The start of the financial year is fast approaching, and a new fiscal year brings with it a new budget. If you’re wondering how to allocate your finances to ensure that you aren’t skimping on your grounds maintenance, you’re in luck!
We’re here to run you through what grounds maintenance is, how to budget accordingly for your landscape maintenance plan, and explore how your grounds maintenance plan should fit into your overall property maintenance. Without further ado, let’s get into it!
What is grounds maintenance?
Grounds maintenance is an aspect of soft facilities management that focuses on maintaining the outside spaces of your properties. It usually includes tasks such as lawn maintenance, tree works, hedge cutting, patio washing, horticultural planting and tidying of open spaces in a bid to improve the overall aesthetic and safety of your grounds.
How to allocate a portion of your budget to grounds maintenance
When you manage a property, there are so many plates you have to spin. How do you know that you’ll have enough budget to cover all areas? What about if there’s an emergency? Here, we are going to run through how to allocate enough funds to your grounds maintenance to ensure that these areas remain attractive, safe, and functional.
Assess the current conditions
Before diving into budget planning, you need to assess the condition of your grounds at the moment and decide what actually needs to be done. Identify existing issues such as overgrown landscaping, concerns around irrigation, or amenities that need repairing or replacing. Understanding the current state of your grounds allows you to prioritise and allocate resources where they are needed most.
Prioritise essential maintenance tasks
Once you have an idea of issues that are present at the moment, you can start prioritising more important tasks. Not all maintenance tasks are crucial, and prioritising those that are will mean that your budget is spent wisely.
Identify essential tasks that directly impact tenant safety, property aesthetics, and the longevity of outdoor elements. These tasks may include regular lawn care, tree trimming, pest control, and repairs to paths and communal areas. Allocate the majority of your budget to these high-priority items.
Plan for seasonal variations
We’ve spoken before about the different maintenance tasks that need to be completed each season. Some seasons will require more expensive maintenance than others, so be sure to plan your budget to accommodate these seasonal tasks.
Implement preventive maintenance strategies
Though it could be a larger upfront cost, implementing preventative strategies can save you money in the long run by preventing larger issues in the future. Allocate resources in your budget for regular inspections, fertilisation, and pest management. This strategic approach helps avoid expensive repairs later down the line.
Embrace sustainability
Sustainable practices not only reduce your negative impact on the environment, but can also lead to long-term cost savings. Invest in sustainable grounds maintenance practices, such as water-efficient irrigation systems, eco-friendly pest control methods and choose native and drought-resistant plants to reduce a costly water bill.
Outsource to professionals
While it may seem counter-intuitive, hiring a professional grounds maintenance team can actually be a more cost-effective way of maintaining your grounds. They can provide expertise that allow you to efficiently allocate your budget, and have access to technological solutions that can streamline grounds maintenance tasks and help to save money.
Have an emergency fund
Unfortunately, we can’t plan for emergencies, and unforeseen issues can happen at any time! To mitigate this, having an emergency fund is important. Keep a portion of your budget aside to cover the cost of unexpected issues. This means that you will be able to address emergencies quickly and efficiently, without breaking the bank and without compromising the overall property upkeep.
How should grounds maintenance fit into your overall maintenance plan?
Just as you wouldn’t want faulty heating or a burst pipe deterring potential tenants or customers away from your building, you also don’t want them to be put off by a poorly maintained outside space.
Grounds maintenance is an important part of the overall upkeep of your property, and so should feature as a major part of your maintenance plan. It’s impossible for us to say exactly how much money you should expect to spend on your outside areas. That being said, the amount of budget that you put into your grounds maintenance should be proportionate to the size of your grounds. Therefore larger grounds, bigger budget.
As well as this, the amount you should budget for also depends on whether your property is private or commercial. Commercial properties tend to have more grounds, with green spaces, seating areas and carparks, so more budget tends to be required for those grounds than residential buildings.
How Dependable can help
At Dependable, we have over 20 years of experience in providing grounds maintenance services to various customers across both the public and private sector. We can provide you with a professional grounds maintenance team to maintain the outside spaces of your properties year round, even on short notice (so you don’t need to worry about those pesky emergencies popping up!)
Our grounds maintenance services include everything from general lawn maintenance, hedge cutting, horticultural planting and patio washing to cleaning communal areas and maintaining sports pitches and playing fields.
Get in contact with us to understand more about our grounds maintenance and landscaping services, and discover how we could help you.
