How can you communicate site maintenance requirements to clients?

Effectively communicating site maintenance requirements to clients is crucial for ensuring that the designed landscape is well maintained and thrives over time. 1. Clear Documentation 2. Visual Guides 3. Seasonal Maintenance Calendars 4. Customized Maintenance Plans 5. Prioritization of Tasks 6. Communication Meetings 7. Utilize Technology

Maintenance of landscaping is one of the most important aspects of any project. If not properly maintained, a good design can go bad very quickly. I have done many commercial projects that just fell apart due to lack of proper maintenance to the point where I was getting calls from municipalities and the site was getting cited for code violations. It's one of those things that many clients don't want to spend money on but one of those things that can tarnish a corporate image. How it is explained really depends on what type of client. Private homeowners need a little less encouragement when it comes to maintenance. To them, it's more personal. To commercial clients, they usually just want to close out and move to the next project.

Assessing the maintenance needs depends on a few factors; site location (rural v urban), the function of the site (commercial, industrial, residential), and the landscape requirements of the site (code). A good design will take these factors into account and the materials selected should reflect them. Trying to maintain a lush landscape at an industrial site will be problematic at best and balancing the code requirements for a commercial site with ease of maintenance can also be challenging. You would want those sites to have maintenance done as infrequently as possible, both for money savings and so conflicts with people visiting those site can be limited. Same for most other elements of the landscape (irrigation, furnishings, etc).

Creating the right plan is probably the best thing we can do as far as maintenance is concerned. The landscape materials, including soil, mulch, rock, etc., and a efficient irrigating design will go a long way in maximizing the sustainability of the deign as well as limiting maintenance. When I worked on sites that had areas that I know were going to be tough to maintain, I would choose materials that would require little to no maintenance (the "set-it-and-forget-it" type of plants). Or, instead of sod that needs to be cut, rock beds that only need some algaecide once in a while (as long as it's not close to organic material) and/or some fill with additional rocks. More often than not, common rules when creating a low maintenance plan.

Working with reference sites and projects will be a good way, as these can give an actual impression of what site maintenance requirements will look like, from short to longer term. Through design by management, a lot of the ambitions for the site can be realised at a later stage. At the same time, not having a good overview of future maintenance needs can result in many different problems, including under-budgeting.