How to easily update and maintain your commercial landscaping
Spring is the right time to breathe new life into your curb appeal and it starts with a fresh look at your commercial landscaping. Ensure your community is in the best position to enhance resident well-being, get noticed and increase census by updating and maintaining your commercial landscaping in the spring, and taking into account key landscaping considerations over the fall and winter.
The Importance of Curb Appeal Landscaping
Whether you realize it or not, potential residents are forming their opinions about your community every single day. According to a benchmarking report by Enquire Solutions, landscaping and signage have the power to generate over 40% of prospective resident tours and appointments.1 That’s because these first impressions are a prospective resident’s or family’s first glimpse into your brand, attention to detail and quality of care you provide.
Outdoor Visitation Spaces
Quality outdoor environments are strongly linked to important health-related measures and behaviors, such as reduced resident stress, improved mood and satisfaction, increased physical activity, and better health outcomes.3
Consider creating or refreshing safe, inviting spaces for your residents and visitors to gather and socialize. Find ideas on furnishing and decorating outdoor spaces.
Spring Cleanup Landscaping Tasks
Ensure these commercial landscaping tips are part of your spring routine. Add them to the list if you DIY, or ensure they’re included in the contract with your commercial landscaper.
Does your commercial landscaping contract include these 5 key spring clean up landscaping tasks?
- Clean up accumulated leaves and trash on the lawn and in your planting beds. Cut back any grass and other perennials that were left up for winter. A vigorous raking of any matted turf will also stimulate growth.
- Fertilize lawn with a formulation that includes pre-emergent weed control. Shrubs and perennials could benefit from a fertilizer application at this time as well.
- Prune back any dead or damaged materials in your shrubs and trees. Some shrubs may need a light pruning. Ensure any spring flowering shrubs are not pruned, which would reduce their blooms.
- Put an edge on planting beds and around tree circles. This enhances their look and helps establish a line where the turf should be kept separate from planting beds.
- Check irrigation systems for broken or damaged heads and leaking lines. Ensure the heads are properly spraying the desired turf and planting beds.
Fall landscaping cleanup tasks to prepare for winter
Fall landscaping often goes hand in hand with lawn and flower bed care. When it comes to fall tasks, you’ll want to ensure your landscaper is performing these tasks:
- Leaf cleanup. Keep your lawn healthy over winter by removing leaves. You can recycle them by using them for mulch, toss them into a compost, or use a leaf shredder before tossing them.
- Mow the lawn. Now is the time to lower the blade of the mower to cut the grass as short as possible. This helps prevent unwanted rodents from using your lawn as their winter home.
- Pruning. Remove any branches that break off and cause problems during freezing temperatures or hard winter winds. This includes any overgrown limbs that hang over gutters, sidewalks, parking lots, or are too close to windows. Now is also the time to reshape any large trees4 as well.
- Seasonally planted bulbs. Fall is key for planting certain types of bulbs and new roots.
Not confident in your current commercial landscaper? Request a free quote!
TELS® Building Services can help! We’ll manage the contract, scheduling and seasonal expertise so that you can focus on what matters most: your residents.
Request a free quote* or call 888-433-3224 to discuss your needs. You can also view our local commercial landscaping services to find out more about how we can help tailor a contract for your community today!
