes in Florida, we’ve learned a thing or two about designing low-maintenance landscapes for businesses. Because at the end of the day, your landscape should be a boon, not a burden, right?

Be Mindful of Your Landscape Design From the Start

If it’s possible, try to start your from-scratch landscape with a convenient, low-maintenance routine in mind. Admittedly, this isn’t always the case, especially if your landscape is already pretty dang developed on its own. So, if this part doesn’t apply to you, feel free to skip on ahead. That being said, if you’re a brand-spankin’ new business with all the landscape freedom in the world, think about designing with convenience and low-maintenance in mind. The best way to go about this? Mention this to your landscape designer from the very start. If they’re worth their salt, they’ll have plenty of design tips and tricks to help you craft a luxury-but-low-maintenance landscape.

Choose Wisely Between Annuals and Perennials

When it comes to choosing your blooms, think long and hard about perennials versus annuals. If all goes according to plan, your annuals will bloom and die all with the course of a year, which, of course, means that they’ll need to be replaced for the next season. Perennials, on the other hand, will last you several seasons over—they’ll just require a little TLC every so often. It’s likely that perennial will cost you a bit more up-front, but if you’re still unsure, we recommend doing a little math—how much will it cost you to replace your annuals every year versus paying a larger upfront cost for perennials (which will last time and time again)? Even if you love a specific annual bloom, consider the maintenance cost for replacing it every single year versus finding a perennial you love that will last. That being said, it’s important to realize that any and every flower bed you implement in your garden will benefit from regularly scheduled maintenance.

Consider Florida-Friendly Plants vs Exotic Plants

You probably already know this, so we’re not going to consider this a spoiler, but Florida has a pretty unique, difficult climate. That means that imported or exotic plants, shrubs, flowers, flora, fauna, and whatever else may be, can have a difficult time establishing, growing, and thriving here for long periods of time. Our climate is anything but moderate, so if a plant doesn’t want to establish and grow here pretty naturally, you can anticipate pouring a ton of money into its upkeep. That’s why we typically recommend Florida native plants, shrubs, flowers, and more to clients who are looking to keep their maintenance costs low. Typically, Florida native plants do most of their own TLC work themselves—they’re usually drought resistant, ready to deal with the beating sun, and have natural tendencies to thrive in the hot, humid Florida weather.

Create Outdoor Gathering Places

An outdoor gathering space—like a stone patio, an outdoor kitchen, zen garden, and more—is a perfect addition to any commercial landscape for several reasons. Not only does it give your employees a fantastic place to gather, take breaks, and de-stress, it also draws in new customers, adds curb appeal, and speaks to your business’ brand.  But even further, these types of extensions are typically very, very easy to manage and have low costs for upkeep.

When in Doubt, Mulch it Out

We could talk endlessly about the benefits of mulch (and in a lot of ways, we kind of already have—our blog is filled with mulch inspo, mulch benefits, and more). Mulch is a fabulous way to help your soil retain nutrients and moisture, keep weeds at bay, and protect your soil in the event of a random Florida “winter” freeze. But further, mulch requires very little upkeep. While you might need to give it a good once over personally every week to ensure all your mulch is neat and tidy, it typically only needs a revamp every few seasons or yearly. Even better, you can pretty much mulch or re-mulch in every season in Florida, so you’re never limited by weather or seasonality!

Don’t Forget About Great Irrigation

The key to saving on big maintenance costs is to implement small, low-cost check-ups throughout the year—especially when it comes to irrigation.  The absolute best way to combat irrigation issues that could end up costing you thousands of dollars is to take monthly, routine walkarounds of your irrigation and have your landscaping team do a seasonal checkup. This way, you’re not letting your irrigation system clog up, break down, or leak—all of which could end up costing tons in maintenance fees. Want to know even more about irrigation systems in Florida and how to stay on top of it? Check out our definitive irrigation guide here!

Potted Plants for the Win

Not ready to commit to an entire landscape full of maintenance-requiring features? That’s OK—there are plenty of ways to implement a fantastic landscape in your commercial space that doesn’t require an excessive maintenance schedule. If you’re looking to handle your landscape maintenance all on your own, we absolutely recommended working large container plants into your design plants. They’re easy to care for, look fantastic, and are easily able to adapt to your specific ambiance in your commercial landscape.

Are you ready to create your perfect, cost-effective commercial landscape? We thought you might be. We hope this article provided you with some inspo to get going, but if you need more, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! If you want to chat with us about ways to update and revamp your landscape to help include cost-effective maintenance elements, give us a call at (727)-201-3947. Or, reach out to us directly via our website’s inquiry page here. Need some more commercial landscape tips, tricks, and trends? Check out our regularly updated blog here for all the landscape inspo you’ll ever need!