5 Tips for Mixed-Use Development Landscaping

Some mixed-use developments are so inviting, with vibrant restaurants, upscale shopping, flickering fire pits, and a packed calendar of fun festivities, you just want to live there.

Oh wait, you can.

That’s the beauty of a mixed-use community — live there, work there, shop, dine, gather, and have fun.

The landscaping at these bustling hot spots has to look great all the time, and there’s little slow time for landscape maintenance.

It all poses some landscaping challenges for mixed-use buildings. Here’s how a great landscaping company rises to the challenges:

1. Landscapers Need to Stay Out of the Way

These busy mixed-use developments attract a lot of foot traffic. Residents, workers, shoppers, and diners are coming and going day and night.

That means some challenges for landscaping crews, who have to keep the landscaping pristine without interfering with pedestrians with their mowers and weed trimmers.

It means getting in early, tending to high-traffic areas first, then sticking to outer-edge areas by the time the traffic gets busy.

2. Outdoor Spaces Need Consistent Care

People get up close and personal in the green spaces at a mixed-use development — they don’t just admire the greenery from cars as they pass by.

At Silver Spring Metro Center, a focal point of the property is a pretty plaza that features the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s captivating wave pool. The 75-foot-long water feature is a big draw here, and so is the surrounding landscaping, which includes an expanse of green lawn and dozens of large containers brimming with colorful summer flowers and lush tropical plants.

Passers-by stop to read books, eat their lunch, or have impromptu meetings. One couple took their wedding photos in front of the wave pool. Movies and TV shows have asked to film there.

Another mixed-use development landscaping tip, a high-visibility community like this has to be show ready at all times.

That means crews stay on top of every detail with eagle eyes, and stay flexible enough to pop over for a quick refresh at a moment’s notice.

3. Keep The Landscaping Unique

Property managers of luxury mixed-use communities don’t want to look like everybody else. They want to stand out from the crowd and attract attention, so no ordinary landscaping will do.

At Annapolis Town Center, strings of lights twinkle over an open-air stage. A fire pit crackles with a welcoming glow. Shoppers can duck over for a wine tasting, flanked by big, stunning planters brimming with exotic tropical plants.

It’s 2 million square feet of high expectations, and the landscaping has to wow, big time.

Level Green constructed several open-air multi-use gathering spots that have become irresistible destinations, featuring an enticing fire pit beneath strings of lights on 13-foot poles, a stage and picnic tables — home to weekly wine tastings and other fun events.

It’s a multi-use mecca where people lounge outside near the shops, play corn hole, watch outdoor movies, and relax in chairs on the lawn.

The challenging goal: give people an experience.

4. Planter Perfection

Planters play a huge role in a high-end mixed-use development. The challenges: sheer number; filling them with bold, unique plants; and keeping them watered and thriving.

A mixed-use community landscape can have as many as 200 or more container gardens.

At Annapolis Town Center, the upscale property manager wanted planters unlike anyone else’s in town.

Level Green rose to the challenge, creating wow-worthy tropical-themed planters featuring exotic palms, colorful coleus, bright begonias, striking blue ageratum, and new varieties of salvia in fuschia and midnight blue.

All those plants need plenty of water. Level Green crews bring the water and fertilizer for the multitude of planters, in 250-gallon tanks on small trucks that can maneuver in the tight spaces of urban properties.

5. Be Prepared For Events

Property managers at bustling mixed-use buildings often have last-minute needs. Big outdoor events are part of mixed-use community life, attracting even more eyes to the landscaping.

Sometimes a last-minute budget is approved for a project the property manager needs right away. Landscaping account managers and crews have to be versatile and flexible.

Need Stand-Out Landscaping For Your Mixed-Use Development? Trust Level Green

Level Green Landscaping partners with several of the area’s luxury mixed-use communities, creating and maintaining high-end landscaping worthy of these properties’ stellar reputations.

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.