Why do we plant lawns spanning acres and acres at commercial office buildings? We plant them, we mow them, we irrigate them, we use pre-emergents, fungicides, insecticides and fertilizers to keep them green and healthy. We go against nature and monoculture of grass varieties that seem to fight back every step of the way. But why?
The origins of the lawn as we know it has roots in European aristocracy. It was a status symbol. The very first lawns were grassy fields that surrounded English and French castles. Castle grounds had to be kept clear of trees so that the soldiers protecting them had a clear view of their surroundings. It wasn’t good to have your enemies sneak up on you. But, do we need the expanses of green cultured grass that we still see today? When was the last time your competitors tried to sneak up on you from the woods?
With the world bee population in decline, setting aside an area dedicated to pollinators is a great way to help the environment and cut down on chemicals on your site. Wildflowers meadows are low maintenance, and beautiful. They can be a marketing tool for your business as well. Advertising what your company does to help the environment can be beneficial to business.
Wildflower meadows are prepped areas that native seeds, blended for you specific region, are sowed into. Existing irrigation can be used to germinate the initial coverage. These meadows are mowed once a year, in late fall. The seeds from the first crop are re-distributed and should germinate again the following year. Some care may need to be taken hand pulling any larger weeds that pop up. Does your property have an area that you could dedicate to beautiful blooms and thriving life?
It is often difficult to get competing proposals to be apples to apples and this will help in reducing the differences. When you have big differences in prices between companies, remember to see if the quantity and quality numbers are similar. Beyond these numbers, most landscape management companies are pulling from similar labor pools and therefore have similar labor costs, so the most common difference in proposals is the kind of service you are receiving. Make sure that your expectations on a site match the proposals and that the company can fulfill your expectations. Landscape maintenance is an important part of a site. It can act as advertising to future tenants or create and aesthetically appealing property that will invite guests or customers to visit. We, at Commercial Landscape Management, believe that landscape maintenance is just one aspect of many things that can affect your site and we want to work with you to make the site a valuable part of your portfolio.