<b>Trees, Ornamental & Bedding Plant:</b> Follow the 'color brick' road

When Prescott Apartments, a 19-building complex situated on 21 acres in Duluth, Ga., wanted to stand out from the competition, it turned to landscape design to make a difference. NatureScapes, which operates a specialized seasonal color department, designed seasonal color beds blending several palettes and textures.

The challenge, says Shelley Threefoot Cowan, the company’s seasonal color designer and floriculturist, was to create spectacular color beds while considering both budget and drought restrictions.

When it came to selecting plants, drought dictated the process. “If it wasn’t a plant that could sustain the heat and the limited water available, it would ultimately be a waste of time and money,” Cowan says. She used hardy plants like Duranta and Vinca. These were able to endure the difficult weather conditions and foot and vehicle traffic.

The height of the plants was also important, as more than one of the beds prominently featured apartment signage.
“We could only use so many plants and ones that would not deter from the visibility of the signs,” Cowan says. The primary goal of creating these beds was to remain competitive in the marketplace and to make the complex stand out. “Not only among other apartments, but internally as well,” Cowan explains. “The client has internal awards for their properties so it was important to make that property feel competitive even within its own company. The client’s goal was also to use an attractive landscape as a marketing tool for maintaining high occupancy rates.”

Since the apartment complex was off of a main road it was important to use a variety of colors that “popped” and drew people into the complex. Once in, an attractive “color-brick-road” created with an assortment of plants is easy to follow all the way to the apartment’s leasing office. The complex has about 15 beds, plus some hanging planters and some pots in the pool area. Cowan changes color twice a year, and is always switching up the varieties when she makes her changes. “It’d be easy to just go back to the same thing because you know it works and people like it, but if you plant the same thing year after year the client is going to get tired of it,” she says. “This client wants to look different and stand out and that means keeping it fresh.”

For their work on this property, NatureScapes won the 2008 MALTA Seasonal Color Distinction Award for a multi-family property as well as a 2007 Southeast Regional Award for Best Flower Display by Prescott owners Mid-America Apartment Communities. In addition, because Mid-America owns a variety of other properties, Cowan’s effort on this job has led to future work.  

The author is a freelance writer based in Royersford, Pa.