Where to Start - Define Your Needs
Landscaping adds beauty, value and living space to one of your most precious assets—your home. In fact research has shown that a properly designed and maintained landscape can contribute 20% or more to the overall value of your property. Mature trees and shrubs can take years to establish but can be destroyed abruptly with poor management. It is therefore very important to choose a maintenance professional that will properly maintain the aesthetics and long term health of your landscape.
Homeowners should first decide the range of services they need. Landscape maintenance companies may provide many services including lawn and tree care as well as care of ornamental landscape beds and gardens. Other companies may specialize in only one or select services. A lawn maintenance company may provide mowing only or complete services including pest control. Maintenance of landscape ornamentals (shrubs and small trees, ground covers and flower gardens) may include fertilization, pruning, mulching, insect, disease and weed control, and seasonal clean-up. Highly skilled services such as pruning and pest control require a higher level of qualifications and more experienced personnel than simple seasonal clean ups. In any case, care should be taken to decide on the desired services and then to find a reliable company.
Finding A Landscape Maintenance Professional
We offer a free referral service on this website to assist you in finding professionals in your area. The listings on this site are from members of The Underground. Family, friends and neighbors can be helpful resources for compiling a list of professionals for initial contact. Don't hesitate to ask the owner of a property that you admire who they recommend. If you see a landscape professional that is doing good work in your neighborhood write down their phone number.
Choosing a Landscape Maintenance Company
First, be an educated consumer. Try to learn something about the type of services needed before interviewing prospective professionals. For example, if shrub pruning is on the list, you may want to read about proper pruning fundamentals so that you have some way to judge whether the proposed work is appropriate. There are many informative, succinct publications on this and other relevant topics available online. Armed with some basic information with which to judge prospective companies, ask relevant questions such as:
- When and how often are services provided?
- Is a soil test conducted?
- How are plant problems diagnosed and decisions to use pesticides made?
- Will I receive copies of the soil test and plant diagnostic results?
- What approaches to weed control are used?
- What kinds of mulch are used and how is it applied?
- If providing pest control, do you follow Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices?
- Do you offer organic land care services?
- Do you have a valid Pesticide Applicators License?
In addition to land care practices, you should also ask questions about the business itself, such as:
- How long have they been in the business?
- What are the management and staff qualifications or areas of expertise?
- If tree care is provided, is there a Certified Tree Expert on staff?
- Will they tour and evaluate the property and maintenance needs before finalizing the contract?
- Does the company carry business insurance?
- Do they have customer references for recent work?
- Do they participate in any professional organizations?
If a company will be applying pesticides for insect, disease or weed control they must by law have a valid Pesticide Applicator License.
Hiring a Landscape Maintenance Company
Once a company has been selected, a written agreement that fully describes the services and materials to be supplied and the costs should be worked out between the company and customer. The agreement should include timing of services where relevant. If additional services or materials are deemed needed during the life of the contract, there should be a written statement regarding customer approval for additional services and charges.
The Final Choice
Once you have done your homework you will be able to select the best landscape maintenance company to meet your needs and to protect your greatest investment. Don’t forget to check our free referral service to find professional listings from members of The Underground. Good Luck!
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