Change is inevitable, and the disruption it causes often brings both inconvenience and opportunity.
Robert Scoble, blogger and author
Hedge trimming bushes is common at many properties, many times because their anticipated mature size was not taken into consideration when they were planted. This mans recurring costs to keep them small which is typically done with noisy hedge trimmers and blowers that also pollute.
SPECIFICS CREATE A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
Many landscape maintenance contracts use phrases like "neat and trimmed", “pruned as necessary”, “performed as needed” when talking about hedge trimming. If we ask five people we would get five different answers on what this means. How much growth is an acceptable / unacceptable amount of growth. It could mean weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually. In order to know what costs are it is important that maintenance contracts specify how many hedge trimmings are "included" so everyone is on the same page.
It might be interesting to see how other landscapers would respond if you told them they need to hedge trim every week based on your definition of "neat and trim". How would they pay for extra trimmings? Directly charge? As addons? Reduce other services?
Items to consider
Weeds
Water and cost savings
Water and cost savings
Per Nevada law; companies and each individual spraying for weed control need a special license through the Nevada Department of Agriculture. It is not included in any other license, not even a landscaping license!
Very few landscapers are licensed to do this in the Vegas valley. It is interesting that even staff needs to pass exams and be licensed.
Are your landscapers properly licensed and staffed?
On Time Landscaping is properly licensed.
Water and cost savings
Water and cost savings
Water and cost savings
A lot of landscape maintenance contracts call for checking irrigation systems for leaks once a month. If it is checked today and a leak starts tomorrow there can be a lot of wasted water; possibly costing the property hundreds or thousands of dollars.
There are devices that detect excess / not normal water usage. When the device detects this it sends us emails and texts. We then dispatch staff to assess the situation and possibly make repairs. This can save properties a lot of money in reduced water bills.
“Don't wait, the time will never be just right.”
Napoleon Hill, Author
RFP and Budget
When people look at cars to buy they typically know what their budget is and will go to a place that has cars within that budget. If their budget is for a used Toyota Camry they probably wont go to a Rolls Royce dealership. It is similar with landscape maintenance. By providing landscapers with a detailed RFP and or a budget you will offer them the chance to provide you with a bid or suggestions that works for that specific property. Sharing "hot topics" for properties allows us to address them in our proposal.
Tree trimming
Limited tree trimming is "included" in many maintenance contracts. Many times up to a certain height. Many people do not know why a height is chosen. In many cases it is related to insurance policies. Many times maintenance contracts just include removing the lowest branches and is often times not enough to have healthy trees with good canopy structure. Healthy (and especially larger) trees provide many benefits to properties including financial so healthy trees are important. Have you noticed that a lot of times trees or branches come down when it is windy. This could possibly be minimized with proper a tree trimming program that includes the upper branches.
- Just to see what tree trimming really costs; have you ever asked a tree company just to bid on tree trimming? Many times it is more expensive than many months of landscape maintenance costs so how are the maintenance companies doing proper trimming? Some customers might say that they do not care as long as it gets done. But what is the true cost of it being done? Something else either has to give or higher prices charged somewhere else to get this partial work included.
- If lower branches are large, lets say 8inches or greater diameter. Will they really be cut at no additional cost? Will costs be hidden in other line items? We have seen that many times removing tree trimming from maintenance contracts and having a separate tree trimming contract / program works out better for the trees and the properties that own them and the cost difference is not much considering the benefits.
Like with hedge trimming if properties current landscapers have not brought items up like this; their silence has and will cost properties a significant amount of money at the risk of the trees health.