Adapting Your Landscape to the Pandemic

We could jump right into several platitudes about this year, but we’ll just cut to the chase—2020 has been rough.

Beyond the personal struggles we’ve all faced, our businesses and livelihoods have taken a hit. Millions of Americans went from being successful to just scraping by seemingly overnight. Now, as businesses try to adapt to the current environment, they are being forced to adapt to guidelines, regulations, and entirely new ways of conducting business.

Thanks to COVID-19 and the accompanying restrictions, working from home is more common than ever, many stores have limited capacity, lines to enter buildings stretch into the outdoors, and more. Despite the challenges businesses are faced with now, there are certain changes that can be made to benefit them, their employees, and their customers.

One adaptation that can be made to create a healthier, more positive environment in the midst of the pandemic is the reimagining of outdoor spaces. At Landcrafters, we’ve been developing outdoor sanctuaries for businesses and individuals for two decades and are confident that implementing such features has never been more important!

COVID-19 Landscape Changes

Every property is different, as are the preferences of those who own them. It’s this individuality that makes our job so fun! That’s why we encourage you to use the following ideas as inspiration or foundations on which to build your own vision!

Outdoor Work Areas

One thing that experts mostly agreed on is that getting outside during the pandemic is a good thing. Whether it’s getting your exercise on a bike ride or a hike or enjoying the fresh air while you eat or work, mother nature does a pretty good job of lowering the risk of contracting the virus. There’s also a mountain of scientific evidence that confirms spending time in nature provides numerous health benefits.

With these factors in mind, we present you with one of our favorite landscape features—outdoor work areas! Whether you’re a small business or a large office park, creating green sanctuaries for people to enjoy is a fantastic idea, especially in the midst of the pandemic.

Because so much work is now done on laptops, employees can remain productive while enjoying the benefits of the outdoors. Even team meetings can take place outside, as the breeze and sunlight both aid in the reduction of contraction risk.

Of course, you should still take precautions when outdoors. Social distancing and other prevention methods are recommended no matter how open and free the green space may feel.

To generate a healthy outdoor area in which your employees can be productive, you will want to properly distance workstations, benches, and tables. You should also consider accessibility and address it by using paving tiles or other aesthetically pleasing ways of creating stable surfaces on which your employees can congregate and walk. Other nice touches would be sources of shade so that the space is usable even when the sun is shining or the rain is pouring down and plenty of shrubs and flowering plants for workers to enjoy!

Make the Wait Worth It

Long lines outside of retail businesses, restaurants, and even doctor’s offices have become a relatively common sight. While this is less than pleasant in general, it can be especially draining in Florida where the sun beats down all day.

To offer some reprieve and make the wait more enjoyable, we recommend creating a better setting. From brightening the mood with Florida-friendly flowers to making an immersive greenspace that acts as a public park might, you can make the arduous task of waiting in the Florida sun more tolerable.

Consider adding shade trees to your outdoor waiting area, placing benches in six-foot increments, and installing functional and stylish lighting for those early-risers and late-nighters. You may even implement water features into your design to help further feelings of calm and peace during this turbulent time.

Working from Home

The pandemic has caused a tremendous upsurge in the number of individuals working from their homes. If you fall into this category, don’t worry—you don’t have to miss out on the greenspace revolution!

With a reasonable budget and a bit of time, you can make your own backyard oasis in which to work. All you need is a few shrubs to create privacy, a source (or two) of shade, comfortable outdoor furniture, and perhaps some outdoor lights.

Of course, you don’t have to stop there. Your outdoor workspace can be as simple or elaborate as you please! You can even work with a landscape professional to help your dream come to life.

No one expected the incredible challenges 2020 would bring, but the resiliency and ingenuity of humanity have been on full display as a result. We have adapted and, in many ways, overcome. With small changes to the way we approach normalcy—including something as simple as rethinking our outdoor spaces—we have learned how to make some of the forced adjustments more pleasant.

If you enjoyed the tips and tricks to adapting your landscape to the world in 2020, we hope you’ll check out more of the free landscape insights we share on our regularly updated blog. It’s packed with landscaping knowledge, both general and specific to Florida, that we’ve accumulated over two decades!

For more information, to discuss your unique projects, or to receive a quote on reimagining your landscape in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, give us a call at (727)-201-3947 or contact us via our website. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you create the landscape of your dreams!