Elms Montjoy: Well-tended Greenery Creates a Sense of Home

When Level Green account manager Jesse Ware makes his rounds at Elms Montjoy apartments, he imagines he lives there.

“I put myself in the residents’ shoes,” he says. “You don’t want a tree branch hanging over your parking spot. You don’t want a shrub blocking the view from your window.”

He checks the flowers. Are they vibrant and welcoming?

He wants it to feel like home.

“Every door,” Ware says, “is someone’s front door.”

Welcome to Elms Montjoy

This vibrant 286-unit apartment community in Ellicott City, Md near Baltimore is known for its resort-style atmosphere and lush, mature landscaping.

“It’s important to the management to have this garden-style community,” Ware says. “They like mature evergreen plants. They like pops of color. They want it to feel like home, not an office building.”

Elms Montjoy partnered with Level Green Landscaping three years ago for their apartment landscaping maintenance services.

Right away, there were improvements to make.

Making Towering Trees More Manageable

“The biggest issue there when we started was the size of their holly trees,” Ware says. “Each door has two or three holly trees and they were reaching the third-story windows. They were actually blocking the windows.

“Our priority was reducing their size to a manageable height so we could reach them with our shears,” he says. “That really opened the place up.”

Tending the many trees and shrubs on the property is a priority for crews on their weekly visits, Ware says. A multitude of mature shrubs on the Elms Montjoy property include holly and Manhattan euonymous.

“The community’s management puts a high priority on the shrubs,” he says. “We spend a lot of our time pruning. It’s a big deal here.

“If shrubs outgrow their space too fast, they’ll have to replace them, and that’s an extra cost too soon,” he says.

It’s a big task.

“There’s too much to do all in one day,” Ware says, “so one day we’ll do buildings one and two. The next time three and four, then five and six. By the time we do them all, it’s time to start over again. We do it throughout the year piece by piece, so nothing gets out of hand.”

Crews also use a plant growth regulator to control shrub growth.

These products slow a plant’s growth to keep it tidier and under control, saving time and improving plant health, Ware says.

When you slow the growth of a shrub or hedge, it doesn’t need pruning as often, maintaining its neat, attractive shape longer.

When shrubs grow too fast, they can start to cover windows, provide hiding spots for intruders and block lines of sight on a property, all potential problems for commercial landscaping for apartments.

And, less frequent trimming is actually better for a shrub. Each time a plant is sheared, leaves and branches are opened up, making the plant more susceptible to diseases and insects.

Rejuvenation Pruning Revives Aging Shrubs

Ware puts a priority on extending the life of the property’s many mature shrubs to maintain the established garden feel the management values.

“You typically get 15-20 years out of plants and beyond that you’re on gravy time,” Ware says. “Well, a lot of these plants are original to the property, so they’re on gravy time.”

Rejuvenation pruning helps. It involves cutting a shrub back significantly to revive it, encouraging fresh, healthy growth.

“That helps reduce the size dramatically,” Ware says, “and you get a flush of healthy new growth.”

Tree trimming is part of the apartment grounds maintenance here, too, Ware says.

The property includes ornamental plum trees; crabapples; dogwoods and magnolias, offering a spectacular flower show each spring.

But they need regular attention.

“The management worries about tree branches hanging over the sidewalk and poking people in the eye,” Ware says. Level Green crews keep branches trimmed and tidy.

“It Has to Look Good All the Time”

While Elms Montjoy is home for many, it’s also a business designed to make money. Property management landscaping services is crucial for curb appeal.

“Their business is leasing housing, and there are two parts to that,” Ware says.

“One part is retaining residents,” he says. “It’s much cheaper for the company to keep residents in units. So, we want residents to feel at home as much as we can, so they want to stay. We want people to be happy and proud of where they live.

“Second, they want to attract new residents,” he says. “That means creating a wow factor when people drive in so they want to live there.

“Every part of it has to look good all the time,” Ware says. “The quality can’t drop off by the time you get to building six or building nine.”

Weekly Maintenance Keeps Things Tidy

Level Green crews visit weekly for apartment grounds maintenance

to keep the community’s landscaping tidy and healthy, from mowing and blowing to weeding, trimming and pruning.

Crews keep an eye out for weeds, faded flowers, dead tree branches or signs of any plant disease or pest damage.

“I’m there walking the site, checking to see what shrubs need pruning,” Ware says, “making sure no tree branches are hanging too low over the sidewalk. Do the flowers look good? Are there any weeds?”

A detailed turf care strategy is an important part of commercial landscaping for apartments. It keeps their lawn healthy and thriving, including targeted visits for fertilizing and weed control throughout the year, from spring through fall.

Attention to Irrigation Keeps Everything Green

The apartment complex landscaping maintenance includes irrigation maintenance.

Routine service inspections send crews to check the water pressure, adjust spray heads, and make any needed repairs.

Irrigation maintenance also includes proper spring start-up and fall shut-down procedures.

Timely adjustments make sure the irrigation system stays efficient, saving water and money.

A dependable irrigation system has been especially important lately, Ware says, with high temperatures and less rainfall taking a toll on landscaping.

“We’ve had a lot of drought around here for the last three years,” he says. “We’ve seen 20-year-old landscaping just give up and shrivel up and die.

“When your irrigation is running well, that doesn’t happen.”

Regular irrigation inspections also save money, he says, because they ensure the property isn’t wasting water.

Pretty Poolside Plants

Six big planters around the apartment community’s shimmering resort-style pool and sundeck add a luxury vacation vibe.

“When you’re by the pool you want to feel like you’re on a tropical beach,” Ware says. This year crews anchored the planters with tropical palm trees, surrounded by bright begonia and vinca flowers.

“We change the planter design each year so there’s always something different,” Ware says. “We really try to create that feeling of being at home.”

Seasonal color is an important part of curb appeal when it comes to commercial landscaping for apartments.

Level Green crews install colorful seasonal flowers at the property’s entrance monument and at the leasing office, too, planting begonias for the summer and replacing them with violas in the fall.

“We Want to Be an Asset for You”

A big part of his role here is paying close attention, Ware says.

“The biggest thing that we can do is just be proactive with things and make sure that we're coming to them with solutions before they need to come to us with anything,” Ware says. “But when they call, we answer, and we get it done for them.”

He keeps in touch with the site’s property manager by email, phone and in person. He also communicates with the Elms Montjoy apartment grounds maintenance

staff so they know when Level Green crews will be on site and what tasks they’ll be doing.

Each June, before the apartment community’s owners arrive for their annual walk through, Ware and Level Green crews devote even extra attention to the property.

“We make sure everything is pruned and weeded right before that happens, so they look good,” he says.

“We don't want to be just the company that comes in and cuts your grass and pulls your weeds,” Ware says. “We want to be an asset for you.”

They are, says Bria Wilson, property manager at Elms Montjoy.

“Landscaping plays a big part here,” Wilson says. “When residents and prospective residents pull in, the first thing they see is a beautiful property. We have landscaping around amenities that make it beautiful.”

The shade from healthy mature trees and shrubs also helps with cooling the buildings, she says, keeping the temperature regulated.

Wilson loves that she doesn’t have to worry about the property’s landscaping. It’s handled.

“There are a lot of things that we juggle day-to-day in the office, and it's always a big help that we don't have to worry about our community shining,” she says. “We know Level Green's going to come and step in and make sure that we look in tip-top shape and look the best that we can.”

Looking to take your commercial property to the next level? Contact us today and see how Level Green Landscaping can help.