Maintaining a clean, professional, and well-kept exterior is crucial for any business. Your grounds are often the first impression customers, clients, and visitors will have of your company, so ensuring they reflect your brand’s standards is vital.
Well structured, regular grounds maintenance ensures that your property is regularly maintained, seasonal tasks are managed and unexpected issues are minimised. However, it is important that you avoid common mistakes that can compromise the quality of your grounds.
8 Common Mistakes Business Owners Make With Grounds Maintenance — And How You Can Avoid Them.
1. Not Considering Seasonal Needs
Some grounds maintenance contracts fail to factor in the difference in services that are required from one season to the next. Things like mowing and trimming of lawns may need to be done more regularly over warmer months than it would be in winter, and this should be reflected in your contract. Failure to address this will mean grounds look unkept and overgrown.
2. Cutting Grass Too Short
Over trimming grass can actually be detrimental to overall lawn health as it removes the protective layer of leaf blades and exposes the soil underneath, making it vulnerable to weather damage and pests. Your grass should be kept neat and tidy but not cut so short that the soil and ground are exposed to the elements.
3. Avoiding Maintenance Of Trees and Shrubs
Areas like shrubbery can often be overlooked but these are just as important to ensure the overall appearance of grounds is neat and tidy. Neglected foliage can hinder access to footpaths, hide important signage etc. It is important to consider this and make sure your foliage and shrubbery are trimmed and pruned, where necessary.
4. Inadequate Weed Control
Weeds need to be prevented, not just gotten rid of. Left alone, weeds can quickly grow out of control, so it is important to use proper preventative methods which will later save time down the line. Failure to do so will mean more time and resources are required in the future to repair the damage.
5. Applying The Wrong Fertilisers
Not all fertilisers are the same, and different plants and landscapes require different fertilisation. Using an incorrect fertiliser can be counterproductive to the health of the plants and can lead to damage and problems with growth.
6. Improper Irrigation
Having the correct irrigation system is essential for keeping plants healthy. If plants are watered too much, the roots of the plants become rotten, whereas if they are not watered enough, plants can dry up and die. Ensure that your irrigation system considers the size of your grounds, the kind of plants and drainage measures in place so that your grounds continue to operate at peak performance, year round.
7. Ignoring Soil Quality
Inadequate pH levels in soil can lead to plants struggling to grow or even disease. Different plants require different specific soil conditions, so it is important not to overlook the testing of pH conditions and nutrient levels so that soil can be monitored and improved. This will mean your plants have the best conditions to grow and thrive.
8. Not Using Professional Service
Some business owners will opt to do their grounds maintenance services themselves, however this is not always as easy as it sounds. Many complex areas of grounds maintenance require expert skills and specialist equipment which if not used, will lead to poor results. Choosing to do your own grounds maintenance can often lead to problems in the future and result in issues that are more expensive to resolve than if the work had been carried out by a professional from the outset.
Ground Up Property Group provide bespoke grounds maintenance, so contact us today to discuss our services or for a free, no obligations quote.
