Kemper Lakes Business Center, Lake Zurich, IL - is a 150 acre office campus with four interconnected buildings constructed in several phases, between 1971 and 1991. The surrounding campus landscape has evolved to support hundreds of large landscape trees, with a blend of legacy native trees and planted shade trees, evergreens, and flowering ornamentals; set against large expanses of manicured turf. The central campus is surrounded by large parking lots, providing 4,000+ parking spaces, serving a daily workforce of nearly 4,000 people. The lots contain dozens of manicured, landscape islands and a number of large pedestrian corridors, fully planted with trees, formal shrub hedges, and mixed flowering perennial and groundcover layers. These corridor areas are maintained for detail, as they present close engagement with pedestrians on a daily basis.

Campus entries and ring roads allow varying landscape experiences for the daily commuting workforce. Wayfaring guidance for all visitors is important on the large campus, and seasonal color plantings at all critical signage, provides a cohesive, focal-point pattern through the landscape. A series of three complete, seasonal color rotations ensures that focus is maintained at these important primary and secondary route intersections. A mix of flowering shrub, evergreen, and flowering perennials are maintained to provide framing and separation of specific parking lot areas, supporting individual buildings. Large, open turf areas are maintained weekly, with an emphasis on season specific fertilizer and pest control applications, and critical irrigation management.

The business campus is surrounded on three sides by a large connected chain of lakes, shared with a world-class, PGA rated golf course. Critical views are maintained, and framed with landscape elements, both out from the campus and back from the golf course; to share the landscape horizons of each. The campus landscape irrigation system is supplied by the lakes, which makes management of water quality critical for both lake and landscape. Schedules for irrigation use are strictly managed to minimize surface run-off and potential nutrient over-load, and tight control on timing of turf applications, as well as periodic shoreline cleanup work, help to keep the lakes clean.

Entry drives contain large, mixed ornamental plantings. Seasonal color borders are added to enhance the vibrancy of color, while the perennial grasses and ornamental trees ebb and flow with flowering effects. Turf border management is a challenge due to winter snow removal and salt use on the roadways. Specific applications of gypsum and early season fertilizer, promote the lush green color of the early summer turf. Large areas of turf, in several border locations, previously managed on a weekly basis, have been strategically removed from this cycle, allowing property ownership more control on management costs for the campus. These areas, returned to ‘meadow conditions’, are continually monitored and managed to control invasive weed growth, but at a much reduced cost burden.

Four large interconnected buildings, providing 1.1 million sq. ft. of office space, currently at a 97% occupancy – include several main building entry plazas. Each of the plazas are opportunities for impressive landscape statements to greet global visitors, as well as the daily workforce, for the three (3) world headquartered corporations on site. This gives importance for the landscape to perform. Each of the entry plazas are maintained on a daily schedule, including early morning cleanup prior to business openings. Seasonal color plantings are coordinated for a cohesive, campus wide setting, yet given unique treatments within individual plazas. Landscape plantings are maintained to enhance the designs, keeping bosks of planted trees and formal hedges consistent, with periodic pruning operations and specific fertilizer and pest control regimens.

All building entry plazas receive daily cleanup prior to opening business hours, to ensure that pavement and planting areas are presented cleanly and safely. Seasonal color displays are hand-pruned to maintain quality foliage and flower effects. Periodic fertilizer applications and tight control on the irrigation, integrated into each of the planting beds, keeps the mixture of plantings vibrant and full. Large specimen trees are actively maintained with periodic pruning, to reduce conflicts with the building facades. Tree health is closely monitored through arborist-directed, plant health care programs; including specific fertilizer applications and various means of pest and disease control.

Unique and showy seasonal color plantings are a signature statement for this large corporate campus. A succession of three (3) full color planting rotations are coordinated through the landscape season and capped-off with an ambitious winter décor, holiday presentation. The seasonal plantings aim to present show-stopping color, vibrancy, and scale. Planting is executed with a mix of annual flowers, framed with groupings of perennial shrubs and evergreens, to present both spectacular color and size, as well as exciting textures and patterns. Emphasis on multi-layered floral selections keeps the interest high with every view perspective. Irrigation is strictly controlled to respond to changing conditions from spring through fall, and with each seasonal planting change.

The large, expansive parking lot areas present a challenge for the landscape management team, in regards to the climatic effects of heat and drought stress on the landscape plantings. The site irrigation system does not extend coverage to the islands or outer border areas. Even so, the system does have available for use – over one hundred strategically located quick-coupler valve connections, to allow our crews convenient hose-watering opportunities for extreme conditions, and general watering maintenance. Our in-house irrigation management technicians provide continued servicing for the entire system, throughout the full season. Spring season system start-up and adjustments, winter season system shut-down and blow-out/drainage, along with continual monitoring and scheduling adjustments to respond to changing site conditions – allow the over-all system to function properly when needed.

An originally designed landscape monoculture present itself with the extensive parking lot island layout. Several dozens of small planting islands are fully planted with groundcover ‘Gro-low’ Sumac and groupings of shade trees. The extreme heat and dryness that the ‘sea of asphalt and concrete’ reflects is hard on the plantings, and challenges our crew to keep the desired consistency of character. Critical to this are continual care operations including pruning, fertilizer applications, and supplemental watering; along with diligent monitoring and scouting for pest and disease problems. Scouting is extremely important with a monoculture arrangement, as a small problem left unattended, can quickly spread to damage large areas in a short time.

There are multiple corporate office entries that present opportunities, as well as challenges. Each entry has a unique, individual character to distinguish the particular tenant, yet property management prefers to have a cohesive landscape presentation maintained for over-all campus character. Seasonal plantings create the focal point detail at each entry. The specific plant varieties are kept consistent through repeating patterns across the campus. Foundation shrub plantings are maintained in several layers, carefully pruned on a seasonal basis to present separate levels of landscape color and texture, leading down to mixed groundcovers in the front borders.

A large, upper level amenity deck provides tenants with an opportunity to gather outdoors during pleasant weather. Our landscape maintenance crew is tasked with daily monitoring and cleanup operations to maintain several thousand square feet of artificial turf and concrete paving. The need to keep “weather-blown” debris from accumulating is very important in keeping a pleasant, usable space. Seasonal color planters are maintained to provide similar character and color, consistent to other plantings on site. Automatic irrigation is not available to these planters, so daily monitoring for adequate water helps to keep the plantings full and vibrant.

Hundreds of large canopy trees and select large evergreen groupings provide an over-all character of maturity and health on the campus grounds. Our in-house tree care division is led by a licensed, certified Arborist, and provides a full array of seasonal tree care operations. Canopy pruning, species specific fertilizer applications – both foliar and soil-drench, and insect and disease plant health care monitoring is performed by our crews. Specific preventive applications are scheduled throughout the season, and curative applications are performed as needed. Periodic tree ring improvements with detail edging, soil cultivation, and mulching, maintains the desired aesthetic appeal.

Contrasting with the highly designed and manicured landscape details, are several large border plantings of large, native Sumac that provide strategic view screening to and from the campus and golf course areas. Our landscape management crews will periodically work through alternating sections of these plantings to do rejuvenating pruning operations, and to control invasive weed spread. Late season dormant pruning practices allow a desired flush of new healthy growth to form at the lower levels within the borders. This maintains overall plant vitality, and provides the strategic screening of select views.

Other unique challenges will occur on this corporate campus, due to its connection with a world-class, PGA rated golf course. At certain schedules, campus facilities will be utilized for major golf tournament events, which will restrict our crew’s access to many campus landscape areas, as well as to typically available storage and equipment staging facilities. For weeks at a time, pressure is put on our crews before, during, and after such events to ensure that the corporate campus landscape presents a quality character. Our operations need to be mobilized and reactive, as the facilities are locked out and traffic levels become extremely heavy during the event schedules. When the events are past, many landscape areas that have been heavily used, require special attention for cleanup and renovation operations.

The course of seasonal change, throughout this large campus landscape, is met by our management teams with enthusiasm and attention to detail. Seasonal color displays are managed through three (3) complete rotations along with an extensive winter display. Each seasonal change is an opportunity to provide characteristic vibrancy and intensity of color, to engage the visiting work forces on a daily basis. The property management team is an integral partner with our management crews to continually improve and inspire each season’s displays, to provide new and unique results, different from previous installations. As with the change to annual plantings each season, the perennial landscape elements continue to add seasonal color and texture interest, which is evident with the ornamental grass plantings in full fall color.

There is very little “off-season” for this landscape. As the winter season begins, our landscape crews are still active on site, fully engaged to support the installation of seasonal character displays that define this campus. Every late-season, the campus is wrapped with a spectacular display of holiday lighting and winter décor detailing. Main campus roadway entries, wayfinding corridors, building entry plazas, and many of the large tree groupings are fully prepared with brightly-lit strings of holiday lights and creative, colorful winter décor arrangements. As with other elements of the landscape, property management is fully engaged with our crews to determine the general display themes, which change in character and effect each year. As this is an open campus, these winter holiday displays have taken on a large community following, and it is typical that many evenings will have a large public gathering in long lines of vehicles, travelling through the campus, enjoying the spectacular show.

The many challenges and opportunities of this large corporate landscape are met daily by our management crews, allowing the creativity of color and texture to show their best with a background of green, healthy landscape character. A mix of seasonal color plantings combined with perennial landscape elements, continue to show a variable layering of color transition throughout the full year. With attention to detail, and proper horticultural standards, our operations teams manage the Kemper Lakes Business Center as a regionally important landscape environment.