How Your Landscaping Could Help Bring In Customers

If you own a small shopping center that has planting beds alongside walkways and near stores, you can use those beds to create landscaping that could increase your customer count. Someone walking along may see the center and decide to stroll in, and an inviting landscape can hint that the center may also have interesting stores.

Keep It Neat

Neat walkways free of litter and dirt are, of course, going to look better than messy ones. But you also need to keep the planting layout neat. Don't go for a hodge-podge of plants that tumble out over the edges of the walkways, for example; you want coordination and trim lines. That signals to customers that the center is cared for and monitored, and problems are addressed. A messy center looks like it may not be cared for that well.

Add Colorful Annuals

Color! Bright, jewel-toned blossoms or pastel blooms ā€“ it doesn't matter. Give your shopping center property some visual oomph that is also relaxing and works as a signal to prospective customers that this is a place where they can enjoy their day. Green leaves are nice, but pathways lined with colorful flowers can give the center a nice, happy feel. Annuals are the easiest plants to add that will give you this color as they are already starting to bloom when the landscaper puts them in the planting beds. You can get perennials, of course, but they will require more care.

Remember Path Lighting

As you plan your commercial landscape, remember path lighting. Solar-powered LEDs are efficient and affordable, and you can keep the paths around the center well-lit even on winter evenings.

Provide Shade

An open, exposed landscape in front of a building gets very hot in summer. Having a few trees, even small ones, can provide cooling shade. Many shrubs can also be trained into tree form, remember, so you have a wide variety of choices. These shrubs or small trees also block hot sunlight from beaming into glass-fronted stores, reducing the temperatures in there, too. That's much nicer for customers and workers.

Groundcovers Look Nicer Than Dirt and Mulch

You've no doubt walked through commercial shopping centers where the landscaping between paths and buildings was mostly dirt or wood chips, with some shrubs or ferns dotting the area. Those can be nice, but the exposed dirt and wood chips often look dry and aren't that pleasant to see. Plus, exposed dirt can get blown all over the place on windy days, and wood chips can be kicked out onto the walkways. That's not very neat.

An alternative is using drought-tolerant groundcovers that form mats across the planting bed. These plants are low and unobtrusive, but they protect the soil from wind and erosion. Many groundcovers stay green throughout the year, and many have brightly colored flowers that bloom in spring and summer. These would be a lovely alternative to wood chips.

Commercial landscaping doesn't have to be complicated, and it doesn't have to be plain, either. With color and trim layouts, you can make your property look well-cared-for and inviting. That could influence people to take a look at the shops in the center. 

Reach out to a commercial landscaping company to learn more.

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