The Hidden Cost of Cutting Costs (In Your Commercial Landscaping Contract)

Everybody loves saving a few bucks.

Buy one pizza, get one free can actually make your whole day, right?

So when customers suggest cutting a few items from their commercial landscaping contract, we get it.

But unlike that pizza, cutting landscaping services isn’t necessarily a good deal. (Also, there’s no pepperoni involved, which makes things even worse.)

It can actually cost you more in the end.

Here’s how:

Tree Trimming

Your trees have been there forever. They’re fine, right?

When your landscaping company suggests they need trimming, why not save a few bucks and skip it?

Here’s why not: If a weak or dying tree branch topples to the ground, it could cause injury to a person or damage to a vehicle or property that will cost you a whole lot more than the cost of the tree trimming.

Landscaping pros can spot vulnerable branches and remove them before they cause you a property manager nightmare.

Mowing

We know what you’re thinking: does your lawn really need mowing every week? If you save some money and let it go for two weeks, who’s going to really notice?

Here’s the thing about mowing: The best practice is to never cut off more than a third of the length of the grass blades at one mowing.

If your grass is too long, mowing crews have to cut off more than that. Then you don’t get a clean cut. There's more resistance to the mower blade. That can actually rip your lawn out by the roots.

Then you’re facing significant costs to repair the damaged lawn.

Dormant Pruning

That doesn’t sound too important, right?

Actually, it is. After a good dormant pruning, crews don’t have to prune as hard for the next couple years.

But if you skip this task and plants get too tall, it will take landscaping crews considerably longer to prune everything, which means more maintenance costs for you.

The wise financial move is to have this done in the first place.

Drainage Issues

It doesn’t seem too wet out there. You say you’ll take your chances?

Skip it at your own risk. If that drainage problem is near a sidewalk, it could wash out the pavement. Then you pay for the drainage repair, plus the sidewalk repair.

Water is a powerful force. And drainage issues can be sneaky, hiding out until things get out of control.

Excess water can cause serious damage to your commercial property. It can damage your building’s foundation, erode and crack sidewalks, driveways, and retaining walls.

If your property is soggy, damp, or mildewy, there are some fairly easy commercial drainage solutions that will fix problems now, before they get worse and hit you with some pricey surprise costs.

Catch them early or you’ll end up paying to fix more damage down the road.

Weed Control

Even if you don’t care too much about weeds, other people do — like potential tenants, customers, and residents.

Weeds make a place look messy and neglected.

More weeds means landscaping crews have to mow more often, because weeds grow faster than grass.

So any savings you plan from skipping weed control will disappear when you pay for more mowing.

Trust Your Commercial Landscaping Maintenance to Level Green

Here at Level Green Landscaping, we understand wise budget moves. We’re a business, too.

But we don’t want to see our clients making budget decisions that will actually cost them more in the long run.

You want to have some money left for pizza, right?

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 for a virtual meeting.

We’d love to hear from you.