When you meet with Level Green Landscaping landscape designer Tom Adams, he’ll have a lot of questions.
Some of them might surprise you. They’re not all about plants.
What’s involved in Adams’ commercial landscape design process? Quite a bit. It starts with his visit to your property — even before he talks to you. It ends with landscaping that looks great, attracts attention and thrives for years.
Adams shares a closer look at landscape planning for commercial properties in DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland, including:
Chances are, you need a lot. But before Adams asks you for details, he visits your property for a first-hand look.
“The first thing I look for in a site visit is what can I save?” he says. “If a tree or a plant looks good and is doing well, why remove it? That will just be a cost for the client.”
Even when the client says, “Tear it all out and start over,” Adams takes a careful look.
Maybe the client doesn’t like the way a tree’s branches are in the way of pedestrians or traffic, or it constantly drops limbs, or it’s blocking so much sun that the grass underneath looks terrible.
Get rid of it, right? Not so fast, Adams says. Maybe it just needs a canopy lift.
This involves strategically removing some of the tree’s lower branches. It reduces fallen branches from storms, clears lines of sight for drivers and pedestrians, and allows more sunlight through for struggling turf underneath.
Problem solved.
“I’m a certified arborist,” Adams says. “If I’m able to save a great structural tree in the landscaping, I love that.”
Once he surveys your property, it’s time to dive into the details.
What are your priorities? Curb appeal? Low maintenance? Sustainability? You really want more tenants to move in?
“An HOA will say they want curb appeal,” he says. “A commercial building will say they want cheap maintenance.” He laughs. “Actually, everybody wants cheap maintenance.”
Once Adams knows your expectations, he can get to work on your landscape design.
Commercial properties have a host of challenges Adams takes into account as he plans your Washington DC landscape design.
“Commercial clients want low maintenance, but they want it to look pretty,” he says.
He can do that.
Meanwhile, plants often need to be salt tolerant if they’re near pavement so they can stand up to the ravages of snow removal.
City soil is often compacted and lacks nutrients.
Not all commercial sites have irrigation.
And the busy day-to-day operations of commercial properties can take a toll on landscaping.
“The other day at a property they backed a box truck up right next to the building and smooshed the plant material,” he says.
“Commercial properties need things to be sturdy.”
Foot traffic is often a big issue when landscape planning for commercial properties.
“Clients often have areas that they don’t want people to walk through,” Adams says. “So, I have to think, ‘What will deter them?’”
His go-to: dwarf hawthorn, a shrub with pretty white flowers, intriguing reddish- yellow fruit — and sharp thorns.
“It looks pretty,” he says, “until you walk through it.”
Adams has an extra layer of expertise that comes in handy as he plans your Maryland commercial landscape design.
“In a past career I did facilities maintenance,” he says.
That means he doesn’t just know how certain plants will look in your landscape — he knows exactly what it’s like to take care of them.
“Most landscape designers and landscape architects don’t have that background,” he says. “Not to badmouth them, but sometimes their designs aren’t sustainable from a maintenance standpoint. They might go with a big, flashy high-maintenance plant, or a tree that’s susceptible to disease. It will end up costing the client more down the road.”
Pollinator gardens are a big request these days.
“Pollinator gardens, native plants and sustainability are the new hot things,” he says.
He loves all three. But he has a caution or two.
“People say they want a pollinator garden, but they don’t realize they can be a maintenance nightmare,” Adams says. “Many of the plants pollinators love self-seed. That means their seeds go everywhere.” Those seeds become more plants.
“Once I explain things to customers they often say, ‘Ohhh, I didn’t think of that.’”
Everybody wants their property to look great. Adams’ latest go-to for curb appeal might surprise you.
“Bee balm,” he says.
Bee balm, also known as monarda, is a fragrant perennial in the mint family with tubular flowers in vivid shades of red, pink and purple.
“It’s an insect pollinator powerhouse,” Adams says, “and it looks great.
“You get a big pop of color and it comes in a variety of colors, which is great,” he says. It’s low maintenance, too.
Landscaping for HOAs and commercial spaces almost always includes bright and attention-grabbing annuals.
“I like to do annual seasonal color near the doors, so you have color there year round,” Adams says.
Another curb appeal sure thing: layers of plants.
A basic line-up of shrubs is boring. Adams might use a back layer of evergreens, a deciduous shrub middle layer, and a lower layer that's a ground cover or perennials and annuals for a pop of color.
“A tiered effect, if you do it right, gives you year-round interest,” he says.
“Some plants only look good for a month,” he says. “Flowering shrubs look great in the spring, then they’re just green.”
He loves using serviceberry, a four-season winner that offers pretty white flowers in spring, bird-loving berries in summer, fiery foliage in fall, and silvery bark through the winter.
Every client wants to save money, Adams says.
He has a few strategies:
“What’s on the property that’s doing well that can we keep? That saves money,” he says. Once he knows what plants can stay, he builds a plan around them.
The cost of showy annual flowers, replaced a couple times each year, can really add up.
Replacing them with perennials that come back year after year and need little maintenance saves money in the long run, Adams says.
But landscaping for HOAs and commercial spaces often involves annuals for their showy appeal.
“Some people really want to hang on to their seasonal color annuals,” he says. “Well, we can make those seasonal beds smaller.”
Reconsider how you use them. Instead of annual beds everywhere, prioritize a few pops of color where it really matters, like at your major entrances and maybe your clubhouse entry.
Native plants are indigenous species that have evolved naturally in a region, so they’re perfectly adapted to the space.
Virginia sweetspire, beautyberry, pink muhly grass and black-eyed Susan are all good choices.
Native plants automatically love it here, so they’re happier and healthier, needing less water than non-natives. And irrigation is a considerable landscaping expense, so native plants are great for cost-effective landscaping.
Here’s where Adams’ horticulture know-how comes in handy.
“Some natives are aggressive and can really take over,” he says. “They’re genetically designed to love it here.”
He can strategically choose native plants that will thrive without crowding out all your other plants.
Sure, Adams can give you beautiful flowers, a pollinator garden to bring butterflies to your door, layered planting beds that offer year-round interest.
But much of his commercial landscape design process involves fixing structural issues, solving problems, looking deeper than just what color bee balm is best for your raised beds.
The other day he did a site visit to an apartment complex where the property manager was unhappy with the strip of struggling grass between the building and the street.
“The maple trees there were not doing well,” Adams says. He took a closer look.
What would he suggest? New trees? Add some pavers? Some flowering shrubs? Maybe that bee balm he loves so much?
“The first thing they need to do is put in a curb,” he said.
A curb?
“A curb will help keep the soil from washing away and keep the road salt away from the grass and trees,” he says. “Then you can work on the plants.”
Landscape design for commercial properties in Maryland, DC and Northern Virginia isn’t just about plants. Adams takes a look at drainage issues, the slope of your site, foot traffic challenges, the way pavement can soak up the sun and add extra heat to nearby plants.
“I like taking something that looks ok and turning it into something that looks great that will last,” he says.
“To quote my dad, if you’re going to do a job, do it right the first time so you only do it once.”
If you think Adams’ ideas sound great here, you should see them in person. He’d love to bring them to your commercial property.
If you’re not already a Level Green Landscaping client, why not join 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.