Spring is the best time of year when it comes to healthy lawns and gardens. The grass is green, flowers are blooming, and trees are budding. However, without proper maintenance, yards can quickly become an eyesore during the hot summer months. Sure, you can write fines and citations to get residents to clean up their lawn, but there are alternative methods for keeping lawns looking great and residents happy. Consider implementing the following tactics if lawns start going downhill in your community.
Seek opportunities for low cost landscaping
Consider hosting a seed share program. Organizations like the Seed Savers Exchange provide resources for communities looking to host their own seed share event, as well as information about where to find local seed libraries.
Also, several cities around the country, like Denver, offer programs where residents can apply to have a free or low cost tree planted in their year. By promoting these types of programs to residents, it will be hard for people to pass up the opportunity to enhance their yard if it’s simple and relatively cheap (or even free).
Order landscaping materials in bulk
It can be difficult for residents to transport massive amounts of dirt, mulch, and rock required to landscape their yard. Look for local opportunities where you can have this material delivered to your community in bulk and sell it to residents. We recommend that you first gauge interest, so you don’t end up with a ton of unused material. We also recommend that you select materials that fit in with the current landscaping of your community, so unused materials can be added to existing landscaping in public areas like parks, trails, and the entrance.
Recommend maintenance teams
To ensure lawns are cut and weeds are pulled, it’s a good idea to find a local lawn care company that you can recommend to your residents. If you can get a certain percentage of your community to sign up for lawn care services, there’s a good chance local vendors will provide residents with a neighborhood discount, making the outsourcing of this time consuming task even more appealing.
Providing watering and planting recommendations
A lot of times, people simply don’t know how to properly take care of their lawn. Provide recommendations in your digital bulletin and community newsletters on how often residents should water and the best times for watering.
Different plants thrive in different climates. Help residents pick the right foliage for their yards by sending them links to websites that show which types of flowers, bushes, trees, grasses thrive in your state. Here’s an example of a website that provides this information for people living in our home state of Colorado.
For more tips on making life easier for residents in your community, download our free six-step guide!
