If you have high-traffic areas on your property, particularly where people tend to take shortcuts and create their own pathways, then you might be looking for better ways to direct foot traffic.
Many of our property and facility manager clients want to be in control of where people on their commercial properties walk so that they don’t create unnecessary problems.
Oftentimes, property owners and managers don’t always think of landscaping to direct foot traffic, but we have helped clients come up with some really effective solutions over the years. And because we’ve assisted with various projects on different types of properties, we feel that we definitely have some ideas for ways in which landscaping can help direct pedestrian traffic around your property.
Here are some suggestions for high-traffic landscaping to consider for your commercial property.
#1: Make Shortcuts Less Accessible with Strategic Landscaping Additions
Shortcuts can quickly become a problem for properties with heavy foot traffic. This most often is an issue we see in multifamily apartment communities, hotels and resorts, and school campuses.
Oftentimes, the paved, delineated sidewalks aren’t always the quickest path to where people are going, so they’ll “cut through” a lawn or landscaped area. But whether for safety reasons or for concerns about trampling the lawn or creating a mess, you might not want those shortcuts to be taken.
This is a problem that we’ve frequently helped our clients overcome, and we’ve found it doesn’t have to be overly complex or costly to correct.
One simple way to discourage people from leaving a designated path is to block it off with a row of hedges or shrubs. It doesn’t have to be something really high or elaborate, just enough to keep pedestrians on the preferred path.
After all, you’re not trying to create the sense of an enclosed maze, or block sight lines across the property.
Even a plant bed lining the walkway with some lower-to-the-ground shrubs or some native grasses will still likely discourage most people from cutting through. It definitely helps to delineate the path where you want people to stay. And a large majority of people are “rule followers” who will stick to the path they’re shown.
#2: Make the Shortcut Safer
Another way that some of our clients have used high-traffic landscaping solutions is to “give in” to the shortcuts that people really want to take.
The thinking here is that if it’s a path that really does get people to where they want to go more quickly, then let’s find some ways to make it safer and more aesthetically pleasing.
After all, the truth is, if you don’t help to provide people with a shortcut, they’ll often make their own.
You don’t have to go with full-blown hardscaping to make a shortcut. Creating a safer “cut through” experience might mean the addition of a simple walking path using a material like decomposed granite or gravel. You’re now telling people walking around your property exactly where they should go if they want to use that “cut through.”
This achieves a number of different goals.
- For one, it makes the path safer. You can be sure to avoid or address trip-and-fall areas such as roots that are sticking out by directing the path through the safest route. Since wet grass, particularly wet grass with fallen leaves, can get really slippery, it also provides a safer surface to walk on.
- It restores some control. Rather than just seeing people take shortcuts all through the grass, the property owner or manager is now more in control of the direction to send that foot traffic.
- It also allows for the possibility of adding landscape lighting, which will make the path safer at night. If people were frequently using this cut-through in the dark, they could be at a greater risk of falling. But now you can add lighting to make navigating this path safer.
- You’re also preventing frustrations such as trampled grass or tracking mud into buildings (as people often do when they cut through wet grass). When you create a path on the shortcut that people want to take, they won’t just cut through the turf and create new problems for you or your landscape.
Along with these benefits surrounding safety, you also have the opportunity to create something more aesthetically pleasing by creating a designated walking path through an area that is frequently used as a shortcut anyways.
This ultimately becomes an enhancement for your property that is both beautiful and functional.
For instance, we have had clients add butterfly gardens along the path or add some other landscaping additions, like plant beds. Since you’re already making this enhancement to your property, it is a chance to improve the landscape and make it interesting.
#3: Make Turf Areas Where You Want People to Spend Time More Welcoming
Finally, while many of our clients come to us asking how to keep people off the turf in some areas, they often have recreation areas where they want people to spend time. These might be spots where you want guests, residents, or tenants to enjoy a picnic lunch, throw a ball, or simply soak in the sun.
By ensuring that you do have some recreational turf areas where people can enjoy being on the lawn, you help to discourage people from spending time on non-recreational spots where you’d prefer they didn’t walk or hang out.
You can help to attract people to recreational zones by making it clear it’s where you want them to come. This might mean adding a bench or even creating a path that leads directly to an open area. Again, you’re taking more control over where you want people to walk and spend time on your property.
Working with a Commercial Landscape Partner Who Has Ideas for Landscaping to Direct Foot Traffic
You should be able to look to your commercial landscaping partner as someone who can do more than just mow the grass or plant flowers.
You need a landscaping partner who has innovative ideas that will make your property better—safer, more aesthetically pleasing, and easier to navigate.
At Yellowstone Landscape, we often have clients across the country come to us specifically looking for our ideas and expertise. They often have foot traffic problems that they need to solve and they are looking for possible ideas.
Given our big picture perspective and the fact that we have the benefit of working with many commercial properties that have high-volume foot traffic areas that need solutions, we have plenty of ideas to suggest.
We always want to be a helpful resource and a guide when we can as we love the opportunity to be problem solvers.
When working with our larger commercial clients, we also don’t take these partnerships lightly. We understand that we play a role in keeping spaces safe, functional, and beautiful so that your guests, tenants, and residents can truly get the most out of them.
You deserve the peace of mind that your property is living up to everything that it can be.
Are you ready to hire a commercial landscaper that takes your needs (and problems) seriously? Request a quote and let us answer any additional questions that you may have.
