A well maintained landscaped garden is one of the most important features for your commercial property. A lush, neat garden is something that will give your clients a great first impression when they enter your commercial property and is therefore something that you can’t afford to get wrong.
Planting schemes are a huge part of any landscape plan, and choosing which plants you want to put on your property, although exciting, can also be a little overwhelming if you aren’t sure what you are doing. So it’s important to plan which plants you need before going out and buying them.
To make buying plants for your property a whole lot easier, these are the questions you need to ask yourself:
Do you want a manicured or natural look?
Would you prefer your property to have an orderly, neat look or something a little more natural? The type of plants you choose will depend on the look that you are wanting to achieve, as some plants are more easily shaped than others.
For a natural look, you will need to prune plants only when necessary, allowing the plant to maintain its usual shape and it will flower as it would in its natural habitat. Manicured pruning is more maintenance, as regular pruning is required to keep plants looking neat and trimmed. This will result in a higher water usage – therefore natural landscapes are more suited to water-tight areas.
Both looks work well on a commercial property and will suit most planting schemes.
Should you buy flowers or colorful foliage?
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “The Earth laughs in flowers.” We think the earth laughs in flowers and colorful foliage – they’re both beautiful and can instantly enhance your outdoor surroundings and work with most successful planting schemes.
Your decision lies in choosing one or going with both. Flowers may come and go with the seasons, but foliage generally keeps its color all year round. Many people don’t realize that foliage can offer a kaleidoscope of incredible colors from golds and greens to burgundies and blues, and we find that a garden with a healthy addition of flowers and foliage is the most visually effective.
Whatever you decide to go with, make sure that they are planted in the right season and in the right conditions. Even with the perfect soil, an ideal location, and healthy flowers or foliage, if you don’t plant at the right time you run the risk of ruining your beautifully landscaped garden.
Do you need a screen plant?
The great thing about plants is their versatility, and they can even be used as a means for privacy. Commercial properties often have large buildings, or (depending on the industry), unsightly areas that look best when hidden away. Trees, shrubs and other plants offer an excellent way to create year-round privacy that is a lot more aesthetically pleasing than a fence or a wall.
Lines of evergreen trees can be used to block out the property from the outside, hedges can hide irrigation pipes and wide, high trees can be used to disguise large buildings or other structures on your property.
Planting schemes for screen plants are necessary to ensure that they have enough space to grow to maturity, that they are the right kind of plant for your purpose and that they are placed in an area with great soil, enough water and lots of sunshine.
Would you prefer perennial, groundcover, annual, or biennial plants?
Choosing your plants based on how long they last is also part of comprehensive planting schemes. A perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. It remains in the ground year after year. Many perennials need minimal maintenance in the form of watering and fertilizing, since their roots are more far-ranging compared to annual plants’ roots. Many trees and shrubs are perennials and offer a great low maintenance option for landscaped gardens.
Groundcover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. It provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought. With shallow, sturdy roots, ground covers are easy to grow, require little maintenance, and are also known for inhibiting weed growth. They are often a great, colorful alternative to lawn – especially in shaded and dry areas.
Annual plants have a year round cycle – germinating, growing, reproducing and dying in one year. These plants therefore need to be replaced year after year, but they do offer some of the most colorful varietals that you can have in your garden.
Biennial plants take two full seasons to complete their life cycle. They grow their stems, roots and and leaves during their first spring and summer and then many of them will become dormant in the long winter months. The flowering and reproductive stage is finished in the next warm season and the plant will then die.
Picking the right plants for your property is an essential part of any planting scheme and it’s important to consider all of the variables. Let the commercial landscaping professionals help you. Request our guide Landscape Maintenance for a Commercial Property Owner for more advice and expert opinions.