If your business location has a large yard, how do you intend to use it? Can you maintain it? Do you have the time to remove the weed, water the plants, mow the lawn, and apply fertilizers to the plants and flowers? Even for residential properties, large yards can be a nuisance without a proper strategy to take care of them. This is why many businesses prefer small yards, even though they can do so much more in those yards if they only plan ahead.
The main problem with a large yard is that you don’t know how to start taking care of it. Here’s the thing: you don’t have to do it on your own. You can hire a gardener or a professional to take care of it for you. There are gardening businesses that offer commercial landscaping and maintenance services. Another option is to buy or rent battery-powered golf carts so that you can go around the large yard to check for any problems that must be addressed.
But, of course, there are ways to make maintaining a large commercial yard easy for businesses that don’t have the money to hire a professional gardener. You can choose either of these three options to maximize your yard and make it work for the business. If you look long and hard enough at your options, you will arrive at a practical solution for your predicament.
Parking Lot
The first option is to turn part of the existing yard into a parking lot. This will be a convenient way for your employees to go to work and for customers to visit your place of business. The more parking spaces you have, the better the chances of your target market to visit and check you out. Remember that customers don’t want to be inconvenienced by having to look for a parking space every time they have to go to your office or store. If they have to do that every single time that they have to pick up something from your store, do you think that is favorable to them?
Hardscaping
Even in residential areas, the easiest way to maintain a large yard is to hardscape most of it. Leave a few areas for shrubs, flowers, and plants. But for the most part, build a deck, pathway, driveway, walkway, dining areas, and other things that your employees might need. Instead of using plants and flowers, you can also choose to design it with fountains, ponds, and pergolas. These are easier to maintain because they don’t wither and die when not taken care of properly.
Your employees will benefit from hardscaping features because there will be more livable spaces in the yard. They can take their lunches and snacks outside to get away from the stress of office work. They can mingle with their co-workers or meet friends and loved ones during their one-hour lunch break. You can put up tables, chairs, and large umbrellas to provide an area where your employees can destress during a hard day at work. Even your clients will welcome the sight of these livable spaces where they can also hang out.
Easy-to-grow Plants
Don’t grow plants that are not native to your area. That’s one of the reasons why you’re going to have a hard time—when you try to grow rare plants that require too much attention. Instead of plants whose names you cannot pronounce, go to a local garden store or landscape artist and ask for local plants that are easy to maintain given the climate in your area. When you grow local plants, you can simply hire a gardener because most of them know how to take care of these same plants they usually see in your area.
Although hardscaping is an excellent option, making sure that there are plants in your yard should still be your priority. Not only are plants and flowers nice to look at, but they also give a certain homey ambiance to a place that was supposed to be all business. They soften the elan of the place, thereby making it more inviting to customers.
A sizeable commercial yard should not be a problem if you know how to use it to your advantage. In many ways, a large yard gives businesses the flexibility to expand when the time comes and provides a space where employees and customers can congregate. A good strategy is to mix the three of these options—provide ample parking space and hardscape a big area but then leave room for plants and flowers.
