It's impossible to deny that a rolling green lawn is a glorious thing to behold. But, for anyone responsible for balancing a HOA- Condo Landscape maintenance budget in the Bay Area, there is also no denying that lawn maintenance represents a significant financial commitment.
As our beautiful region grapples with drought and climate change, water costs continue to spike, making all aspects of commercial landscape maintenance all the more complicated.
For this very reason, this year calls for a new approach to HOA-Condo landscape maintenance—as well as further exploration of forward-thinking lawn alternatives. The good news is that there are several ways to reduce the costs of lawn maintenance while continuing to enjoy verdant and inviting landscaping.
As long-standing providers of a dedicated Bay Area lawn service, our commercial landscape designers in San Jose CA at FloraTerra Landscape Management have plenty of ideas to inspire, so read on as we explore how you can reinvent your relationship with this popular facet of commercial landscape design.
While it's true that we often steer clients towards a variety of water wise and cost-effective alternatives, it would be unfair to label lawn as a landscape design villain. Lawn offers fantastic resilience to foot traffic and is an ideal surface for a diversity of outdoor recreations.
In fact, during the rain season, lawn is excellent for absorbing water and lessening the impact of damaging erosion; while during the summer season, lawn areas can contribute to your urban fire control strategy. Claiming another feather for its cap, the soil microbes that tend to thrive under turf grass are also filtering out harmful pollutants.
Simply put, lawn is a substantial water guzzler from the perspective of any commercial landscape designer, which means bigger bills at the end of each month. Whether you oversee a private residence, an HOA property, a retail setting, or a corporate campus, rising landscaping costs are unlikely to be on your wish list.
When we consider that HOA-Condo Lawn Maintenance inevitably takes another chunk off that budget—thanks to the need for frequent mowing and herbicide or pesticide treatment—it makes sense that the use of lawns should be limited and strategic.
If your heart remains set on turf grass, there are several things to ask for when coordinating with your HOA lawn service provider. For example, according with leading lawn experts, water-thirsty grass varieties can be substituted with more drought-tolerant grass types such as Buffalo, Kurapia, Bahia, or Fescue. Lawn areas can also be shaped optimally for irrigation water management, ensuring that no H20 is wasted.
Talk to the lawn maintenance expert at your go-to commercial landscape company to confirm that irrigation schedules are optimized—they should know that lawn benefits from deeper, more infrequent watering to encourage deep root growth, rather than frequent but stingy watering that will keep roots at the surface, leaving turfgrass more vulnerable to dry spells.
Soil is a living thing that requires care and attention if it is to perform at its absolute best. And what does that performance look like? Well, healthy soil will retain water far better in the summer, before holding out against wash-out in the winter with far greater aplomb.
So, ask your commercial landscape contractor if they have tested your soil, and whether it requires the addition of nutrients or further aeration. You can also give your lawn a helping hand by providing the same support to neighboring landscaping with wonderful water-retaining mulch.
Even the way in which your lawn is mowed can impact how it stands up to drought season. Your homeowners association landscape company should express savvy by never cutting turf grass too short in the summer. This is because taller grass safeguards the soil beneath against the heating effect of the sun, while ensuring abundant photosynthesis so that roots can grow ever-deeper.
To make mowing even more advantageous, ask your commercial landscapers to use mulching mowers, especially so the nutrients and moisture they retain is returned to the soil. Contemporary lawn mowing machinery often chop very finely, so clippings can fall without creating unsightly surface debris.
While, it may seem counter-intuitive at face value, when it comes to Condo-HOA Lawn Care, choosing to invest in more efficient irrigation technology and apparatus can offer a speedy return on investment.
Smart watering systems use sensors to automatically calibrate the water use within your landscape design, drawing down those monthly bills and ensuring that precious H20 is never wasted.
Because of longer dry-seasons and increasing water costs, many property owners and managers in the Bay Area are exploring exciting alternatives to lawn.
Buzz-terms like water wise landscape design and xeriscaping are fast growing trends, because they invite green spaces that look fantastic all year-round while offering the substantial reward of reduced maintenance and water costs.
Strategies such as planting drought-resistant native species, planting in zones with water demand-based plant groupings, and installing gray water systems are just a few of the resources to consider.
It is also important to note that many Bay Area properties qualify for rebates when they choose to enhance the drought tolerance of their landscaping, so don't hesitate to ask your commercial landscape company for advice!
Here at FloraTerra Landscape Management, our HOA & Condo Landscape Designers take great pride in not only creating spectacular landscape designs, but also in supporting our clients as they save water, increase efficiency, and share in nurturing our beautiful native environment.
Turn to a Bay Area commercial landscape company that will make the dance of landscape maintenance a pleasure rather than a chore by contacting our team today.
FloraTerra and our affiliates are conveniently based throughout the greater bay area. As a leading homeowners association landscape company.
We specialize in common interest properties, HOA, condominiums, corporate campus, commercial office, retail malls, power centers and mixed use developments. Since 1998, our company and partners have installed and maintain some of the most prestigious developments throughout the Mid Peninsula Bay Area.
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