Commercial Landscape Designs: Incorporating Modern Ideas in Today’s Spaces

Key Takeaways

• Modern landscape design ideas rely on commercial planters to not just enhance aesthetics but to shape entire spaces.
• Flexible planter options help define zones, merge environments, and build visual interest, all while supporting sustainability.
• Designers can explore endless possibilities using commercial planters – especially with the customizable solutions available from Planters Unlimited.

While architecture has long been the core element of commercial design, landscaping is playing an increasingly important role in pulling a project together. Indoor and outdoor garden areas are seen as extensions of commercial environments, important features that serve to signal the identity of a space as much as buildings and structures do.

Modern landscape design ideas are constantly evolving, but one trend is clear: commercial planters offer flexible, durable, and visually compelling ways to enhance contemporary spaces. Here are six strategies for using them effectively to meet a range of commercial landscape design needs. 

1. Choose Planters as Alternatives to In-Ground Planting

Wide open space in commercial properties is usually at a premium due to:

• Structural limitations
• Tight footprints
• Extensive paved surfaces

When traditional in-ground plantings aren’t a realistic option, commercial planters provide the opportunity to add greenery in almost any area. Planters fit in along busy city sidewalks, tuck into entranceways, neatly dot hardscape courtyards, and add lush life to functional spots like parking structures.

Thanks to oversized commercial planters, landscape design can even incorporate trees and shrubs in constrained environments. You don’t need a plot of dirt to soften hard-edged buildings and surfaces with bright blooms, stately trees, or sprawling greenery.

2. Use Planters to Define Spaces

One of the overriding ideas driving modern landscape design is flexibility. Commercial planters fit right in with that trend, as they can shape spaces and experiences without requiring permanent construction.

Picture large rectangular planters that serve as natural barriers between lobby areas, or a curved modular wall system that encourages meandering through a courtyard. In cafés, planters with trellises can separate dining tables or conversation nooks.

Lightweight fiberglass planters make it easy to reconfigure layouts seasonally or adjust for events. This adaptability keeps commercial landscape designs feeling dynamic and fresh – no renovation work required.

3. Merge Indoor and Outdoor Elements

If you’re designing a mixed-use environment, you might be working with both interior and exterior spaces. Instead of treating these as separate areas, try this modern landscape design idea: blur lines with greenery.

Using consistent planter shapes, materials, and colors – from your porte cochere through to your lobby and into individual workspaces, guest rooms, etc. – creates a sense of flow. It connects areas and makes your whole space feel cohesive rather than segmented.

4. Add Verticality

Another modern landscape design idea is to free garden elements from the flat plane. Commercial landscape designs that take advantage of verticality add dimension and movement in otherwise blank spaces.

• Hanging Baskets: Whether placed atop posts or popping out from walls, these are popular choices along walkways and in outdoor dining zones.
• Tall, Narrow Planters: With their smaller footprint, these planters draw the eye upward and bring visual drama to areas with limited square footage.
• Wall-Mounted Planters: Empty walls spring to bright, vibrant life when lightweight planters are installed.

 

5. Integrate Planters Into Other Site Elements

Multi-use pieces are also on trend among modern landscape design ideas. Combining planters with functional elements maximizes space while creating cohesion. Ideas include:

Planter Benches

Perfect for plaza seating areas and restaurant patios, outdoor furniture like planter benches that incorporates planting space is both efficient and aesthetically pleasing. Using modular systems in commercial landscape design makes it easy to expand or reconfigure seating as needed.

Signage

Although a practical necessity, signage often feels added on rather than integrated. Consider displaying branding, directional signage, or menus on a “living” signpost, such as a planter fitted with a trellis panel that supports both greenery and messaging.

Other clever ideas you can design into your modern landscaping elements include mounting bike racks onto trough planters or integrating outlets or chargers into planters. By thinking outside of the (planter) box, designers can develop any number of fresh, functional uses for plant containers.

 

6. Support Sustainability

Modern landscape design ideas are also largely driven by sustainability. Eco-forward planning and development now deeply shape commercial landscape design, and planters contribute in several ways:

• They allow for more efficient water use than in-ground plantings.
• High-quality planters are made of durable, long-lasting materials, reducing the need for frequent replacement.
• They improve stormwater management and can be fitted with bioretention systems for greater runoff control.
• By providing a way to add more greenery to urban spaces, planters can lower temperatures in heat islands while improving air quality.

Through thoughtful integration of planters, designers can support sustainability in ways that are both visually compelling and operationally smart.

 

Bringing It All Together

Commercial planters offer exceptional flexibility and creative potential in bringing modern landscape design ideas to life. Whether your goal is to guide foot traffic, soften hardscapes, unify spaces, or simply beautify commercial zones, planters are one of the most efficient, sustainable, and visually impactful tools available.

When you’re looking for a partner to make your commercial landscape design plans a reality, Planters Unlimited offers a huge range of customizable options. From large-scale installations to detailed custom projects, our team can transform your modern landscape design ideas into cohesive, vibrant spaces. Contact us today.