Pedestrian Safety: What Should I Do With Overgrown Trees And Shrubs?

Safety is a top concern for many Atlanta commercial property managers. They want employees, tenants and visitors to their facilities—from hospitals to office parks to apartment complexes—to be secure as they go about their days.

Unfortunately, if trees and shrubs are left unmaintained and become overgrown, they can create hazards on a commercial property, particularly when they are near roadways, pathways and entryways.

Reduce These Risks To Improve Pedestrian Safety On Your Commercial Property

Let’s review the common risks and how a landscape professional can manage them to keep landscapes safe for pedestrians.

Overgrown And Overhead

Hazard reduction pruning is pretty much exactly what it sounds like—removing limbs of a tree that are hanging over an outdoor bench, for instance, so they don’t fall and hurt anyone on your property.

One of the first places to look when it comes to branches that can cause damage is overhead. And the very first branches we remove are those that fit the three Ds of pruning: dead, diseased or dying.

Dead, diseased or dying branches of trees can pose a serious threat to any pedestrians on a property because they are more susceptible to the slightest changes in weather, such as high winds or strong storms. Plus, removing these limbs helps the tree channel energy to the thriving parts of the plant so it becomes healthier and stronger.

If large branches aren’t dead, diseased or dying, but just very heavy and hanging over pedestrian areas, another option is cabling and bracing those limbs to ensure extra security. This involves adding steel or thread rod structural supports to the tree to reduce the risk of branch failure.

Low Limb Alert

Shrubs with unwieldy branches that stretch out into walkways can pose tripping hazards for pedestrians on Atlanta commercial properties.

For this reason, pruning bushes back from sidewalks to make sure these areas are clear for regular foot traffic is important to the landscape’s overall safety.

Eliminate Hiding Spots

Sometimes enhancing safety on the landscape means keeping the property clean and clear, so the criminal element doesn’t view it as an opportunity. When trees and shrubs become overgrown, they create ideal hiding places for strangers and thieves, and they can become big security risks. Eliminating these dark spots is especially important at apartment complexes or senior citizen communities to protect residents.

Other Safety Concerns

A landscape professional can also prune trees and shrubs to keep them from scratching buildings or blocking windows or emergency exits. Keeping plants from growing along buildings helps reduce indoor insect infestations, such as ants. Removing plants from beneath windows or exits ensures smooth passage in case of emergencies.

Have You Considered Rejuvenation Pruning?

Another important service your landscape contractor can offer is rejuvenation pruning on old, overgrown trees and shrubs. This will help maintain plant health by eliminating crowded branches, letting light in and keeping plants growing in attractive shapes. By taking away scraggly overgrowth, this method of addition by subtraction renews plant energy. A stronger plant is always a sturdier plant, and this means there’s less chance of these trees and shrubs becoming safety hazards in the future.

Improve Pedestrian Safety On Your Atlanta Commercial Property

Pedestrian safety on a commercial property is very important. HighGrove’s experts can walk your property and highlight these potentially risky areas and provide a plan of attack to instantly increase security on your property. Give us a call at 678-298-0550 or use our simple contact form and we’ll be happy to answer all of your questions.