When it comes to looking after a business park, we know there are a lot of things you need to think about. And right now, one of the last things on your mind will be how your grounds look. But now the weather is starting to pick up and lockdown is easing, it’s time to look around and take stock of your ground’s maintenance situation. How have you been taking care of them, are you happy with how they look, and do you need to make any changes? To help you figure that out, we’ve put together a checklist of things to ask yourself, or to consider about your grounds maintenance this year.
General Maintenance Questions
Before you go ahead with any sort of plan, you need to ask yourself a few questions first. It can be a bit difficult to figure out which way is up this time of year, especially when we have glorious sunshine followed by snow! But the plants around your grounds will soon start to flourish (if they haven’t already), and by taking some action now you can transform their appearance, and the appearance of your business, for the better. For now, ask yourself:
In-house, or professional?
Keeping the maintenance and care of your grounds in house might seem logical at first. After all, hiring one person to just do grounds maintenance should be more cost effective – right? Well, not necessarily. By hiring a good, reliable contractor you could save yourself time and effort in hiring, training and managing an employee, not to mention the actual time you’re paying them to work! If you have those resources on hand – great! But if you don’t, then your time and effort can be better focussed elsewhere, while a professional can look after your grounds for you.
Are you happy with the maintenance of your grounds?
This one can be tricky to answer, especially if you don’t spend a lot of time in them. Don’t worry – that’s OK! Many people spend most of their time at a desk and not much time ambling around their grounds. But next time you have 5 minutes, take a walk around and really look with a keen eye, making notes of any areas you want improved. Think about what your staff and visitors will see when they arrive – after all first impressions matter and you must make them last.
Could you benefit from an outside opinion?
If you’re not sure about your grounds, if they are being cared for properly or what to do with them, then there’s no harm in getting a professional opinion. Most professional grounds maintenance companies (including us) are happy to offer a free site survey, which can help you understand what’s going on with your grounds, and highlight some improvement points for your maintenance.
Improving Your Environment
Once you understand where you are now, it’s time to work out how you want to improve. Because running a business park is all about providing a good working environment for your tenants and their visitors. And while most business parks focus on getting their interior spot-in, many forget about the outdoor environment. But by investing time and money into your grounds, you can improve air quality, reduce noise pollution, improve the mental health of your customers, and even control the temperature! Here are just a few tips to start you on your way,
Make the most of your outdoor landscape
Yes, the harsh British winter can make the outdoors seem like a very unappealing place. But now that the sun’s out and lockdown is lifting, it’s time to look at how your staff and visitors will use your outdoor spaces. Do you have an outdoor area for employees to spend their break times? Areas for walking, or sitting to relax? Do you have an outdoor option for meeting spaces, which can be especially useful in the summertime? It’s been well proven that spending time outside for even 5 minutes a day can improve mental wellbeing, and providing people using your business park with a variety of functional and beautiful outdoor spaces can be really valuable.
Understand the benefits of wildflowers for commercial landscapes
A lot of business parks and commercial sites in general have avoided planting wildflowers in the past. But wildflowers can dramatically increase the biodiversity of your site, which in turn helps support the environment as well as improving the appearance of your grounds. Wildflowers provide food and homes for insects, birds and mammals, and there has been a lot of focus on wildflower planting schemes in commercial landscapes over the last few years for this exact reason. Wildflowers are also incredibly low maintenance and very attractive to look at and even smell, so it’s not hard to see why they are a good option all around for business parks. So embrace the wild nature, and enjoy the benefits!
If you would like to know more about grounds maintenance for commercial areas, or you would like to ask us a question about maintaining your business park grounds, we would love to help. Just get in touch with us today to book your free consultation, and see your grounds come to life.
