What do a university, a hospital, a homeowners’ association and a data center have in common?
They all need great landscaping.
Everybody expects the same skilled attention to detail, from mowing to spring cleanup to installing impressive enhancements.
“But each type of property is unique, in its own way, and has its own needs,” says Paul Wisniewski, Vice President of Operations at Level Green Landscaping.
Watch our video case studies for a more detailed look at commercial landscape maintenance by property type.
Meanwhile, let’s learn more about commercial landscaping for property types, with insight from Wisniewski about the importance of meeting each one's unique needs, including:
It can be tough to please one discriminating homeowner. Now multiply that by a few hundred.
“With an HOA, you’re dealing with the homeowners, so there’s great attention to detail, because they live there,” Wisniewski says.
“It’s important to know the expectations not just of the property manager, but of the HOA board and all the homeowners,” he says. “You might have anywhere from 50 to 300 homeowners, who all want a say. Good communication is really important, to keep everybody happy.”
That’s the case at West Market Community Association in Reston, Va., a Level Green client since 2022.
Residents of this high-end community have high expectations. They expect eagle-eye inspections, with Level Green crews keeping an eye out for weeds, faded flowers, dead tree branches or signs of any plant disease or pest damage.
West Market has a four-member landscaping committee of residents who love plants and choose their own seasonal color plan. The committee developed a booklet that outlines exactly how they want certain plants pruned, and Level Green crews follow their instructions.
Landscaping needs for HOA communities include a focus on frequent communication.
Committee members do a monthly walk through with the HOA property manager and their Level Green account manager to survey the landscaping, point out needs to be addressed, and talk about future improvements.
At an HOA, each individual home might have its own restrictions and preferences, right down to the type of mower they want used, Wisniewski says. “It can get complicated.”
Often, both the Level Green account manager and the operation manager are on site, he says, “to make sure everything is done just right.”
A mixed-use/retail site can include a lot of different elements, but it always means one thing: lots of people passing through and passing by, noticing if the place looks good.
The landscaping has to impress.
The Boro is a great example of how the right commercial property landscape design adds wow-worthy impact.
The premier mixed-use development in Tysons, Va. is a vibrant and popular pedestrian-oriented community with luxury high-rise apartments; sleek glass office towers; intriguing restaurants and shops; and a vibrant urban park.
The high-impact flowers here are a big deal. Level Green crews plant nearly 10,000 flowers and plants in the spring, then a five-person crew tends to the landscaping, including areas of turf, trees, large beds of flowers and shrubs, and a multitude of raised planting beds.
Level Green’s account manager for The Boro surveys the property often, looking for anything shoppers, residents and passers-by would notice. If anything needs attention, she wants to see it first, and fix it.
“In a retail setting, we focus on the high-traffic areas, like walkways and entrances, and common areas where people congregate,” Wisniewski says. “Those areas have to be high impact.”
Landscaping needs for retail properties means work starts early, before the bustle.
“When are stores the busiest?” he says. “If a store is busy at 10 a.m., we make sure we’re there before, doing our work when they’re the most empty.”
Landscaping needs for municipalities can include anything from mowing athletic fields and installing plant material to building retaining walls and updating expansive paver areas.
Or, in the case of The Yards Park, it means maintaining a beloved community green space that hundreds of thousands of people visit each year. No pressure.
Located along the banks of the Anacostia River in southeast D.C., The Yards Park is an outdoor escape for fresh air, waterfront views, dancing fountains and a multitude of popular public events.
While it’s a place to seek tranquility in nature, it also often bustles with thousands of people at weekly concerts and music festivals.
The Level Green crew has a lot to tackle here, from aesthetics to safety.
Crews cover the property weekly, mowing, trimming, weeding, edging, pruning, deadheading, always on the lookout for potential safety issues.
All this extensive maintenance has to happen without interfering with visitors’ enjoyment of the park, which means crews start at 7:30 am.
Like many municipalities, The Yards Park needs green healthy grass with few weeds as part of its commercial property landscape design. So Level Green brings a detailed turf care strategy to keep the popular park lawn healthy and thriving, with targeted visits for fertilizing and weed control throughout the year.
Office buildings have upped their game in recent years, offering tranquil landscaped courtyards for workers to enjoy; luxurious rooftop gardens; and impressive street-side plantings that need to thrive in challenging urban conditions.
Sometimes office buildings are combined with other commercial offerings, too, like apartments or retail spots.
Whatever the property, “We have the same goals in mind,” Wisniewski says. “Everything needs to look its best.”
Silver Spring Metro Center has been a Level Green Landscaping customer for several years.
This vibrant group of residential, retail and office buildings in Silver Spring, Maryland includes retail shops, a child care center, several large government offices and high-end apartments.
Like most commercial/office properties, heavy foot traffic means Level Green crews have to keep the landscaping pristine with mowers and blowers without interfering with a multitude of pedestrians. It’s just one of the landscaping needs for office buildings.
At 2200 Pennsylvania Avenue, a trophy office building between Washington, DC's West End and Foggy Bottom neighborhoods, an impressive 26,000-square-foot courtyard offers a zen-like tranquil retreat for building tenants. Level Green maintains this sophisticated outdoor space, along with comprehensive landscape services throughout the property, including a green roof that requires specialized maintenance to ensure proper plant health and environmental benefits.
Urban office landscaping presents unique challenges and opportunities, including at 1200 17th Street in downtown Washington, DC.
While landscape space is limited in downtown DC, prestige office buildings want every planted area to pack a powerful impression.
Level Green maintains street-level planters packed with vibrant seasonal displays. Hand watering services keep them healthy in the challenging urban environment.
Higher up, on the property’s elegant rooftop terrace, Level Green crews tend an array of planters in the green sanctuary. Rooftop gardens need extra attention, as sun and wind dry out plants quickly.
Churches and other religious institutions have a unique set of landscaping needs, Wisniewski says.
“It’s important that these properties look especially good for their services, whether they’re on Saturdays or Sundays, and for holidays like Easter and Christmas,” he says. “We have to be flexible, so we can time our work there around their particular needs.”
One of Level Green’s religious clients is the Franciscan Monastery, a spiritual oasis built in 1899, that’s open to the public for tours, visits and special occasions, including many weddings.
The landscaping and expansive gardens at the 50-acre property are among the biggest draws for the several hundred visitors each week. The rose garden alone includes 3,000 rose bushes, plus perennials, annuals, statues and fountains.
“We have a full-time person there, to make sure it’s always looking its best,” Wisniewski says.
Commercial property landscape design at schools and universities involves great first impressions.
“Landscaping is extremely important for their images,” Wisniewski says. “It’s the first thing visiting students and their parents see. They want those first impressions to be, ‘Wow, this is a gorgeous campus.’”
That’s what happens at Archbishop Spalding High School and Loyola University, two institutions that have partnered with Level Green.
Red and white plants in the impressive landscaping at Archbishop Spalding High School add not just bright pops of color, but a healthy dose of school spirit at the private Catholic high school in Severn, MD.
Level Green started working with the school in 2023 with a complete landscape renovation, installing 629 healthy new shrubs and a whopping 2,131 assorted perennials.
Now, attentive maintenance includes elements shared by lots of educational institutions: tending to athletic fields; adding extra flowers for special events; and keeping the campus attractive and safe while staying out of the way of students and staff.
“We have to work around the schedules of schools, so they’re looking their best for special events like homecoming and commencement,” Wisniewski says. “We don’t want to cause disruption.”
Keeping the stunning Loyola University campus landscaping neat, safe, and impressive includes paying special attention to The Quad, the center of student life at the Baltimore campus.
Students relax on the sprawling lawn and settle in with their laptops to study, but a huge spring festival happens there, too, and community concerts.
Level Green crews install annual flowers at several key spots on campus, including at a 9-11 memorial in the Quad, at the campus fitness and aquatic center, and at several stand-alone beds throughout campus.
The campus chapel is sometimes the beautiful location for weddings. The Level Green account manager for Loyola keeps up with the university calendar so he knows to avoid sending Level Green crews during busy times.
When you’re dealing with illness, injury and stress, you need all the peace and tranquility you can get.
“When landscaping for hospitals and health care facilities, you need everything to look as nice as possible for a morale boost,” Wisniewski says.
And keeping the property safe for a client like Howard University Hospital is a huge concern, he says.
“Especially in winter, keeping the area clear of snow and ice is really important, both for people walking the grounds and ambulances coming and going,” he says.
But health care clients often have limited budgets, he says, so the challenge is to help them look the best they can with the resources they have.
Brightview Senior Living also trusts Level Green Landscaping. Crews handle the landscape maintenance at five of its mid-Atlantic locations, including one in Annapolis.
Many residents have moved here from homes they've been in 30, 40 or 50 years. A priority: make this place somewhere they’re happy to call home.
That means diverse, appealing commercial property landscape design, with pretty beds and planters brimming with bright annuals; lots of perennials; trees for shade and beauty; and an impressive explosion of color each spring from 2,000 tulips.
Safety is a top priority for these health care clients, too, including in winter, with zero tolerance for slick parking lots or walkways. If there’s an emergency, they need to know the paramedics or the fire department can get in there.
Level Green keeps clients like Brightview updated on their snow removal plan of attack, with email alerts about impending storms five days, 48 hours, and 24 hours ahead of time and are updated throughout the storm.
Plowing crews take photos of their progress with their cell phone cameras to keep managers posted.
Landscaping services for data centers are more in demand than ever, as more everyday business interactions shift to the cloud, AI expands, and massive companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook keep chugging away.
Safety and security are top priorities for these clients, as data
centers house business-critical sensitive data and applications.
They typically want a 6-foot clearance from their fences, with no shrubs or tree branches close to them that people could use to climb over.
That means landscaping for data centers includes vigilant attention to trimming and pruning.
But beautification is important, too. These massive gray windowless buildings often aren’t the prettiest properties on the block.
So commercial property landscape design includes healthy turf, colorful perennial beds, and healthy attractive trees that help block the building.
Data centers are often interested in sustainability and green initiatives, too, including permeable pavers, green roofs and rain gardens.
Distribution centers have their own set of landscaping needs, including Level Green client the Cabin Branch Distribution Center. The 52-acre property has nine buildings, with mostly warehouse use by high-profile tenants and some government occupants.
The property manager wanted to partner with a landscaping company large enough to handle the massive site’s many landscaping needs for industrial properties, from drainage issues to highlighting signage to creating islands of green in sprawling parking lots to break up the big expanses of asphalt.
Industrial properties typically want landscaping that’s low maintenance, tough, and drought tolerant.
But they want it to look great, too.
As the Cabin Branch property manager says, “Good landscaping gives the property the pop over the competition.”
Q: How can you beautify parking lot islands?
A: Parking lot island plants get stepped on, blasted with car exhaust and piled with snow.
Try a low-maintenance ground cover like creeping juniper or Level Green favorite liriope, a pretty, grass-like plant. It’s hardy, inexpensive, stands up to foot traffic and offers a lush, wavy, grass-like feel.
Trees provide welcome shade, so include them in parking lot islands when landscaping for industrial sites. Red maples are low maintenance and offer pretty fall color. Serviceberry and redbud are good choices, too.
Q: What landscaping attracts attention?
A: Colorful flowers always attract attention and make a property look well-tended. Aim for impressive color year-round.
Think bright, cheerful spring bulbs, followed by striking purple and pink petunias in the summer.
Include plants that have impact in fall and winter, too, like Dwarf Nandina ‘Gulf Stream,’ a hardy evergreen that offers bright red new growth and red foliage in the fall.
Q: If I want to add more sustainability to my commercial property, where should I start?
A: Adding a rain garden is a great, easy start.
This attractive sustainable landscaping solution is a shallow depression that’s planted with deep-rooted native plants and grasses. It encourages stormwater to soak slowly into the ground rather than rush into the nearest storm drain.
A rain garden’s soil filters oil, grease, and other pollutants before slowly releasing the cleaner water into the water table.
Water soaks into the garden rather than gushing straight into the stormwater system. Meanwhile, its flowers and plants beautify your commercial property.
At Level Green Landscaping, we design and maintain beautiful, healthy landscapes for every market you can name.
“It means a lot of training for our field staff on how to treat our clients, about asking questions to find out each client’s exact needs,” Wisniewski says. “We consider ourselves partners with our customers. We build relationships, so we really know what their needs are.”
If you’re not already a Level Green Landscaping client, we’d love to add you to our growing list of happy customers.
Our focus is on commercial properties like offices, mixed-use sites, HOAs, municipalities and institutions in Maryland, Washington DC and parts of Virginia.
Contact us at 202-544-0968. You can also request a free consultation online to meet with us one-on-one.
We’d love to hear from you.