Office buildings often get neglected when it comes to landscaping, and that’s a big mistake.

First impressions matter, both for potential tenants you hope to attract and to customers who choose whether or not to walk in your door.

Employees want to feel proud of the place they go to work every day.

Landscaping does wonders for your company’s image.

Let’s take a look at some great landscaping ideas for office buildings.

Welcoming Front Entrance

Your office building’s main entrance is everybody’s front door. It should be warm, inviting, welcoming.

Beautiful office landscaping does the trick.

Vibrant beds of colorful flowering plants always attract attention. But be sure the varieties you plant are suited to the environment around your entrance. Delicate flowers will fade fast in the hot summer sun.

Consider native plants, which are hardier and more drought tolerant once established.

Large planters look impressive flanking an entrance. (Read more about them later.)

Visible Signage

Every company wants their signage to be prominent and visible.

One of the best ways to highlight signage is to surround it with attractive landscaping.

Colorful flowers, interesting grasses, bright spring bulbs all attract attention. Remember to keep plants and flowers low, so they don't obstruct the sign.

Outdoor Seating/Common Area

A peaceful, beautiful sanctuary helps worker morale. Offer an outdoor common area where employees can eat a sandwich, read a book, chat with colleagues.

Outdoor meetings are increasingly common, and this kind of gathering spot is perfect for fresh-air brainstorming.

Be sure to include seating. Think picnic tables, stone benches or heavy outdoor furniture. Built-in sitting walls are great incorporated into a patio.

Providing wireless Internet at outdoor sitting and picnic areas expands the workspace, taking employees from their desks to the outdoors for work, as well as rest.

Don’t forget trees for shade and flowers for color and interest.

Large Container Plants

When it comes to decorative planters to enhance your office building landscape, think big.

Really big.

Supersize containers — big enough to hold trees — make an instant impressive impact when used to flank an entryway, near signage, on public walkways and plazas.

If your office building is tall, small planters just get lost. Nobody notices them.

Large scale planters have a presence. Everybody who walks in or out your door will notice a spectacular container of blooms and grasses or a statement-making tree.

Seasonal Color Rotation

People notice color. And what offers spectacular color better than flowers?

The great thing about flowers and plants is there’s a host of choices for every season. The possibilities are nearly endless for summer flower power, but don’t neglect the other seasons.

Spring bulbs offer an explosion of color just when we need it, after winter’s chill and gray days. Nothing brightens a day like a profusion of red and yellow tulips.

Some plants hit their stride during the fall months, helping to extend your site’s color. Ornamental cabbage and kale come in beautiful shades of green and purple, tinged with cream or pink, and offer interesting ruffly texture.

Add a red twig dogwood for showy coral-red branches or a holly with glossy green leaves and bright red berries for winter interest.

Walkways

If your office building has old cracked concrete walkways, they’re not only unsightly, they’re a dangerous trip hazard.

Consider replacing portions or entire stretches of walkways with pavers that can help break up the industrial look of a long stretch of concrete.

Portions of pavers incorporated in concrete walks can help identify main entrances, cross walks, and other areas of interest.

Planting Beds

Don’t underestimate the power of fresh plants, colorful flowers, rich mulch and a nice crisp edge.

Attractive planting beds are great for main entrances, around signage and any place you want to enhance visibility.

Don’t forget year-round appeal. Evergreens, native grasses, and shrubs offer winter interest. Some trees, plants and shrubs look their best in fall, with vibrant colors.

Water Features

The sound of moving water relaxes us, soothes our workday nerves and offers a bit of tranquility in a hectic world.

Waterfalls and fountains are both great options, whether to attract passersby to an entrance or incorporated into a common area for employees to enjoy.

Reposition With Updated Landscaping

Landscaping doesn’t endure forever. It needs an occasional update to keep it fresh and contemporary.

If landscaping is dated, with shrubs painstakingly pruned into giant cubes, update it with a looser, more modern feel.

Modern landscapes typically incorporate native plants and a lot of grasses that create movement.

A bit of repositioning adds to your property’s value, offers you a chance to increase lease rates and attracts more tenants and visitors.

Update Your Office Landscaping With Level Green

Some of the most high-profile office buildings in the DC area choose Level Green Landscaping for their landscaping needs.

Our meticulous crews attend to every landscaping detail. Lawns are lush, healthy and neat. Flower beds and planters brim with color and interest.

We have all kinds of great landscaping ideas for office buildings, and our staff designers know how to highlight entrances, install dramatic flower beds, and create compelling common areas.

Your reputation is important to you — and it’s important to us, too. We’d love to show you how to make the most of your office building’s landscaping.

Contact Level Green Landscaping for a free consultation to see how we can enhance and maintain your DC landscape.