The Christmas season is the perfect opportunity to turn your commercial property into a festive showcase that not only draws in customers but also creates a welcoming, magical atmosphere. Whether you love twinkling lights or seasonal plants, there are loads of ways to enhance your outdoor spaces and get into the festive spirit. But decorating isn’t all for you – it can also leave a lasting impression on visitors, clients and employees, leaving positive feelings about you and your brand. Ready to transform your grounds into a winter wonderland? Here are our top tips to create a dazzling display while keeping things clean and clear all season long.
Deck The Halls
Decorating for Christmas is an absolute given – and who doesn’t love feeling festive? Adding seasonal décor is also an easy way to elevate your outdoor spaces and bring festive cheer to your premises. But it’s not just about hanging a few lights and putting up a Christmas tree. If you do it right, your seasonal décor can really make a statement.
Wreaths and Garlands: Why not frame your entrances with lush, green garlands and hang wreaths on doors and windows? Real ones can add a wonderful festive smell and can be used to feed the wildlife around your property afterwards. You can also add festive ribbons, pinecones and ornaments for a more personal touch, highlighting the natural beauty of the season.
Planters and Urns: Swap out your regular planters for winter-themed arrangements. Mix evergreens like holly or fir with seasonal accents such as red berries, white branches, or even miniature holiday ornaments. These touches bring life to your grounds and add pops of colour during the grey winter months.
Festive Installations: If you’re feeling really extra (and at Pod Landscapes Christmas is always extra), why not go beyond the basics and add in bigger holiday installations? Think life-sized nutcrackers guarding your entrance, twinkling reindeer grazing on your lawns or even a giant snowman to create a photo-worthy moment for visitors. These fun features captivate visitors and encourage them to linger, snap a few photos and share. Not only does it improve relationships with your customers, but it’s a great way to boost your social media presence too.
Winter-Hardy Planting For Year-Round Appeal
Some businesses are quite happy letting their grounds take on their natural, dormant appearance over the winter. However, many want to keep their grounds are attractive in colder months for their visitors and seasonal guests. For this, why not add evergreen plants, winter flowers and seasonal decorations to your outdoor spaces?
Evergreens: Evergreen trees and shrubs are the foundation of any winter landscape, since that’s the only way you can get colour into it! Their lush foliage gives you year- round volume and colour, and they’re perfect for hanging lights and ornaments on during the festive season. If you haven’t got any in place already, consider planting some to bring your grounds to life.
Winter-Blooming Plants: There are some plants that bloom in winter and give your premises an extra ‘oomph’ during the grey months. Hellebores (also known as Christmas roses), Winterberry and Red Twig Dogwood all offer pops of red, white and green, while being so hardy that they can withstand ice and even snow.
Seasonal Accents: You don’t have to put permanent fixtures into your grounds to make them feel Christmassy. Potted arrangements featuring greenery, pinecones, twigs and even ornamental cabbages (trust us on this one) can be placed to brighten up entryways or line walkways. They also have the added bonus of being easy to swap out or refresh as and when needed during the season.
Keep it Clean, Safe and Pristine
The festive season will see all sorts of decorations and new visitors come to your premises, so it’s more important than ever to keep it looking good and, most of all, safe. That includes:
Snow and Ice Management: Even though we don’t get a lot of white Christmases (at least down south), the English weather will still bring frost and ice. Commercial properties of any shape and size need to be able to keep their visitors and employees safe, which means walkways, driveways and parking areas need to be clear. Stock up on de-icing materials, invest in some snow removal equipment and create a snow clearance plan.
Litter and Debris: With more wind and an increase in foot traffic around the premises, you’re likely to see more litter, leaves, sticks, twigs building up around your premises. Regular clean-ups, especially after holiday events or sales, will keep your grounds looking near and inviting.
Weeds: A lot of plants will go dormant when it gets colder, but weeds don’t! They use the lack of competition from other plants as an excuse to grow bigger than ever. Some weeds even thrive in cold temperatures. So you need to take steps to address weeds now, or you’ll have a bigger problem come spring.
One Last Leaf Removal: The storms have been making short work of the remaining leaves on the trees over the last month, but even though most of them are gone, you will still need to get rid of any lingering leaves before the ice hits. If you need some help with that, you can always give us a call!
At Pod Landscaping, we offer a wide range of services to help keep your business premises looking good and operating safely during the winter months. From regular leaf clearance to power washing, lawn care and hedge maintenance, our experts are on hand to help. And since prevention is better than cure, we recommend starting your winter prep early, before the cold really has a chance to set in. If you would like to know more, just get in touch with the team today.
