Beautiful landscapes don’t just happen, especially the impressive manicured planting areas, walkways, and colorful, cooling retreats that grace Florida’s best office buildings, hotels, and commercial developments. Municipalities also realize the benefits of parks and playgrounds, and they encourage artistry as well as originality in efforts to promote physical activity and exercise in natural surroundings.
Benefits of Quality Office Building Landscaping Ideas
American businesses and municipalities support the development of green space, not only for beauty but also for its underlying effects. Plants help maintain air quality and lower ambient temperatures by helping dissipate the heat generated by paved streets, parking lots, and sidewalks. Lush landscapes provide life-giving support for animals, birds, bees, and butterflies, and they are just plain nice to look at.
There is ample evidence from behavioral scientists that the productivity of office workers improves in buildings with natural light and views. If employees can access the outdoors and enjoy a green environment during the workday, they are also happier and healthier. Beneficial landscaping ideas for office buildings aren’t restricted only to plants and flowers. Sociologists and medical practitioners emphasize that moderate exercise, fresh air, quiet, solitude, and sunlight all contribute to a healthier environment. Walking paths and benches are recommended features.
7 Distinctive Landscaping Ideas for Office Buildings
In addition to healthy trees, manicured lawns, and layered sections that have colorful plants and flowers, the addition of other elements ‒ hardscape or artistic features ‒ is the key to the creation of award-winning office landscapes. Here are some of our best suggestions for creating an outdoor space that complements your building as well as winning accolades from visitors and employees alike.
Be Aware of Vistas and Sightlines
There is a difference between looking at the landscape through an office window and actually being a part of the landscape during an outdoor jaunt. Plan your landscaping ideas for office buildings, so your employees can not only enjoy the view but also “experience” it as a part of their workday. Motorists and passersby should also be captivated by its appearance, both from a distance and from the perimeter. Identify a focal point. It can be a large sculpture or an ingenious interplay of texture, form, and color visible from afar. Attempt to direct visitors to the primary attraction, both visually ‒ the long view ‒ and physically. Ideally, your office landscape features should unfold naturally as someone walks along a strategic pathway.
Establish Separate Garden Areas
It’s not necessary to mimic Disneyland with separate “kingdoms,” but specialty gardens can be stimulating and appropriate, even in an office or commercial setting. A wildflower area will be “abuzz” during certain seasons with butterflies and bees; an all-white planting area offers a serene escape from too much business stimulation. A Zen garden might be the antidote to stress. Any number of creative possibilities exist. Call on ASI Landscape Management’s designers and installation specialists for inventive ideas.
Create an Outdoor Lounge
The newest landscape trend for homes and hotels is the outdoor fireplace or firepit. While that might not be appropriate for your office building, there is every reason to provide a pleasant “outdoor room” for small groups to gather. Provide informal seating with low masonry walls or install benches at wide spots along a path. Place tables and chairs in areas that will encourage group interaction or informal alfresco lunches. Shady seating is always appreciated ‒ create it with a small gazebo, a ramada, park benches placed under a vine-covered trellis, or adjustable canvas shades or drapes.
Cater to the Creatures
While an office building landscape will probably not attract abundant wildlife, your trees and plants can still be a friendly environment for smaller critters, including lizards, small frogs, and toads, birds, butterflies, and bees. Give them a protective habitat, and they will welcome humans into their domain, returning the favor with birdsong and playful antics. Pollinators are attracted by wildflowers and showy blooming plants. Birds and other creatures feast on ants and mosquitoes. Make your landscape an oasis for the creatures that help keep the environment healthy.
Add Soothing Sounds and Scents
Circulating fountains and bubbling ponds are wonderful additions to any office landscape, partly because they are unexpected. Think about incorporating an “always-on” drinking fountain as part of your water feature. Surround it with flowering herbs, a field of lavender or lemongrass, for both the pleasant scent and to discourage mosquitoes.
Encourage Outdoor Exercise
Walking along a quiet garden path may be relaxing and stimulate thinking, but a brisk walk or even a quick jog can restore energy, build stamina, and “clear the cobwebs” out of the brain. Ask your landscape designer about the possibility of installing a “fitness trail” for the ultimate in employee perks. Ten recommended stations installed in a loop or along a pathway include exercise aids and directions to help both novices and conditioned athletes develop a routine.
Consider Ongoing Landscape Maintenance and Upkeep of Your Office Building
Resilient landscapes require less seasonal care, withstand rain and windstorms, and require less coddling as they mature. Choose plants that are well-suited to your region. Florida has a variety of micro-climates, and each requires specialized knowledge to maximize the beauty and durability of the landscape throughout the year. Let experienced professionals suggest compatible plants; aim for color year-round by layering plants and mixing in other landscape features for maximum visual effect.
Unique Landscapes Have Singular Appeal
While wilderness areas, natural ponds and streams, untamed mangroves, and protected seashores are beautiful, we believe that managed landscapes are also vital in our modern world. At ASI Landscape Management, we subscribe to the idea that choosing the right landscape elements will enhance office buildings and commercial developments in distinctive ways.
We use trees, plants, and other natural materials in tandem with creative extras to produce attractive, imaginative results. A well-designed landscape adds value to any property, provides visual delight, offers positive environmental impact, alters moods, lifts spirits, and helps maintain the physical health of those who work in the building.
Need Help Implementing These Office Building Landscaping Ideas?
For design help with your office building landscaping ideas, why not schedule a consultation with ASI’s professional design staff? We’ll be happy to apply our expertise to your project, and with offices in both Tampa and Orlando, we can serve you wherever your office may be. ASI Landscape Management not only designs and installs Florida’s premier commercial landscapes but also offers water management, maintenance and upkeep services, arbor care, and complete horticulture services.
