Last modified on April 13th, 2016
By Rachel Jefferson

A little bit of curb appeal benefits property managers by showing off rental units in the best possible light. Time and money invested in landscaping can reduce unit vacancy, shorten time spent on marketing and advertising rentals, and shorten the amount of time spent showing prospective renters available apartments. As weather warms, plan and implement spring landscaping with our roundup of fun, affordable landscaping ideas.

Spring Landscaping Ideas

Streamline spring landscaping with spring bulbs. Spring bulbs, such as tulips or daffodils, are not only cheery, they are a gardener’s best friend. Why? One round of planting and you will be rewarded every spring with fresh flowers as bulbs return. Bulbs are a natural addition around walkways or paths and also look sweet when planted around the base of trees. Spring bulbs can also be grown in pots, which is a nice solution for condos that have a lot of hardscaping.

Use succulents in arid climates. Not only will trendy succulents help you appeal to Millennial renters, but they are a smart choice for arid climates. Succulents need little in the way of care and are a great way to reduce your water usage while maintaining an attractive landscape. Small, creeping succulents work well in border beds while larger varieties can make an unusual and elegant property screen. Choose succulents that are suitable for year-round growth in your area to keep your maintenance low.

Fill planters to create a welcome entrance. If prospective renters come to a central office on their property tour, spruce it up by using large planters to create a welcoming entryway. Select colorful spring annual flowers and foliage, then fill the planters with these flowers. You will be rewarded with cheerful color all spring long, and visitors will get the impression that apartments for rent are well kept.

Add flowering shrubs to break up the landscape. Many large, sprawling apartment complexes could benefit from a little infusion of color. Spring flowering shrubs offer you an easy way to add color, and will only get larger (and more eye-catching) as the years go on. Popular spring flowering shrubs include forsythia, lilac, dogwood, witch hazel, mountain laurel, viburnum, and camellia.

Perk up border beds with floral ground covers. It’s a common problem for spring garden beds: Big shrubs that add visual interest in the summer offer little visual appeal coming out of winter and into spring. Garden beds can look bare and unattractive. One simple way to perk up large beds is to add low, creeping spring ground covers to the front of beds, infusing the garden with color while trees and shrubs are still bare. Options here include creeping phlox, wood anemone, bellflower, snowcap, pink, chamomile, dianthus, and gentian.

Think high-impact for common areas. Modern renters want a sense of community from living spaces. If your apartment complex has a swimming pool, barbecue area, tennis court, or other type of outdoor gathering space, consider adding unusual landscaping to complement the community space. Fun ideas to try include a water garden complete with fountain and lovely water lilies, an edible garden featuring fresh grown vegetables and herbs, or a Zen garden with mixed grasses and exotic hardscaping. While an edible garden requires maintenance, it could be run as a community garden, freeing up your time to manage the property. The other ideas are not only low maintenance, but pay off by making a powerful impression on potential renters.

**One final tip: Make sure that none of the flowers or plants you select are on the invasive species list for your state. Accidentally selecting a plant on this list will quadruple your landscaping time as you will need to invest hard work, sweat, and man hours in weeding invasives that have sprawled where they do not belong. The USDA maintains an invasive species plant lookup that can help you avoid a costly mistake.

What other landscaping ideas have you tried successfully at your rental properties? Share your floral inspirations with other property managers.