There is no denying a well-maintained landscape adds curb appeal to a property. The value, though, goes beyond how your home or commercial property looks.
There are intangible benefits
It improves our mood and attitude
Many of us have great memories associated with time in nature as kids. It may have been playing in the sand and water at the beach, walks in the woods, or hikes in the mountains. Regardless of memory, we like being in nature. Citing a study isn’t necessary to know humans like nature, and need it. It makes us feel good, especially when our days are spent inside behind computer screens, desks, or machines.
In the Pacific Northwest, our winter months are described as dark, dreary, depressing. Once the sun returns and the rains taper off, we’re outside in nature. Why? The sun, the colors, the birds chirping - all of it - feels good.
A well-maintained landscape at your home or office, and it doesn’t matter if you have a professionally designed and planted space, if it’s all natural or something in between, will improve how your mood.
- Your attitude is improved when heading into your office walking past freshly mowed green lawns and trimmed hedges.
- You’ll have that same relaxed mood getting home at the end of a long day as you did heading out to the woods as a child - relaxed and free.
- Being in your yard will bring you closer to nature and how you felt as a kid.
That feeling doesn’t apply to you alone.
It makes OTHERS feel good too
A well-manicured and maintained landscape makes your home more inviting to others. It is more attractive and others feel welcome. The same impact it has on you, it has on others. Walking past green grass, trimmed shrubs, and clean planting or flower beds will have a positive effect on visitors.
For commercial property owners, others feeling good translates to more productive workers and happier. Both have a significant positive impact on your bottom line - far greater than the cost of maintaining your property.
It improves the environment
Landscaping, when properly maintained, helps with erosion control and water run-off. Plants, trees, and flowers provide food sources for bees and other insects, they provide homes for birds and other critters and clean our air.
It reduces crime
Studies exist to show that landscape design and the maintenance of landscaped areas decrease crime. It makes sense. Maintenance indicates people care, are active, and alert in the area..
“..signaling to criminals the presence of social capital and the active involvement of neighbors in community spaces; and more appealing landscaping draws more “eyes on the street,” which in turn deters criminals.”
With landscape care and maintenance having the benefits, they do, the question isn’t whether it should be done, but rather by whom.
DIY or Professional
Doing it yourself or hiring a neighbor may sound like a less expensive option, though it may cost you much more down the road.
- A professional team has the correct tools for the job. Buying the right tools can be costly. Using the wrong ones can damage plants (which may or may not recover).
- Professionals have the expertise needed to know what and how much to prune or trim and know when to perform that maintenance. They will know how much and when to feed or fertilize.
- Hiring a professional means not having to deal with trimmings. Pruned branches, raked leaves, and other clippings need to be bagged and dumped.
In addition, there is the ‘human’ factors:
- Yard work, especially if you are paying close attention to details, is time-intensive. That means landscape maintenance means less time with your family or recreational activities. In time, even if you enjoy yard work, it will likely become a chore.
- Landscape maintenance is physically demanding. It may be great exercise but it can also lead to injury in the form of pulled muscles and sore joints.
- Injuries can and do happen. Aside from above, trimmers, edgers, and lawnmowers can result in serious injury. Bee or wasp nests within shrubs pose a risk.
Seeing your beautiful landscape just feels good. It’s why you invested in your landscaping. It’s why you maintain it. Coming home or going to work with it looking beautiful beats knowing there is the chore of all the work you need to do or have done.
Enjoy your property and yard. Leave the maintenance to the professionals
It will look better, you’ll feel better and it will increase the longevity of your landscape elements.
Rather than “Should, you hire a professional team to maintain your landscaping?”, you should be asking “Which residential maintenance plan or commercial maintenance plan is right for me?”
