Environmental Insights

There’s nothing appetizing about a restaurant with a rundown, dirty exterior. If that’s how they maintain the outside of the business, just imagine what goes on in the kitchen, right?

Likewise, the look and state of your facility’s grounds tell clients and employees both a lot about how things are run on the inside.

The outdoor space is the first and last thing people see when they visit your site, so make sure it’s a good representation of what goes on inside your company. If it’s not, you could lose business and top-notch team members. Plus, it can lower employee morale, creating unhappy and unmotivated workers. Mediocrity never inspired anyone.

Here are five big-impact ways to add color and curb appeal to your corporate campus landscape.

Keeping your property safe, secure and free of potential problems is always at the top of your mind. You know if they aren’t priorities, you could end up facing fines or even liability issues — which can lead to costly, major consequences.

Instead of having a list of what ifs constantly on your mind, add environmental services to your landscaping contract.

Has any of the following ever happened to you?

You hired a landscape company in good faith, expecting reasonable work, but instead you got:

• Damage to your property, such as broken siding or scratched vehicles
• Grass clippings strewn over your sidewalks
• Yard waste left on your property
• Untidy or unhealthy plantings
• Persistent irrigation leaks that eat a hole in your utility budget
• Drainage issues — think standing water — after an landscape installation
• Shoddy concrete or masonry work
• Work left undone

There are a few solid, reputable landscape companies in Macon, GA that deliver professional work. Unfortunately, though, not all do.

How can you know ahead of time whether a commercial landscaper can be trusted? Take a look at this handy checklist to help you hire the best commercial landscaper in Macon GA.

So you’ve been tasked with drawing up a budget for your company’s landscaping needs. Where to start?

Yesterday I sent an affidavit off as an expert witness for a landscape-related lawsuit. It got me thinking.

When most people look at their landscaping, litigation is the last thing that enters their mind. Yet a poorly maintained landscape opens up more opportunities for someone to sue you than there are spots on a baby deer.

I hate to say it, but a quarter of a century in the landscape business has given me a certain amount of perspective into human nature, and it isn’t always pretty. There are people who look for opportunities to exploit your weaknesses if they think it will get them money.

If you don’t meet certain minimum standards, or if you cut corners on the proper way to maintain your property, they will find an opening sooner or later — and the way our legal system is set up, they will probably win.

Lush lawns, fragrant flower beds, elegant shade trees. A well-maintained landscape is one of the most relaxing sights on the planet. But if you’re the property owner, don’t let your guard down. That beautiful scene hides many potential hazards.

Landscape-related pedestrian injuries are more common than most people realize. Besides the pain and inconvenience they cause, such injuries can — and often do — result in costly lawsuits.

It’s not uncommon for litigation costs to exceed the cost of a landscape installation!

“So give it to me straight — how much will this installation cost my company?”

It’s a good question and one that any facilities manager or property owner who is pricing commercial landscape design and installation is justified to ask. But it’s not a simple one to answer.

The most honest and accurate way to answer the cost question is to take the entire life cycle of the installation into account. Most property managers are familiar with the concept of life cycle costing, but many are unaware of just how important it is to consider when budgeting for landscaping.

Landscaping is uniquely dynamic in the world of facilities management. Landscape plants are living organisms with varying life cycles. Each will affect the functioning of the property. Besides aesthetics, they can each impact safety, energy efficiency, human behavior, and the structural integrity of the surrounding buildings in ways that can add to or detract from the final value of the installation over time. The quality and design of hardscape elements will also influence the ultimate cost of an installation dramatically.

Any life cycle cost analysis for a commercial landscaping project needs to take these things mentioned above into account.