Are you getting everything you expect from your landscape maintenance service? You’ve made an investment in your landscaping that will grow in value if its care is planned, well-executed, and regularly monitored.
Don’t miss the opportunity to work closely with your landscape maintenance professionals and gain the benefits of their wisdom and experience. Here are 8 ways to ensure you’re getting the most out of your landscape maintenance service.
#1. Make Communication A Habit
Great landscape maintenance starts with great communication. After hiring a landscaping service, the next step should be meeting with their representative and creating a comprehensive pre-mowing checklist for your property. Work together to create a schedule and guidelines for mowing.
If there are areas that need special care, point them out. And if there are spots that have been frustrating or concerning you, point those out too. Your landscape maintenance service company needs to know about all these special details.
#2. Plan For Expected Events
Advance planning it easier to prepare for seasonal changes and unexpected circumstances. Establish a routine maintenance schedule that works well for you and your family, so your landscape care can always happen when you don’t need to use the yard.
Sometimes you’ll require special arrangements for holidays and vacations. Make these special requests well in advance, especially if they are related to national holidays and popular vacation times.
#3. Share Helpful Feedback
After your landscaping service has been caring for your outdoor environment for part of the season, take a moment to share some feedback about how it’s been going. Are you happy with their work? Are there areas of the outdoor environment you’re concerned about?
Be sure to share positive feedback too. Your landscaping professionals take their work seriously and want to take pride in doing the job right.
#4. Map Out Special Conditions
If your yard has tricky areas or a wide variety of sunny and shady spots, you may need a map to facilitate communication with your landscape service professionals. Map out each zone of your property and note your concerns.
This is particularly helpful if you have been worried about certain things like proper watering, mowing patterns, and rocky or uneven areas. With a map in hand, it’s much easier to discuss these issues with your landscaping professional.
Give consideration to drainage throughout the season to discover where special measures may be necessary. There are two types of contributors to landscape drainage problems. The most obvious and easiest to address is surface water drainage.
Surface water problems are much easier to fix because you can see what’s going on. You can make decisions and test your solutions until you fix the problem forever.
Then there is drainage that is happening below the surface. This type of water is necessary for hydrating plants and the ecosystem that supports them.
#5. Ask And You Will Understand
When in doubt, ask questions about your maintenance service. This includes:
- Questions about general landscaping care
- Questions related to weather, foot traffic, and other concerns
- What the service covers and what is extra
- How special requests are estimated and scheduled
- Who to communicate with for ordinary and emergency needs
Remember, your landscape care professionals are a great resource for expert advice and tips. For example, if you’re worried about overwatering or underwatering, they can examine your lawn and landscape and determine the best plan.
They may also be able to make recommendations about pruning trees and shrubs, removing trees for better light, and controlling the amount of debris in your yard.
#6. Discuss Special Circumstances
Keep the lines of communication open between you and your landscaping company. Let them know well in advance if you will have unusual activity in your yard, especially from other companies and contractors that need access to your yard.
For example, if you’ll have a construction zone in your yard due to a home remodeling project, let them know how it will affect their crews and for how long. Make sure to note any equipment, tools, utility flags, or other things that could create obstacles for their regular services.
#7. Evaluate Watering Options
If you’re not currently using an automatic irrigation system, discuss this option with your landscaping expert. These systems can give your landscaping a huge boost in health by watering at exactly the proper intervals.
This is particularly important during times of heat stress when your lawn struggles to handle long periods of extreme heat and sun. An automatic irrigation system can be easily adjusted to handle it. You can also back off on watering due to local regulations, when necessary.
#8. Be A Team Player
You’ll get the best-looking landscape if you stay prepared for the unexpected and modify your schedule a bit due to current conditions. If you have an extremely rainy summer, for example, your watering and mowing schedule may need to be adjusted.
Discuss unusual weather with your landscaping service and stay open to their suggestions. By working together as a team, you’ll be able to develop a long-term landscaping plan that keeps your property looking healthy and beautiful.
Talk To Us
Do you need an estimate for landscape design, construction, and care? We work with some of the friendliest clients in the Minneapolis area at Architectural Landscape Design. If you need expert landscaping advice, connect with us to create a custom plan to nurture your landscaping into its finest expression.