Blog Contributed by Stephen McClain
Today’s savvy employers are beginning to understand that providing a pleasant working atmosphere can be a huge benefit to their employees. Having a greenspace for employees to enjoy has been shown to reduce stress and depression in the work force. It goes to show that commercial landscaping is about more than just curb appeal.
But, how can office buildings improve their landscape? Commercial office landscaping used to mean a few well-placed benches among the flowerbeds with a fountain and calling it a day. Now, landscapers are getting creative to design beautiful spaces with a purpose.
Brickman designer Alison Alvord, of Atlanta Georgia, has noticed employers are paying more attention to adding amenities that improve their quality of life. A current project for a large healthcare firm has Alvord designing an exercise path that winds around the circumference of the property and parking lots. “Beyond just beautifying the campus, the client is making a significant investment to promote healthy, happy employees,” says Alvord. At different points along the trail, there will be plantings and seasonal interest, directional signs and indications of distance traveled, resting benches, and self-guided fitness activities. With the landscape keeping the client’s employees health conscious, the employees get to experience all the benefits of exercising while at work!
Nature helps alleviate mental fatigue by relaxing and restoring the mind. Within built environments parks and green spaces are settings that encourage social interaction and de-stressing through exercise or conversation, and provide calming settings. Having cheerful landscaping and vegetation in and around the places where people work and study is a good investment. Both visual access and being within green space helps to restore the mind’s ability to focus. This can improve job and school performance, and help alleviate mental stress and illness. All while providing a beautiful scenery for your business. Call your local landscape professionals at Great Estates to cheer up your business today!
In addition to being a manager on the landscaping maintenance, installation and turf management team at Great Estates Landscaping, Stephen McClain is a sports fanatic who enjoys spending time in nature and doing outdoor activities with his family.