Commercial Landscaping Blog, San Jose | Bay Area | Santa Clara, CA

6 Safety Trends For Apartment and HOA Landscaping

Written by Sabrina Ayala | Sep 9, 2016 3:30:00 PM

As a property manager or building owner, the demands of tenants and consumers pull you in many different directions including challenges with your commercial office landscaping, things that include overgrown plant that’s blocking the view of the driveway exit or the raised concrete surface at the entrance to the leasing office that needs immediate attention.

Most commercial property landscaping have their unique challenges that pose safety concerns. Their are a multitude of areas that need to be considered when reviewing safety, including: Invasive plant types, pedestrian made pathways, invasive tree roots just to name a few, FloraTerra’s commercial landscaping services team has the right solution for most commercial properties.

When it comes to tenants, visitors and pedestrians, safety and liability can be a big concern on commercial properties. Property managers and owners shouldn’t think twice about correcting unsafe property conditions. Now try visualizing any potential liabilities that might be obvious – and go deeper – perhaps a safety hazard that might not be easily noticeable. Accident can be an expensive word. Let’s look at some of the potential liabilities that can be fixed.

Apartment and HOA Landscaping

Like most things, commercial lawn maintenance tasks, safety issues are generally easier to resolve the sooner they are identified. You just need to know where to look — or call the right commercial landscape service to help you look.

Let’s Review things:

Compacted Soil Conditions

In some instances, there are soil conditions that have not been dealt with correctly from the beginning, and here’s why. Unfortunately, due to the lack of structural soil support, heavy compacted soil is an area of concern. Hard pan can have a big impact on paved surfaces, retaining walls or ornamental planting beds that puts the public at risk — perhaps without you even being aware of it.

A professional landscape assessment can provide an in depth examination of your soil condition and also provide effective solutions for this challenge.

Construction Deadlines

In light of new apartment landscaping projects, there are always deadlines that must be met, projects with due dates. And in some cases these time frames result in poor construction management, with hazardous problems that may surface later.

On some properties, for example, we’ve seen stepping stones installed incorrectly. If a property owner installs the steps for pedestrian use and they are installed incorrectly, this may result in a trip and fall accident putting the property owner at risk of being sued.

Gopher Holes & Pest Control

Yes, this happens on properties!

Although commercial landscape companies do their best to monitor and control pest problems, it is not always a manageable event and may require a professional pest control company to help manage. Over time, untreated burrowing pests will eventually riddle the soil with holes making it an unsafe condition for pedestrians to walk and may cause one to lose balance creating a hazardous injury.

For example, we have seen gopher holes in plant beds where pedestrians cross over for short cuts to a building or parking lot. The digging pests can create large enough holes that may cause someone to twist and fracture their ankle — as a result; these conditions become a safety liability.

Over Grown Landscaping and Pest Intrusion

Plants are small when initially planted. With time, plants can become invasive causing many hazards in hoa apartment landscape service including; encroaching growth on walk ways, visual obstructions for vehicles in light of intersections and pedestrians and bridging points for rodents to access roof lines. Un-managed landscaping creates problems and with proper landscaping care it can be managed.

Another common problem we see are plants that are spaced closely to buildings, dense landscaping can provide shelter for insect and pests or even create termite problems – putting your property at risk of pest intrusion.

Foot Traffic Challenges 

Pedestrian shortcuts seem to be popular in commercial office landscaping and retail mall landscaping, especially in areas that are adjacent to parking lots, building entrances at commercial office buildings and retail shopping centers. Sloped area planters covered with loose bark could potentially be another hazardous concern, especially if someone decides to walk down the sloped terrain.

With bay area landscaping,we have found that installing taller plant material in short cut areas or erecting physical barriers help deter foot traffic and short cutters. A creative landscape design will improve the look of your property and can reduce potential problems.

Need to safety proof your corporate landscaping services? Join up with our Landscaping Team!

What’s your goal this year? We can help you improve the safety and visual appearance of your property. For over 15 years, FloraTerra has been helping commercial properties solve their safety problems. Consult with one of our Certified Landscape Managers for a complete landscape assessment.

Through the various stages of landscape design and installation, FloraTerra provides a suite of commercial landscape management services meeting your goals, and increasing your commercial asset value.

Need Help With Your Landscaping?

Let’s talk corporate landscaping. Call us any time at 408.275.1200, or click here to schedule a meeting.

 

Corporate Landscape Maintenance in San Jose

FloraTerra  provides commercial office landscaping , multi-residential landscape management services, retail landscaping in and around the south san francisco bay area. Our corporate lawn care includes a complete range of services appropriate for sustainable landscape design, landscape water management , Retail Mall Landscape Management, R & D Landscape Development, Luxury Apartment and Condominium Landscaping, Residential Estate Landscaping, HOA Community Landscaping Services for Multi-Building Developments, Commercial Office Park Landscaping and Corporate Campus Landscaping. Our landscape service territory extends throughout the greater South San Francisco Bay Area.

ABOUT FloraTerra Landscape Management

FloraTerra of Silicon Valley and its affiliates, are based in San Jose, California.  As a leading commercial landscaping service for office and multi-residential properties.Since its origin the company and its affiliates have installed and maintain some of the most prestigious properties throughout the san jose and greater bay area.  For more information about FloraTerra please visit us at: http://www.floraterra.com.

San Jose | Santa Clara | San Francisco Bay Area | Fremont | Sunnyvale | Milpitas | South Bay