5 Business Landscaping Ideas That Win Tenants & Customers

When was the last time you looked at your commercial property from the curb?

Take a minute. Does your landscaping invite you to take a closer look? Or cause you to keep driving?

Curb appeal is crucial for commercial properties, says Cole Allen, who works in outside sales at Outback Landscape.

“Curb appeal directly affects tenant retention, foot traffic, and first impressions with prospective clients,” he says. In other words, it’s a multi-tasker. Curb appeal can influence how customers, tenants, employees, and visitors perceive a property before they ever walk through the door.

“It's often treated as a business investment,” Allen says, “not just aesthetics.”

Jump to Section

• One Type of Curb Appeal Doesn’t Fit All

• Seasonal Color Rotation

• Boost Commercial Curb Appeal with Hardscape

• Edging for Commercial Curb Appeal

• Business Landscaping Ideas: Update Your Lighting

• Commercial Landscape Upgrades Include Irrigation

• FAQ About Commercial Property Landscaping

• Boost Your Commercial Curb Appeal with Outback

How can you improve a commercial property's curb appeal? Update landscape beds with colorful flowers and clean edging; add seasonal color rotations for year-round interest; upgrade hardscaping like walkways and entry features; install lighting to boost appeal.

Allen shares key elements of commercial property improvements in Idaho Falls.

One Type of Curb Appeal Doesn’t Fit All

The term “commercial property” includes a wide array of businesses, from retail to residential, office buildings to educational or health campuses.

Not everybody needs the same type of curb appeal boost, Allen says.

“Office buildings usually prioritize a polished, professional look for visitors,” he says. “Retail centers focus on eye-catching seasonal color and signage visibility to draw customers. And apartment communities lean into inviting landscaping that makes residents feel at home.”

Outback landscape designers assess each property's audience and goals before designing a plan for commercial landscape upgrades, he says.

But the plan typically includes some combination of appealing upgrades, he says: “Refreshed landscape beds with clean edging; seasonal color rotations for year-round interest; upgraded hardscaping like walkways and entry features; and lighting to boost appeal.”

A few strategic outdoor improvements can make an aging, outdated, or underwhelming property more attractive without requiring a full landscape renovation.

Let’s take a closer look at commercial property improvements designed for a curb appeal boost.

Seasonal Color Rotation

What are the best outdoor upgrades for a business?

Nothing brightens up the landscape like drifts of spectacular, colorful flowers in planting beds and huge planters packed with intriguing plants. Everybody notices.

The great thing about Idaho flowers and plants is that there are choices for every season. Summer flower power is obvious, but don’t neglect the other seasons.

Spring bulbs offer an explosion of color when we need it most, after winter’s dull days. Red and yellow tulips pack a huge color punch that winter-weary customers love.

Consider mass-planting bulbs or summer annuals for huge curb-appeal impact in your Idaho Falls commercial landscaping.

Mass planting uses massive drifts of flowers or plants to create modern, dramatic, and high-impact landscape designs.

Think a few hundred brilliant red begonias or hot pink petunias. Or 3,000 pink tulips.

Also, think beyond flowers. Intriguing plants with great foliage boost your curb appeal, too.

Some plants hit their stride in the fall, helping extend your commercial curb appeal.

Ornamental cabbage and kale come in beautiful shades of green and purple and offer interesting ruffly texture.

Add a red twig dogwood for showy coral-red branches or a holly with glossy green leaves and bright red berries for winter interest.

Looking for impressive drama? Supersize containers are perfect for entries.

Big tropical plants like banana trees or palms are great anchor plants in the summer. Colorful canna always attract attention.

Once the cool weather moves in, big planters can show off arborvitae, boxwood or holly in your Rexburg commercial landscaping.

Add twinkling white lights, and you're ready for the holidays.  

Boost Commercial Curb Appeal With Hardscape

Which commercial landscape improvements require the least maintenance? Think hardscape.

It looks great, works hard and needs little maintenance.

How’s your walkway? Your entry approach says a lot about your property. It’s a big part of a great first impression.

Is your walkway cracked, buckling, or just plain boring?

Don’t assume you’re stuck with the ordinary walkway that’s been out there for years. Builders often don’t install the most exciting walkway designs.

How can this commercial landscape upgrade enhance your curb appeal?

Make your walkway wider. Builder walkways are typically pretty skinny. A wider walk offers a more elegant and impressive welcome.

Add some curves for intriguing interest.

Have fun with pattern. Paver walkway design can be anything from classic herringbone to a contemporary mix of assorted paver shapes and sizes.

Add a border to upgrade your walkway and make it more memorable.

Edging for Commercial Curb Appeal

One of the commercial property improvements Allen suggests is one of the simplest: fresh edging on your landscaping.

Edging creates a clear, defined boundary between your lawn and other landscaping elements, including planting beds and walkways. It makes everything look crisp, neat and well-tended.

Edging accentuates the lines of your property’s lawn and planting beds, giving the whole site a well-manicured look that people notice.

Business Landscaping Ideas: Update Your Lighting

Basic lighting for safety is standard on a commercial property, lighting parking lots, walkways and steps.

You need more than that for impressive curb appeal in your Pocatello commercial landscaping.

Here at Outback Landscape, we love uplights.

Uplights are installed on the ground close to the base of your subject to highlight trees, plants, architectural details or landscape structures.

Lighting a pretty tree from the ground up shows off its interesting bark, branch structure and delicate leaves. Lighting columns from below adds drama and can create interesting shadows on walls.

Uplighting can boost important signage, too. Make sure overgrown plants don’t obscure your signage lighting.

Some features look best lit from above. Lighting a bed of beautiful hostas from above shows off their big, textured, variegated leaves after dusk.

If you have a patio or courtyard out front, adding festive string lights adds a welcoming vibe that’s hard to resist.

Idaho Falls Commercial Landscape Upgrades Include Irrigation

Remember those curb appeal plants we talked about earlier? They need dependable irrigation to thrive.

A few hundred red begonias are stunning. A few hundred dead red begonias? Less stunning.

And dead or struggling grass isn’t exactly a great welcome mat.

Don’t ignore your commercial property’s irrigation system. It works hard out there, so it occasionally needs repairs.

Have your irrigation system checked regularly as part of your commercial landscaping services in Idaho Falls.

Sprinkler heads can break or need adjustment. New technology also means upgrades that add efficiency, saving you water and money.

You can often swap your irrigation system’s spray rotors or pop-up emitters for new, more efficient ones. Updated sprayers use less water and may have a different spray angle that sprays water more efficiently.

Smart irrigation controllers maintain your watering schedule, so you don’t have to. They automatically adjust for weather and seasonal changes, using as little water as possible while keeping your landscape looking its best.

FAQs About Commercial Property Landscaping

Q: How often should commercial properties update their landscaping?

A: You should evaluate your commercial property for potential updates every year, making note of any changes in how your property is used; checking for overgrown plants or aging hardscape that need replacing; considering upgrades that will boost your commercial curb appeal.

Q: What are signs a commercial property’s landscaping has become dated or neglected?

A: These signs tell you that commercial landscaping needs attention, including:

• Overgrown planting beds

• Shrubs that block windows

• Weeds

• Bare spots in lawn or thin patches from heavy foot traffic

• Broken or leaking sprinkler heads that create safety hazards and kill plants.

• Low-hanging tree limbs

• Cracked or crumbling hardscape

• Aging, tightly clipped evergreen shrubs, as opposed to looser, more modern plantings

Q: What’s one quick and easy landscape upgrade to improve commercial curb appeal?

A: Fresh mulch. Mulch looks great, adding rich, dark contrast to green grass and colorful flowers. But it works hard for you, too.

Bark mulch conserves water so you need less irrigation. It keeps rain from washing away your soil, keeps weeds from popping up, and adds nutrients as it breaks down.

That “breaks down over time” part is key. Mulch installation isn’t a one-time curb appeal boost. You’ll want a fresh delivery of mulch in the spring for a commercial curb appeal jump-start.

Boost Your Commercial Curb Appeal with Outback

Take a minute to look at your commercial property the way potential customers and visitors do: from the curb.

Do you like what you see? Or does your business curb appeal need a boost?

At Outback Landscape, we have lots of great ideas for commercial landscape upgrades that draw attention to your property and impress the people you want to attract.

Some are as easy as fresh edging and mulch, a pop of seasonal color and showing off your property in a glow of new light.

We’d love to talk with you about your landscape ideas, needs and goals. We serve residential and commercial properties in Idaho Falls, Rexburg and Pocatello, Idaho, as well as Bonneville, Madison and Bannock counties.

Call us at 208-656-3220, or schedule a no-obligation meeting with one of our team members. We’d love to hear from you.