A six part series

Landscaping for HOA boards

What every board member and community manager ought to know about landscaping, written by the people who estimate, staff and run HOA properties across Greater Houston.

Start With Part 1 See All Six Parts

Why we wrote this

Most people who serve on an HOA board have never managed landscaping. Then they are asked to approve a contract that is often one of the largest line items in the budget, judge whether the work is good enough, and choose between bids that can be far apart for the same community.

This series is the inside view. It explains how landscaping on a community actually runs, how landscapers build their bids, where boards tend to get surprised, and which habits keep a community looking great for years. No sales pitch and no price tables, just what we wish every board knew on day one.

The six parts

  1. Part 1 · 5 min read New to the HOA Board? What You Are Really Overseeing in Landscaping Start here. A plain-English look at what an HOA board actually oversees when it comes to landscaping.
  2. Part 2 · 5 min read What Good HOA Landscaping Looks Like: Too Much, Not Enough and Just Right How to tell whether your community is getting the right level of care, and how to put that standard in writing.
  3. Part 3 · 5 min read How HOA Landscaping RFPs Work, and Why the Bids Come Back So Far Apart Why five landscapers can look at the same community and send five very different numbers, and how to fix it.
  4. Part 4 · 5 min read Why the Lowest HOA Landscaping Bid Is Often the Riskiest A low bid is not always bad, but it always deserves questions. Here is what to ask and what to watch for.
  5. Part 5 · 5 min read How Landscapers Size Up an HOA Job Before They Bid Boards evaluate landscapers. Landscapers evaluate boards too. Here is what we look at before we decide to bid.
  6. Part 6 · 5 min read What It Takes to Do HOA Landscaping Well, and How Boards Get the Best of It What separates a great HOA landscaper from an average one, and what boards can do to get the best from theirs.

Who it is for

New board members

You just joined the board and landscaping is one of the biggest lines in the budget. Start with Part 1 and read in order.

Community managers

Share it with your board at orientation, before budget season, or before an RFP. It explains the things you end up explaining every year.

Landscape committees

Parts 2 and 6 help a committee set a written standard and work with the vendor through the manager.

Want a second set of eyes on your community?

We are glad to walk the property with your manager, answer the board’s questions and share what we see. Free, with no obligation.

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