With cities moving into stricter water conservation methods, it has never been a better time to transform commercial property drought landscaping. You might have heard of xeriscape gardens or done your own research for the best rain barrels. Still, there are numerous creative ways to start your drought resistant landscaping design.
Whether you own a rental building, an office building, multi-use complexes, or any development, you can maximize your investment by using stormwater best practices to pay for property updates and UPGRADES. Here are good ideas for affordable and inexpensive drought tolerant landscaping ideas.
Commercial Property Drought Landscaping & Maintenance
When considering landscaping ideas like natural dry creek beds, rain barrels, cisterns, drought resistant landscaping, it’s essential to consider what the maintenance would look like on your commercial property. When people transform their parking lots, their lawns, or other areas of their property, they don’t account for the ongoing maintenance of their decisions. When it comes to drought resistant upgrades, we chose stormwater best practices and green infrastructure practices because they help solve water problems and double as a resilient maintenance strategy since many of these tools last longer than traditional landscaping ideas and also help to prevent property damage.
Rainwater Cisterns
Rainwater cisterns are popular for large commercial properties because of their money-saving properties. Not only can stormwater cisterns help you save on your watering bills, but they can also be an opportunity for you to save on stormwater fees, help with refrigeration costs, and be integrated into your greywater system.
Take, for example, what many Whole Foods grocery stores are doing on their properties. Huge above-ground (one of two cisterns types) cisterns collect roof rainwater and recycle it by using it to irrigate native landscaping- a drought landscaping saver- and flush store toilets. The Houston, TX Whole Foods even uses the cistern to pressurize water onto the roof to cycle through a coolant system that helps lower refrigeration costs in the store.
While your property might not have the budget and roof potential of a Whole Foods conglomerate, cisterns are still manageable, affordable, and usable on all commercial property types.
Dry Creek Bed Landscaping
Dry creek beds are rocky pathways that look like dry river beds and can be a decorative addition to any xeriscaped yard or lush yard. The reason why dry creeks are significant is due to commercial property maintenance. Dry creeks help with water runoff, moving water down into the ground, away from foundations, and directed into areas of your choosing. Meaning no wasted water and no property water damage. When it comes to drought resistant yard ideas, the dry creek is an excellent tool used in xeriscaping. They can add beautification to any yard while removing grass and other non-native plants that would take considerably more water. Xeriscaping can save water by removing non-native plants and grasses and replacing the area with rock and sand.
Xeriscaping: the popular tool among drought resistant landscaping ideas
Xeriscaping is one of the most beneficial methods for moving your commercial property to be resilient in any weather. The benefits:
-Use less water
-Native plants will thrive in drought weather and help to pull any water runoff down into the soils
-You can implement many stormwater tools into xeriscaping and have some of your projects paid for through stormwater incentive programs
With xeriscaping, your property will likely be removing pavement and pulling out the grass to transform into a commercial property with limited maintenance. In some areas, removing pavement and installing a dry creek or permeable pavers can land you a pretty hefty rebate from the government. Many of these drought resistant tools provide you with stormwater rebates.
Free Rain Barrels Near Me
Free rain barrels near me is one of the most searched terms for landscaping because people are becoming more aware of how the government is willing to reimburse you for managing your stormwater with rain barrels. However, did you know you can also be reimbursed for installing dry creeks, xeriscaping, removing pavement, adding a cistern, and many other bio-retention and stormwater projects? Depending on your city, most have programs dedicated to encouraging commercial property owners to create sustainable landscapes. Each program has its own requirements, but you can stack incentives on top of each other and maximize your reimbursement and utility savings.
Interested in finding incentive programs near you? All you need to do is type in your property address, and our stormwater incentive match tool will find your programs with a rebate, grant, and fee reduction incentives. We also offer financing for larger-scale projects through our own Green Spending Advance. Build your Rainplan and discover projects and funding to turn your investment into a commercial property drought landscaping marvel.
