Those of us fortunate enough to work in the landscape industry know that people’s quality of life can rise just by being able to look at flowers alongside a grassy meadow or rest under the shade of an iconic live oak tree. If more people understood how vital attractive green spaces and nature are to the human experience, there would be a lot more planting happening.
This is especially true of properties where people are most often in need of an uplifting experience—hospitals and senior care facilities.
Greenery and biophilic environments are scientifically proven to reduce stress and speed up healing. That means the world to patients and residents often dealing with chronic stress, which is linked to increased inflammation that can lead to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, dementia, and cancer.
The first thing that may come to mind is how to enhance the attractiveness of your outdoor areas to gain these benefits. Visual aesthetics are a critical part of the recipe for success. However, it takes several ingredients to make the most positive impacts on landscaping for hospitals and senior living communities.
Despite all the research and best intentions, here are five challenges that can get in the way of creating a more natural, healing environment.
It can be easy to overlook the challenge of simply navigating outdoor areas safely. However, for those with mobility challenges, it’s impossible to overlook. And the number of people with mobility issues is naturally higher at medical facilities and senior living communities.
People who use wheelchairs, walkers, and canes deserve safe access to attractive green spaces.
The main way to make that access possible is by ensuring all walkways are smooth, level, and have non-slip surfaces. Pathways need to be wide enough to allow easy passage of wheelchairs and electric scooters. Elderly people and recovering patients also require gently rising and declining slopes on walkways.
Safety handrails are another component to providing easy navigation for patients, residents, and visitors. Don’t forget comfortable seating along walkways and inside garden areas or courtyards. Mindful seating offers rest while providing views of well-kept landscaping.
All those accessibility aspects of landscaping for hospitals start with professional landscape designs that help prevent future problems. Without reliable, systematic maintenance programs, though, your commercial property could still pose safety hazards or hassles.
The same goes for functional landscape elements that must be visually appealing too (examples below).
Another possibly overlooked challenge with landscaping for seniors and at medical facilities is plant selection. You want patients and residents to benefit from sensory-friendly plants (see the benefits of ecotherapy here) but be aware of the potential for allergy problems.
The solution may be to work with a landscaping provider with comprehensive experience and one that’s well-versed in the “right plant, right place” philosophy. Having a provider with this knowledge means your turf, trees, and flowers will be healthy and vibrant while requiring less upkeep—saving you money. But it goes further, as they’ll also give you attractive plant options without risking allergy problems for at-risk people.
The following list shows you don’t have to be limited in plant selections, either.
And there are other great plant choices to include in landscaping for hospitals. Boxwood shrubs can provide privacy and structure without worrying about pollen. Fewer worries about allergies with the Japanese maple either, and it’s hard to name a more desirable tree.
Of course, variety is the spice of life, especially where positive sensory aspects matter most. So, your commercial landscape partner should offer options that include ornamental grasses, herbs, and colorful flowers like hibiscus.
#3 Seasonal Hazards: Snow, Ice, Leaves and Fall Risks
This could be the most important challenge to pay attention to when it comes to landscaping for hospitals and senior living facilities—seasonal hazards. Snow and ice come immediately to mind. However, leaves present serious risks too.
Let’s start with de-icing.
You want a reliable provider that stands ready when winter storms hit. With zero-tolerance snow and ice policies, you can’t afford to have a provider leave you hanging. After all, your patients (and staff) must be able to access critical care 24/7, regardless of harsh weather scenarios.
Also, it’s important that your provider uses eco-friendly de-icing products and has plenty of it on hand (the supply chain can lag during brutal winters). Thoughtful landscape design from the start helps prevent snow and ice hazards due to drainage issues. Plus, a good commercial landscape strategy helps protect your plants from necessary de-icing efforts.
Timeliness is key to preventing property damage too, so have a snow and ice plan prepared in the springtime so your provider can map the property while free from snow that can hide hazards that could be hit by machinery (i.e., fire hydrants, small planters, etc.).
Removing fallen leaves is just as vital as clearing snow.
Studies show wet leaves can cause vehicles to slide as they reduce braking effectiveness. Then there are the fall risks with landscaping for seniors when leaves left lying cover up uneven ground or tripping hazards. Falls are a top cause of elderly injuries but it isn’t just hospital patients or senior facility residents. Many visitors are seniors, too, and have mobility struggles that make them prone to falls.
Here are five desirable plant types that minimize hazardous shedding for medical facility landscaping:
These plants mean less foliage debris on walkways and a reduction in fall risks. Still, there are more things to consider when it comes to seasonal hazards.
Leaf removal is a noisy and dusty process. If possible, try to have this service performed during off-peak hours at your facility. Loud noise is often rated as one of the most irritating stressors, especially when a person is already facing medical problems or age-related hardships.
Off-peak scheduling also means there’s less foot traffic and vehicle traffic. This provides a safer environment for people on your commercial property. It also protects anyone with allergy issues from being near areas where dusty leaves are being mulched, blown, and vacuumed.
One mistake facilities make with leaf removal that would never make with snow and ice removal is not being consistent. It’s safer to do three to four leaf clean-ups per season than waiting until all the leaves fall and doing a one-time clean-up.
#4 Enhancing Courtyards, Walking Areas and Window Views
The fourth challenge facing property owners and managers of healthcare facilities is how to enhance green spaces on these unique properties. It can be difficult to provide top-tier landscape aesthetics that fit the needs of patients versus visitors versus employees (they have different perspectives).
This challenge must be met head-on, though. Nature’s soothing and healing effect matters too much to patients and senior citizens to ignore. Multiple studies show how window views of nature can lead to better outcomes for hospital patients, and ecotherapy is a rising trend.
Plus, it's common knowledge that people desire better views. In every real estate segment, buyers pay more for attractive views, from lakes to gardens to enchanting hardscapes.
For example, installing a small fountain or pond makes a positive impact with great ripple effects. The visuals are the main point, but consider the wildlife that water features attract. Imagine being unable to leave your hospital room but being housed with a view of songbirds or playful squirrels.
What about shaded benches and seating areas? These add comfort and natural gathering places for all the people using your property. With innovative shade structures, you’re providing UV protection along with shelter from rain. At Yellowstone, we recommend planting trees for shade protection because they add long-term value. Yet, some properties need immediate shade or don’t have the space to add trees that expand in size annually.
Walkways may seem like an afterthought with landscaping for hospitals, yet they have hidden benefits. The more attractive your paths, the more people will use them. That offers untold health benefits from your staff using walking trails for exercise and meditative purposes. The same goes for visitors to senior family members needing a way to relax and contemplate heavy decisions about loved ones.
The best way to encourage use of walking paths and meditative courtyards is to enhance the landscaping. Simply ensuring the landscape is neat and well-kept means more people will notice pathways, then utilize them daily. Extra efforts like the following ensure your spaces offer calming views to people:
Practices that incorporate nature or ecotherapy have proven effective in pain relief and even in managing traumatic conditions like PTSD.
The final challenge we’re covering in landscaping for seniors and hospitals is balancing landscape maintenance with the need to avoid disturbing residents and visitors. Commercial landscapers are often working against the clock due to weather delays, especially during peak growing season. However, that doesn’t mean they should ignore their work’s impact on patients and senior residents.
The solution is for landscaping companies to be flexible. Good communication is also vital.
They should be able to adjust their maintenance schedule based on what the facility’s staff deem ideal for patients and residents. Providers can schedule noisy activities like mowing during off-peak hours and days. Busy facility times should be reserved for quiet maintenance (i.e., hand pruning, irrigation checks, and fertilizing).
For senior facilities, the weekends are prime time for family visits. Landscaping companies should not be on-site during these high-visitation times. When possible, companies should do their main maintenance tasks on Thursdays so the property looks its best on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Visiting families are often worried about the care provided to their loved ones, so every aspect of the property impacts their opinion of the facility.
A commercial landscaper can help ease the minds of people who want the best environment for their parents and grandparents. Timing of maintenance is key, as is ensuring highly visible areas look their best 365 days a year.
Using electric equipment and noise-reducing attachments also helps avoid disturbing residents and patients. Thankfully, new innovations help our company expand services tailored to fit clients’ unique needs while being even more eco-friendly.
For instance, we’re utilizing some robotic mowing and drone technology is making property inspections less intrusive. This technology can also be used to monitor properties for damage after a storm or look for issues that need pre-event touch-ups we noted.
Just as important as equipment is having conscientious and courteous landscape crew members. We take pride in our workers and the training efforts we put into our staff. They’re given the resources necessary to do excellent work while always treating people with respect and keeping everyone’s safety top of mind.
Your residents, visitors, and patients will appreciate you making efforts to overcome the five challenges we talked about. Not only will they have a safer environment that’s more pleasing to their senses, they can feel better overall. Nature has that effect on all of us, whether we realize it at the moment or not.
You yourself know that we’re more likely to notice “something feels off” when we’re stuck in a cubicle or staring at a barren parking lot for eight hours.
That negative inner feeling is usually easy to overcome once you have access to just a little nature. That’s why enhancing green spaces at hospital properties and senior care homes is so vital. People there need every ounce of positivity available. After all, having health struggles seems to snowball with added stress or being confined to an uninspiring environment.
If you’d like to see an example of an ideal landscape management of a senior living property, check out this one in Austin. Yellowstone Landscape takes pride in maintaining an enhanced environment for the residents there.
Could your facility use a few fresh ideas to enhance the landscaping? If so, contact us for a consultation today.