Commercial landscaping design, just like any other design field, is all about trends. Keeping up with the times and creating an aesthetically pleasing landscape can have a notable effect on your business image, and a good-looking, welcoming environment is a great way to draw in new customers.
As we head into the new year, it’s an ideal time to take a look at landscaping trends that can help give your property a fresh look – or transform it entirely. Whether your budget is big or small, these trends can serve as an inspiration to revamp your landscaping and create a space that will get people talking.
Here are some popular design trends that you can implement on your commercial landscaping this year:
Popular Commercial Landscaping Trends for 2023
Use Plants to Accentuate Your Building
Commercial landscaping often places most of the focus on areas around the building – the lawn, flower beds along the sidewalk, etc. – but sometimes fails to take full advantage of the building itself. An easy way to better incorporate your building into your landscape design is to use plants to highlight your building’s features and to fill in spaces that may otherwise go unused. There are several ways you can use plants to give your building a fresh look, including:
- Using large planters to frame building entrances
- Adding planter boxes to windows, balconies, or handrails
- Using empty wall space to create vertical gardens full of colorful seasonal plants
Renovate Your Hardscapes
While serving a functional purpose, your hardscapes like the parking lot and walkways can use a glow-up, too. These areas usually see heavy foot traffic, so creating more beautiful and inviting hardscapes is a great ROI just by the sheer number of people who will see them on a daily basis. Some great upgrades to consider include:
- Creating shade for sun-baked parking lots by using trees or installing parking lot shades
- Lining walkways and the building exterior with rows of shrubs or planters
- Use large planters or shrubs as dividers to give your property more privacy (to create quiet eating areas next to walkways, to act as a sight/noise barrier from busy roads, etc.)
Implement Placemaking Principles
One of the best landscaping investments for commercial properties is to turn available space outdoors into functional areas that can be used and enjoyed by customers, patrons and employees alike. Placemaking is an approach of designing and creating public spaces with an emphasis on designing places for people, not just drawing up an appealing or interesting design on paper.
Some key ideas behind placemaking and things to consider when creating outdoor spaces are:
- Sociability: creating a place where people can meet and socialize with friends, family, and coworkers
- Uses and Activities: creating a place that can be used for several activities (meeting a friend for lunch, relaxing on a bench while on break, holding staff meetings) by multiple people at once, whether they are single or in groups
- Comfort and Image: creating a place that makes a good impression, has places to sit as people enjoy the space, and makes people feel safe
- Access and Linkages: Can people easily walk to the place? Do sidewalks lead to and from adjacent areas/buildings? Does the place function for people with special needs?
By implementing these placemaking principles and considerations into your commercial landscape design, you can create effective public spaces that will draw people towards your property and create a welcoming environment for them.
Embrace Sustainable Landscaping Practices
One of the biggest trends in landscaping in recent years has been the shift towards more sustainable landscaping practices. With landscaping accounting for an estimated 50% of water used outdoors – and as Colorado deals with worsening drought conditions – a lot of emphasis has been put on water conservation. Smart sprinkler systems have become incredibly popular due to their ease of use and ability to maximize water savings.
Green roofs are another emerging commercial landscaping trend. They offer several benefits including:
- Reduced heating and AC costs by acting as an insulator
- Cleaner air by by acting as an air filter and converting CO2 into oxygen
- Reduced ambient noise outside and inside by acting as a sound barrier
- Increased biodiversity by acting as a habitat for birds, butterflies, and other insects
- Increased solar panel efficiency by lowering roof temperatures
Transform Your Property with Xeriscaping
Xeriscaping has an incredibly popular trend, especially in the dry climates of the US Southwest. The main concept of xeriscaping is to design a landscape that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. Some of xeriscaping’s key benefits are:
- Reduced water consumption
- Increased biodiversity
- Less maintenance, fertilization, and pest control
Effective planning and design, using native plants that are well-suited to your environment, and limiting turf areas (which use up the majority of landscaping water consumption) all are part of creating a beautiful xeriscaped property.
Keep Up With This Year’s Commercial Landscaping Trends With GroundMasters
Whether you are looking for little ways to beautify your commercial property or give your property a total make-over, GroundMasters Landscape Services has the team of experts needed to design a property that keeps up with current trends – or sets new ones.
Along with landscape enhancements, we also offer year-round landscaping and grounds maintenance services including lawn care, sprinkler system maintenance, and tree & shrub care – along with storm cleanup and snow & ice removal services for when bad weather hits.
To see what GroundMasters can do for your Denver-area business or commercial property, give us a call at (303) 750-8867 or get in touch with us online to get started.