Commercial lawn care in Portland, Maine.
Commercial grounds in Portland are held to the same pesticide rules as backyards. Chapter 34 of the city code covers all outdoor pest management in the city, and it has applied to private property since January 1, 2019. Office parks, retail lots, condominium associations and apartment buildings cannot use synthetic pesticides on their turf or beds, and no pesticide at all may go down within 75 feet of a water body or wetland.
For a property manager, that shifts the maintenance program toward practices that keep turf dense: correct mowing height, sharp blades, timely cleanups and reseeding worn areas instead of spraying weeds.
What a commercial program covers
Our maintenance crews run commercial mowing programs for offices, retail, HOAs and multi-unit properties, with spring and fall cleanups, weeding and bed care. On Portland properties the mowing plan follows UMaine Extension's low-input guidance: a cutting height of about three inches, no more than a third of the blade removed at a time, and clippings left on the turf, where they act as a free, slow fertilizer.
Hand weeding and mulch take the place of herbicide in beds. The ordinance does leave room for some targeted treatments, including control of poison ivy and of invasive insects such as emerald ash borer and browntail moth, which a licensed applicator can handle when needed. The 75-foot no-pesticide setback from water and wetlands applies to commercial land as well, including the edges of sites that border Back Cove or the Fore River.
Plantings required by site plan approval
Many commercial and multi-unit sites in Portland were approved with landscaping as a condition. The Land Use Code's site plan standards call for one street tree per 25 to 35 feet of frontage, and developments with more than five parking spaces need a tree for every 750 square feet of uncovered asphalt parking, planted in landscaped islands.
Those trees and buffer plantings are part of what the property owes the city, and a maintenance program should keep them alive and in shape. Mulched tree rings, mower damage kept off trunks, and pruning that keeps sightlines open at driveways all matter. Large pruning jobs go to our licensed arborist.
Minimum landscaped open space applies to nonresidential lots too, as much as 50 percent in RN-1, so on many sites the turf and beds are a significant share of the ground to be maintained.
Commercial Mowing · Cleanups
How we handle commercial mowing & cleanups
Our maintenance crews run commercial mowing programs for offices, retail, HOAs and multi-unit properties across the Cumberland area — sharp blades, clean stripes, crisp edges — plus spring and fall cleanups, weeding and bed care for commercial and residential properties alike.
See the full commercial mowing & cleanups service page or everything we do in Portland, Maine.
Commercial Mowing & Cleanups in nearby towns
- Commercial Mowing & Cleanups in South Portland
- Commercial Mowing & Cleanups in Falmouth
- Commercial Mowing & Cleanups in Westbrook
- Commercial Mowing & Cleanups in Scarborough
- Commercial Mowing & Cleanups in Cape Elizabeth
More services in Portland
- Hardscaping in Portland
- Retaining Walls in Portland
- Landscaping in Portland
- Landscape Design in Portland
- Planting & Garden Beds in Portland
- Hydroseeding, Sod & Turf in Portland
- Lawn Aeration & Overseeding in Portland
- Fall Cleanup & Leaf Removal in Portland
- Excavation & Land Clearing in Portland
- Septic Systems in Portland
- Tree & Shrub Services in Portland
- Tree Removal in Portland
Sources for the local facts on this page
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Mon–Sat 7:00am – 5:00pm · Based in Cumberland, Maine