When it comes to choosing a commercial landscaping company for your business, it can seem like quite the feat. From researching their services and their pricing to scouring the internet for reviews, there’s a lot that goes into making that final decision.

Don’t choose a contractor— or contractors— in haste. Take the time to select a trusted company to serve all of your business maintenance needs.

Here’s five qualities to look for in a commercial landscaping company before shaking hands on the job. Make sure the company:

1. Offers More Than Just One or Two Services

It’s not uncommon for a company to hire a landscaper for routine mowing, a contractor for transplanting trees or building new structures, and a completely different crew for snow and ice removal over the winter. Before you know it, you’re working with over a handful of companies, making the billing process more complicated and the coordination between jobs hard to manage.

When searching for a commercial landscape company, look for one who can offer a variety of services to serve you all year long. For example, you’ll want someone who you can turn to for pruning, mulching, pest management, adding irrigation systems and drainage solutions, etc.

Does the company you’re researching do more than just softscape (AKA plant maintenance)? Look for a commercial landscaper who can offer hardscaping services as well, with construction crews to make new building projects possible— anything you can imagine when it comes to maintaining your business.

2. Helps a Variety of Industries

When looking for a commercial landscaper, you’ll want to see some of their previous work to ensure they’ve helped a variety of businesses and have a full resume.

Have they maintained beautiful corporate centers, such as office complexes or shopping malls? Ask them how they added landscape enhancements and to see their seasonal floral arrangements. What about apartments and condominiums or for homeowners associations? Inquire about their insect and disease control methods and their lawn care options.

Some trusted commercial landscapers have worked to maintain large park systems or educational properties, like campuses for colleges and universities. Don’t just look at what they could do within your industry, dig through a diverse portfolio of their projects to see the overall quality and potential of their work.

3. Puts a Healthy Emphasis on Culture

This is something that often goes overlooked in the landscaping industry, but at the end of the day, this is a team you are going to be working with year-round. It helps to have a good relationship with both management & the crew themselves and know that the company itself puts an emphasis on culture.

Does the company have a set of core values that align with your own? What drives their success and promises you the best results? Make sure this is a team you can trust.

4. Performs Safety Inspections & Consistently Follows Protocol

Look for a commercial landscaper who puts an emphasis on safety, both surrounding their team as well as while maintaining your property.

Does this landscaping company have set safety protocol, beyond just saying they promote safe work habits? Ask them about the training their employees receive and what they do on a continual basis to ensure you’re in secure hands. For example, a worker who is poorly trained on equipment could tear up your turf with heavy machinery. Or, someone not knowledgeable about plant life could destroy your flower beds by overdosing them with excess nutrients.

Ask them how often they inspect their equipment, how frequently the team meets to freshen up on safety protocol, etc. Some of these things should be happening daily or weekly. If you get the run-around on your answer or they say something like “once a year,” keep hunting.

Some companies, like us at C. Caramanico & Sons, Inc. hold random on-site inspections to make sure the job is done right. This holds our crews accountable for their actions and ensures your business is in caring hands.

5. Has Earned Sincere, Trustworthy Testimonials

Sure, every commercial landscaping company is going to have a testimonials page. That’s great to glean over, but it doesn’t paint the whole picture. Go beyond what they had to say about themselves— of course, they’re going to talk themselves up!— and do some digging.

Look the company up on Yelp or check out their Google reviews. Don’t be afraid to ask around the town, your neighboring businesses or locals, to get a feel for their reputation in your area.

Don’t Believe It Until You See It!

After you’ve reviewed all five of these factors and narrowed down your choices, ask the commercial landscaping company to assess your business property and give you a quote before signing on the dotted line.

A landscaper should be able to come to you and inspect your current needs and give you an accurate, fair proposal.

Request your commercial property assessment today.