Nobody ever tells their HOA landscaping company, “Just come mow the lawn whenever. Mulch? Whenever you feel like it. Prune, don’t prune, doesn’t matter.”
You want your HOA landscaping to look great. All the time. That’s why you need a schedule.
So, what landscaping services should happen when? What’s the ideal HOA landscaping schedule?
Let’s take a look.
First, It Varies
Every HOA community is different and can have different services in their contract. Some HOAs have Level Green crews do all the mowing. Some just have us mow the common areas.
One HOA might have us mulch beds and do pruning on individual homes, another might not.
But here’s good HOA landscaping guidelines to start with, and you can always tailor the services to fit your needs, including adding a few appealing enhancements to make your community shine.
HOA Lawn Maintenance and Care: How Often?
During the spring, when grass grows quickly, Level Green mowing crews show up weekly.
In July and August, when grass growth slows, they mow three times a month. Mowing begins in mid-April and continues through the first week of November.
At HOA communities, timing is everything. Nobody wants to be rattled awake by the sound of a mowing crew at 6 a.m.
So Level Green HOA landscape maintenance crews strategically plan their tasks.
Nice quiet weeding can be done early, saving the noisier equipment work for after everybody’s had their coffee.
Other HOA landscaping tasks happen during these weekly mowing visits, too.
- Trimming around all obstacles, clearing excessive grass clippings, and removing debris from walks, curbs, and parking areas.
- Edging happens at every other mowing during the growing season. Crews edge all sidewalks, curbs, and other paved areas and remove debris.
HOA Landscaping Schedule: Weeding
Everybody hates weeds. So plant beds and tree saucers are weeded throughout the growing season to maintain a neat appearance.
This includes pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides as well as hand weeding.
Herbicides are also used throughout the season on walkways, curbs, and other hard surface areas to prevent those pesky weeds.
HOA Lawn Maintenance Schedule: Fertilizer and Weed Control
We recommend a four-application fertilization and weed control program as part of a HOA landscaping schedule.
Here’s how it breaks down:
We visit twice in the spring — first in March or April to apply fertilizer, pre-emergent crabgrass killer, and post-emergent broadleaf weed killer to target weeds like dandelion and clover.
A second visit in May or June repeats the process. Those two applications target weed seeds before they germinate, then again after any sprout.
We visit a third time in July or August to spot spray only for any broadleaf weeds that have popped up. No need to spray everything just for the sake of spraying. Spot spray is better for the environment, but still targets weeds.
Then, a final round of fertilizer goes down in October or November to help your HOA turf store nutrients for the winter and emerge strong and healthy in the spring.
By helping roots grow before winter sets in, you help ensure that the lawn will green up quicker in the spring and become more resistant to disease and drought.
HOA Landscaping Schedule: The Crucial Spring Clean-up
The typical HOA landscaping contract includes a visit in February or March for spring clean-up.
Crews remove leaves and debris, pull weeds, and get the community ready for the growing season.
Tasks include:
- Removing landscape debris that’s accumulated over the winter months.
- Pruning to remove deadwood from plant material up to a height that can be reached with a pole pruner.
- Edging of all plant beds and tree wells at a right angle to a depth of 1-2 inches.
- Application of a pre-emergent weed control to all mulched areas and ground cover beds.
- Mulch installed on plant beds and tree wells.
There are typically two or three clean-up visits in the fall, too, to clear leaves and debris — one visit before Thanksgiving and one before Christmas.
Some Helpful Extras for Great HOA Landscaping
The ideal HOA landscaping schedule also includes visits throughout the year for enhancements to keep the community’s landscaping healthy and appealing.
They include:
Aeration and Overseeding
Aeration and overseeding can work wonders on a HOA property lawn that needs a boost.
Aeration uses a machine to pull out tiny cores of soil from your lawn, allowing water and oxygen to get to the roots. Now, your lawn’s roots can grow nice and deep, producing a lush, healthy carpet of green.
High-traffic areas can especially benefit from aeration, since they‘re more prone to soil compaction. Aeration is usually followed by overseeding, as the holes created by aeration are perfect new homes for that grass seed.
HOA Landscaping Schedule: Rejuvenation Pruning
Expert, timely pruning can do wonders for your HOA curb appeal. It’s a safety issue, too.
Trees and shrubs that get too overgrown and gangly can snag pedestrians, obscure your signage, and block your lighting.
Rejuvenation pruning is the removal of old, overgrown limbs so that your shrubs can grow new, vigorous branches in their place.
Timing and technique are everything here.
Winter is a great time to prune, when your trees and shrubs are dormant. When we head out with the pruning shears to shape and thin, we won’t do as much damage as we would by pruning in their prime growing months.
Portering Keeps Things Tidy
Portering is a nice way to describe removing unsightly trash from your HOA landscaping.
The greenest lawn and most vibrant flower beds are spoiled by wayward candy wrappers and ratty plastic shopping bags.
Level Green crews can visit your HOA property once or twice a week year-round to clear ugly trash and keep your property looking neat and tidy.
Portering includes tasks nobody likes to do, but if nobody does them, your curb appeal takes a real dive.
We’re talking about emptying dog waste stations and replacing waste bags. Portering crews can empty public trash cans, too, and replace liners.
Flowers, Flowers, Flowers
Bright, colorful seasonal flowers are the eye-catching must-have to keep HOA residents happy and to attract new buyers.
Level Green crews typically install flowers in HOA landscaping beds three to four times a year, and supplement those with containers of bright and beautiful blooms.
HOA Landscaping Schedule: How Do You Know It All Gets Done?
Level Green’s digital property service reports detail exactly what services were performed when on HOA properties.
Were flower beds weeded? Trees pruned? Mulch delivered?
There’s no mystery — it’s all outlined for the HOA property manager, in a snap. It might include a photo, too. Crews might point out a hole they discovered that should be filled in so nobody twists their ankle.
These instant updates keep communication flowing.
Need HOA Landscape Maintenance? Trust Level Green
Mowing, weeding, fertilizing, trimming, pruning, planting, seeding, tidying — there’s a lot on your HOA landscaping list.
When we partner with an HOA, we know we don’t just have one customer — we have 150 or more.
We know you’re watching. It’s not just a property. It’s your home. That’s why we have schedules and measures in place to keep your HOA landscape maintenance running smoothly.
If you’re not already a Level Green Landscaping client, we’d love to add you to our growing list of happy customers. Our focus is on commercial properties like offices, mixed-use sites, HOAs, municipalities and institutions in Maryland, Washington DC and parts of Virginia.
Contact us at 202-544-0968. You can also request a free consultation online to meet with us one-on-one.
We’d love to hear from you.
