How do your commercial grounds look right now? Whether you manage a business park, office building, public space or a care home, take a look outside and tell us what you see. At this time of year, you’re probably seeing bare trees with the smallest hints of new greenery. Muddy grass, sprigs of daffodils everywhere, lots of weeds, and maybe even some dead leaves if you didn’t manage to keep up with it all year. It’s no wonder facilities managers are always so busy! But what if we told you that with just a little bit of planning, you can reduce the amount of maintenance work your grounds actually need, without taking away any greenery?
The Advantages of Low-Maintenance Plants
Office and commercial landscapes are busy and dynamic environments, so you need to strike a balance between things looking nice and being practical. The solution? Low-maintenance plants. These types of plants have a lot of advantages, without losing any of the benefits of a beautifully designed office garden design. Just a few of the advantages you’ll see are:
Time and effort savings: Running a commercial premises of any size is a challenge, and spending excessive time on plant care might not be all that practical for you. But you don’t want to turn your premises into a giant paved space either. Low-maintenance plants require minimal attention, so you and your employees can enjoy the benefit of greenery without the constant upkeep.
Cost-effective: Not only do low-maintenance plants mean you don’t have to keep buying new flowers every year, but it also saves you money in routine upkeep. This type of plant tends to need less water, fertilizer and even reduced pest control measures, all of which add up to good cost savings.
Resilience: Low-maintenance plants are typically very hardy, which means they can tolerate varying weather conditions. Very useful for the unpredictable climate of the UK!
A Better Look: Even with minimal care, low-maintenance plants can add charm and visual appeal to your office landscape. With a good selection, you can create an inviting outdoor environment for employees and visitors.
Our Top Picks For Low-Maintenance Plants
When you’re looking for low-maintenance plants for your grounds, picking a good mix is crucial. Ideally you want plants that will offer you year-round colour, good texture, architecture and visual interest – which is no small feat to find in one place! We work with our clients to not only maintain, but help design commercial grounds with these things in mind. Depending on your space, a few of the plants that might be included in this design include:
Lavender: Who doesn’t love lavender? Known for its calming fragrance and vivid purple blooms, lavender is the ultimate low-maintenance flower. It also attracts pollinators like bees and butterflies, which makes it great for increasing the biodiversity in your grounds. Once it’s established it doesn’t need a lot of water, and loves well-drained soil.
Euonymus Japonicus: Also known as ‘Green Spider’. A good alternative to the box hedge, these evergreen shrubs only grow to around 4 metres, making them perfect for low hedges. They’re happy in full sun or partial shade, which makes it a very popular choice.
Sedum: These are succulent plants, and you can get them in a variety of sizes and colours to suit your landscape. They’re drought and flood tolerant (which is good for our climate) and can thrive even in poor soil conditions, making them a popular choice for busy office landscapes.
Forsythia: These beautiful shrubs are known for their vibrant yellow flowers, which unfurl in early spring all along the bare branches before the leaves appear. They’re an upright shrub, which makes them a great addition to any grounds for height and contrast. They’re tolerant of most soil types and cope very well in cold places.
Japanese Spurge: A ground cover plant that thrives in shaded areas. It forms a dense mat of glossy green leaves that look gorgeous all year round, and the only maintenance it needs is a little weeding.
Bamboo: This fast-growing plant is perfect for a contemporary, modern look. Make sure you look for clumping bamboo, as these varieties are non-invasive and provide a great natural screen or divider in outdoor spaces.
You might be surprised that box hedges aren’t on this list. It’s true that they’re a low-maintenance plant, but in 2022 an influx of box caterpillars put pause to that. These little caterpillars are like locusts, eating through any form of buxus plant at a rate of knots. They’re almost impossible to treat effectively, and we expect any box hedges that escaped last year’s infestations will be gone. So instead, we plant Green Spider.
Caring for Your Low-Maintenance Plants
Remember, we said these are low-maintenance options, not no maintenance. There is still a little bit of care to do if you want healthy, long-living plants. Making sure they have enough water when they’re first planted, and a regular watering schedule once they’re established is a must. Applying a layer of mulch during the autumn or early spring can help keep moisture levels right and stop the soil from drying out. And of course, you will need to give them a prune every now and then!
Of course, if you’re working with Pod Landscapes, then all of that is included in your maintenance package! We specialise in all areas of grounds maintenance for commercial premises – which means our team can put together a maintenance plan that fits your business and your budget. So even with low-maintenance plants, you can have immaculate-looking grounds all year round. If you’d like to find out more, just get in touch with the team today for your free, no-obligation consultation.
