Every HOA board has its eyes on the budget. It’s part of your job. You want your community to look great and attract buyers, but you want to be smart about spending.
Scott Long gets it. The director of maintenance operations at Outback Landscape works with several Idaho Falls-area HOA communities on smart strategies to save on their landscaping costs.
How can HOA landscaping reduce long-term community costs? Strategic inclusive contracts. Smart irrigation technology. Drought-tolerant plants. Reducing lawn areas. Selective use of annual flowers.
Long shares the money-saving HOA landscape maintenance tips he recommends to HOA board clients.
If you’re trying to trim your HOA landscaping budget, don’t assume you need to cut services, Long says.
“An HOA board might try to cut back on weekly bed maintenance like weeding and trimming, because it’s expensive,” Long says. “It takes crews time. It can be $500 or $600 a week. HOA boards will often ask if we can do it less often.
“I’ll say, ‘We can, if you want weeds.’ We always talk them out of it. Weeds grow so fast. It’s hard to maintain a good look without weekly bed maintenance.” (See his tip for reducing weeds in a bit.)
Mowing is another service HOA boards often want to reduce to save money, Long says.
“They might try to cut back on mowing, having it done every two weeks instead of weekly,” he says. “But then the grass grows twice as long, so it takes our crews longer to mow it. So it doesn’t end up saving the HOA any money at all.”
What are common HOA landscaping mistakes? Cutting crucial services.
Cutting landscaping services can lead to declining curb appeal, resident complaints and higher long-term costs, including expensive corrective work down the road.
Remember, first impressions matter. People judge your HOA community by its appearance.
Reducing HOA landscaping costs is often less about cutting services and more about making smarter long-term decisions.
“The biggest thing we do to help HOAs save money is offer an annual contract with our green services rolled in with snow removal,” Long says. “We can roll up whatever services they need into that annual contract. Then, they have a 12-month guarantee for the services they need with a set monthly cost they can plan on, instead of paying for each service individually. It ends up being cheaper for them.”
The cost savings are especially evident in snow removal, Long says.
“Snow is really hit or miss around here, so it’s hard to predict,” Long says. “If you have a contract, we might have 30 or 40 snow events, but we’re only charging them for 24 visits. That’s a big savings compared to paying per push.”
Save even more on HOA property maintenance with a multi-year contract, he says.
“There won’t be any price increases during the length of your contract,” Long says. “Otherwise you might see a 3-5 percent increase each year. When you’re talking about a $500,000 contract, that’s a good chunk of change.”
“The major concern HOAs have with budgets is water cost for irrigation,” Long says.
Outback uses Weathermatic smart irrigation technology and water-conserving irrigation systems to help HOA clients use water as efficiently as possible.
“It has water-saving modes so it saves on their water costs,”
Long says. “We can make adjustments for them from our phones, which saves the cost of us going out for an on-site visit.”
If your irrigation system is old and outdated, you’re probably wasting water.
Updated valves and nozzles put the water only where your HOA property needs it. Rain sensors know when nature has already watered, so your system doesn't have to turn on. Drip irrigation delivers water to your plants’ roots without wasting unneeded spray.
Outback also includes three free irrigation audits each year, Long says. Those usually cost $200 to 900 per audit, he says, depending on the size of the property.
Those audits save money, too.
Irrigation pros inspect the entire irrigation system to ensure all components are functioning properly and that HOA landscaping receives the exact right amount of water, with no waste. HOA irrigation systems work hard out there, and stuff happens. Leaks. Broken sprinkler heads. Controller issues. Water spraying where it shouldn’t.
“We might discover damage that’s a simple fix, but if we didn’t catch it, it becomes an expensive repair later,” Long says.
Plus, irrigation pros can tell you about the latest irrigation system upgrades to make your system more efficient.
Some plants need less water than others. Make those your HOA landscaping superstars, Long says.
Native plants are a great way to reduce landscaping costs. Compared to non-native species, native Idaho plants often establish themselves more quickly, require fewer inputs to stay healthy, and are better suited to our difficult climate swings. That means they’re tough and less likely to succumb to diseases and pests.
Once they’re established, native plants need less water than non-natives. Fewer pesticides, too.
Worried you’ll have to give up beauty and your HOA community curb appeal for lower maintenance? Nope.
Idaho boasts some real stunners when it comes to native plants, with pretty flowers, attractive foliage and bright berries. Bonus: native plants attract beautiful birds and butterflies to your HOA community, and they help struggling pollinators who could use a helping hand.
Using a variety of native plants in your Idaho Falls HOA landscaping can help create planting beds that offer four-season appeal, environmental benefits, and save money on irrigation and maintenance.
Bright annual flowers bring beauty and attention to commercial landscaping in Idaho Falls, but they’re expensive.
So make them count, Long suggests, and use them in high-visibility areas.
“We concentrate on the HOA monuments and entrances so they look nice, then do more basic and less expensive plants throughout other areas,” he says.
Pre-emergent herbicide applied to landscape beds in early spring helps prevent pesky weeds from sprouting, Long says.
That’s the first part of the war against weeds. Outback crews follow that up with broadleaf weed applications to hit dandelions and clover, and spot treatments when pesky intruders sneak in.
And don’t try to save money by skipping mulch. Bark mulch keeps weeds from popping up in your Idaho Falls HOA landscaping, but it also conserves water so you need less irrigation; keeps rain from washing away your soil; adds nutrients to your soil as it breaks down; and just plain looks great.
A big expanse of lush lawn used to be the go-to feature for HOA landscaping, but that’s been changing.
Sprawling lawns need lots of irrigation, fertilizer, weed control and frequent mowing to keep them looking great. They’re not friendly to the environment, either, with all the mowing, fertilizing and watering.
Go beyond grass.
Outback Landscape designers often replace large, high-maintenance lawn areas with low-water ground covers, ornamental grasses, mulch beds and decorative boulders. This strategy reduces Pocatello HOA landscaping costs, such as mowing and irrigation, while still keeping the landscaping looking great.
Ground covers add texture and color and help deter weeds. Ornamental grasses bring graceful movement to the landscape, and their fluffy seed heads add interest through fall and into winter.
The more shrub trimming crews have to do, the more it costs. Enter growth regulators, which slow a plant’s growth rate. The result? Tidier plants and less trimming.
These regulators work by blocking the plant hormones that stimulate growth. Crews trim the shrubs, then spray on the growth regulator. Now, it won't need trimming or pruning as often.
If crews can eliminate 25 minutes of trimming each week, that really adds up over the course of a year.
Bonus: less trimming actually benefits a shrub. Every time you cut into a plant, it’s more susceptible to pests and disease.
“HOA boards have a job to do, too,” Long says. “They’re trying to save money.
“But when we explain things, and the benefits of why we do things the way we do, HOA boards get it,” Long says. “They understand and agree.
“We have such a good relationship with our HOA boards; they trust us.”
Q: How often should HOA landscapes be maintained?
A: HOA landscaping needs year-round care, with weekly maintenance during peak growing seasons, supported by seasonal property cleanups and regular irrigation system inspections.
Q: What should HOA boards look for in a landscaping contractor?
A: Consider a few key qualities:
Q: Isn’t the best way to save money on HOA landscape maintenance hiring a company that charges less?
A: HOA boards want the best possible price to stay within their landscape budget. But beware of a bid that’s considerably lower than all the others.
When you compare bids from a handful of qualified commercial landscape maintenance companies, their estimates for HOA landscaping costs should be in the same ballpark. If they’re skilled and experienced, they know what it takes to care for your HOA property and will price accordingly.
If one bid is significantly low, why? Where are they cutting corners? They’re saving money somewhere. Is it by not offering staff training or not carrying the right insurance?
What key services are they not including in that low price? You don’t want your HOA landscaping to suffer because of shortcuts they take to keep their price so low.
Make sure your HOA landscaping makes a great impression without creating a costly maintenance headache.
The best and smartest landscaping features use less water, need little maintenance and save you money while looking great.
At Outback Landscape, we know how important it is to HOAs to have healthy, beautiful landscaping without busting the budget.
Our experts have lots of ideas on how to do that. We’d love to tell you more.
We offer landscape design, construction, maintenance, irrigation and lighting services to enhance your property and keep it safe.
We serve residential and commercial properties in Idaho Falls, Rexburg and Pocatello, Idaho, as well as Bonneville, Madison and Bannock counties, and Jackson, WY.
Call us at 208-656-3220 or schedule a no-obligation meeting with a member of our team. We’d love to hear from you.