5 Easy Landscape Tweaks to Make Your HOA More Appealing

So, you’re part of the HOA board. You’re responsible for ensuring that the home owners in your community or neighborhood are happy, loving their area, and of course, abiding by all of the landscaping rules. But just because you’re a member of the HOA doesn’t mean that the actual HOA building and landscaping can slack – you want to set an example, right?

If the home owners in your area see the HOA landscaping lacking, what’s to stop them from slacking, too? The HOA common areas, landscaping, and more have to be perfect, and as an HOA board member, the responsibility is likely going to fall on you, at least some of the time.

You probably are pretty on target when it comes to double checking on your neighborhood’s common areas to make sure they’re looking beautiful, but that can be an awfully demanding job.

We’ve decided to make it a little easier for you.

After being in the landscaping biz for quite some time (if you took our combined experience it would cap out at just over 150 years), we like to think we’ve learned a thing or two about how to handle the HOA situation.

So, sit back, kick your feet up, and start reading up on some inspiring tips for keeping your HOA happy, your common area landscapes clean and precise, and ensuring that your job is done (and done right).

Keep the Mulch on Point

If you know us at all, you know that we are mulch fanatics – that’s right, we could write lovey-dovey poems to mulch because we adore it so much. And why shouldn’t we? Mulch is beautiful, easy to install, keeps your space neat and tidy, and offers dozens of benefits for plant health and landscape well-being. Staying on top of your mulching is going to breath new life into tired, old plant beds, keep your water bill low by helping your plants to retain moisture and hydrate easier, and will even help block weeds from growing into your landscape (can you say less physical labor? Because we can). Adding new mulch annually might seem like a huge job, but after just one day of getting all the dirty work done, you have an entire year of reduced weeds, better moisture, and honestly, a much tidier and presentable space. Mulch is definitely worth the up-front expense and effort for your HOA.

Stay Seasonal

There is no off-season for your neighborhood, so you don’t get to pretend that Winter flowers and shrubs don’t exist! You’re running a full-time job because the people who appreciate and use your HOA common areas are not taking the weekend off from where they live. Make sure that you’re staying up-to-date on the seasonal flowers and plants. Try to switch out flower beds with colors and textures that make sense for the season, but also plants that will thrive best in that specific season. While Florida winters aren’t very harsh, planting something a little sturdier for the colder (ish) months can help to keep your beds and landscape alive and thriving.

Focal Point Flowers and Plants

Whether you know it or not, potted plants, focal point flowers, and big, beautiful, flowering fauna are going to help grab your home owners’ attention and impress them with your landscaping know-how. Try to center these awesome floral features around your focal points. For example, do your HOA common areas have entrances you can work with? Signage? Interesting street corners? How about pools and clubhouses? Try to focus your flower and plots near these to draw the eye to them and draw in extra attention. If you don’t have a ton of green space to plant, consider adding in large, potted plants or flowers. This has the same effect as ground plants but might require just a touch more effort as they likely will need to be hand watered. Either way, this will help capture attention and clean up the area!

Be Thoughtful About Your Features

No matter what you’re choosing to add into your landscaping, be thoughtful about what you do. Sure, fountains, lighting, rose gardens, and meditation areas are wonderful, but remember that they’re going to require lots of maintenance. If left alone, they become a menace, ugly, or even dangerous! So, before installing those gorgeous string lights over the pool or an additional playground for the kids in the neighborhood to run around on, put thought to the extra time and expense that it will require. Are you prepared to handle it? If so, get to work!

Schedule Regular Maintenance and Stick to It

This part is one of the easier tips we can give (and it’s not just because we want your business). With any commercial property, HOA association, or even residence, keeping up with your maintenance is going to be hugely important. You can put a ton of work into installation, but once that’s over, you’re left with live plants that are growing, changing, and adapting constantly – this means you have to be concerned with maintenance or you’re going to deal with overgrowth, safety hazards, and honestly, a pretty gross looking landscape. Your flower beds will likely need consistent maintenance in order to look their best. Your trees will certainly need pruning and trimming, especially because we’re Floridians and the hurricane season is seemingly always upon us. Your irrigation systems will undoubtedly need to be looked after and checked on regularly, too! Scheduling regular maintenance with a reliable, experienced landscaping company is the best tip we can give you for keeping your HOA up-to-snuff, safe, and beautiful.

How did you like our curb appeal article? You better believe that following these five easy tricks will help keep your home owner’s association happy and looking beautiful, and honestly, it’ll keep you pretty happy, too. Want to feel out more tips and tricks for keeping your landscape trimmed, cut, and beautiful? Check out our blog for weekly updates on Florida landscape tips and tricks, inspiration, and more! Want to talk to us one-on-one about your specific landscape needs? Give us a call at (727)- 201-3947 to chat with us directly!