Maybe you’ve added a sustainable feature to your commercial property and crossed sustainability off your list. Native plants? Check.
That’s done, right? Not exactly.
Real sustainability isn’t just a one-time thing. It’s an ongoing component of proactive commercial property maintenance in DC, Maryland and Virginia.
There’s a long list of potential ways to boost your sustainable landscaping throughout the year, and you can take it season by season.
What should be on your commercial property sustainability checklist? Smart irrigation starting in the spring. Native plants. Rain gardens. Sustainable pest control in the summer. Lawn aeration in the fall for less dependence on chemicals. Brine for snow and ice management in the winter.
Let’s learn more about seasonal commercial property maintenance, including:
Spring is when your landscaping wakes up for the new growing season, so there’s lots of potential for sustainability here, from smart irrigation to planting perennials to installing a rain garden.
When your irrigation maintenance technicians show up to turn on your water supply and check each zone of your system to make sure it’s working perfectly, they’re checking for any water waste, too.
They’ll check water pressure, inspect sprinkler heads, controls and sensors to see if anything needs adjusting, fixing or replacing.
They might suggest efficiency upgrades like water-saving valves and nozzles; rain sensors so irrigation systems don’t water unnecessarily; smart controllers that adapt to weather conditions; and drip irrigation that targets water at the roots specifically where plants need it.
Smart irrigation controllers adjust watering schedules automatically, preventing water waste.
Another benefit to smart irrigation: it senses if there’s a problem with your irrigation system and alerts you. If there’s an electrical issue, a leak, or if anything isn’t quite right, you and your landscaping company find out about it, and can initiate repairs, before your grass has a chance to dry up and die, or you waste valuable water.
A fresh layer of dark brown bark mulch is probably already part of your seasonal commercial property maintenance. It makes your commercial property look great, but it also counts as sustainable landscaping, helping your soil retain moisture, so you won't have to water as much.
Level Green crews begin applying spring mulch in February, weather permitting.
Spring is a great time to install a rain garden as part of your Maryland commercial landscaping. This attractive sustainable landscaping feature 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 rushing 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 property.
Bonus: some municipalities offer incentives and tax credits if you install a rain garden. Your account manager can help you find out if you’re eligible.
Annual flowers might be on your list of spring enhancements for your DC commercial landscaping, but perennials are sustainable landscaping superstars.
Plant perennials once, and they return every year.
Replace fussier annual flowers with lower maintenance pretty perennials like daylilies, hosta, sedum and graceful ornamental grasses. They’ll still attract attention to your property, with less maintenance and expense.
Perennials don’t need as much water or fertilizer as thirsty, high-maintenance annuals. So, they help the environment while going easier on your budget than annuals, which need replacing two or three times a year.
Go one step further and choose native perennial plants for an even bigger sustainable commercial landscaping boost.
Native plants, which originated here, naturally resist diseases and pests. They’re happier and healthier, needing less water than non-natives.
Use native plants to create a pollinator garden on your property for extra sustainable landscaping bonus points.
A few native favorites from Level Green team members: liriope; daylilies; butterfly milkweed; Red Switchgrass 'Shenandoah;’ summersweet; winterberry holly; Virginia sweetspire; serviceberry; Eastern redbud and red maple.
The heat of summer is tough on your Virginia commercial landscaping, but some sustainable practices can help, from checking on your irrigation system to battling bugs in a safer way than blasting them with chemicals.
What’s on your summer commercial property sustainability checklist?
During the heat of summer, your irrigation system is working hard out there. Every precious drop of water should count.
Make sure a summer irrigation system checkup is part of your seasonal commercial property maintenance.
Irrigation pros will look for broken sprinkler heads, clogged lines, or other problems that can waste water.
Summer means hungry damaging insects that can devour your tasty landscaping, from aphids to crape Myrtle bark scale.
Don’t blast them all with chemicals. A more sustainable approach is integrated pest management, often called IPM for short. It controls pests by combining multiple strategies, rather than relying only on chemicals.
Pesticides are used only when necessary and in targeted ways, minimizing risks to people, the environment, and beneficial bugs. Not all insects are harmful to plants.
Summer is a great time to make sure your stormwater management ponds are in compliance with local regulations. This includes clearing any overgrowth and making sure drains are clear and unclogged. They need expert attention.
But not all landscape maintenance crews know how to properly care for these important ponds, which means damaging stormwater runoff from your property’s pond could end up in area waterways, including the beautiful Chesapeake Bay.
Many Level Green team members are certified in professional landscape training to properly design and maintain the structures and features that keep stormwater under control.
The landscaping certification is administered by the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council, a non-profit dedicated to conservation landscaping to protect the Chesapeake Bay. The training teaches landscaping professionals how to avoid landscaping practices that are harmful to the environment.
Municipalities want to make sure that retention and detention ponds don’t fail, so they conduct regular inspections, checking for signs of erosion around the pond banks, clogged pipes, and sediment buildup.
When it’s time for your pond inspection, you want the security of knowing trained professionals have been maintaining your stormwater pond and ensuring it’s helping to protect the environment.
Your plants are winding down for the season, but there are still plenty of good opportunities on your commercial property sustainability checklist, from aerating your lawn for a health boost without chemicals to removing leaves in a way that returns them to the earth.
When your irrigation maintenance pros arrive to shut down your irrigation system for the winter so components don’t freeze, it’s one last chance to check for water waste and make any needed repairs.
Traditional turf programs tend to focus on fertilizer and weed killer, but there are ways to reduce their use and still achieve a healthy lawn.
Lawn aeration is great example, and fall is the perfect time to do it.
Aeration, followed by overseeding, encourages grass to grow thick and healthy enough to crowd out weeds.
Aerating pokes small holes in your lawn to let water, air and fertilizer get down to the soil. All that strengthens the roots, which creates a healthier lawn. Add aeration to your commercial property sustainability checklist.
Soggy, decaying leaves smother your turf and keep it from thriving. They need to go. Here at Level Green Landscaping, crews mulch leaves whenever possible, using a mulching mower that breaks the leaves down into nutritious bits beneficial to your turf.
But if you have a small property with lots of trees, you may have too many leaves to mulch. There's still a sustainable solution. Level Green crews remove them with a leaf vacuum, which shreds them and loads them onto a truck.
The leaves are trucked to a composting facility to turn into compost to enrich planting beds.
Don’t assume the end of the growing season signals the end of sustainability efforts for your Maryland commercial landscaping.
Partner with a snow and ice management company that respects the environment while they’re out there keeping your commercial property safe.
That means ditching rock salt, which has long been the standard solution for melting ice but is harmful to the environment.
Salt makes its way into area lakes, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay, creating a hostile environment for the crabs, fish and other creatures who live there. The environmental impact of too much salt is a big concern.
There are newer formulations of ice melt products today that do a better job with less harm.
At Level Green, we limit our use of straight rock salt by using other methods, too, including an engineered ice melt mixture that’s less corrosive than straight salt and friendlier to the environment.
Level Green also uses brine as part of its de-icing strategy. Brine is a precisely measured liquid mixture of water and salt that’s sprayed on roads, parking lots and walkways to prevent snow and ice from sticking.
Brine uses one quarter of the amount of salt as traditional rock salt, which means it’s much better for the environment.
And liquid brine sticks to the pavement, instead of scattering into surrounding vegetation, which protects plants and soil from excessive salt damage.
Make sure your commercial landscaping sustainability efforts extend all year long.
Q: Should we be using organic lawn care on our property?
A: Probably not. This answer might surprise you. It’s easy to assume the biggest sustainability impact you can make is to stop using chemicals on your lawn and switch to organic fertilizer and weed control.
But you’ll soon discover that organic lawn care costs considerably more than a traditional turf care program, and it doesn’t work nearly as well.
You won’t be happy with how your lawn looks.
A better sustainable landscape maintenance strategy: partner with a landscaping company that considers care for the environment in their turf care program, balancing sustainability with your need for a healthy and attractive lawn.
Part of Level Green’s responsible approach to weed control is limiting the use of chemicals. We apply the minimal amount possible to still be effective.
Meanwhile, we focus on strategies to encourage a thick, healthy lawn that naturally crowds out weeds, including aeration and overseeding and proper irrigation and mowing.
Q: Should we have a green roof installed for sustainability?
A: Green roofs are increasingly popular for commercial buildings in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. They reduce runoff, have a cooling effect and help clean the air.
But only add a green roof if you can follow through with the important maintenance it needs. Green roof maintenance tends to get neglected.
There are often thousands of plants up there, in hot sun and wind. They need plenty of maintenance, including regular watering; weeding; drainage inspections and replacement of any dead or dying plants.
If you’ve lost track of your commitment to sustainable landscaping, a good checklist can help.
There are lots of ways to have a more earth-friendly commercial property, from installing attractive and hard-working rain gardens to using brine to tackle snow and ice.
We’ve got you covered, with sustainable commercial landscaping in DC, Maryland, and Virginia that stands out from the rest.
Our expertise in installing and maintaining sustainable landscaping practices can help you ensure your property is doing its part to protect the precious environment.
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.