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Working with residents
Working with residents - Communicate landscape changes.
- Brown spots in lawns may cause alarm in some residents.
- One of the biggest landscape-related complaints is brown spots in lawns. When implementing a water-conserving sprinkler system schedule, it’s common to see brown spots appear in grassy areas. This may be due to the need to adjust the schedule based on local conditions. Or, it may be an indication that the sprinkler system is not distributing water evenly over the area. Alternatively, extremely hot and dry weather can temporarily increase the landscape’s water requirement. Brown spots are not a major cause for concern, since most turf grasses can recover quickly from browning (except for tall fescue). Work with the landscaper to determine the cause and implement the solution.
- Communicate regularly with residents, especially when changes are close.
- Residents like to know what is going on. To prevent dramatic reactions, use newsletters, email lists, meetings, and notices to communicate landscape changes regularly to residents.
- Focus on messages that balance cost with long-term landscape appearance.
- Many residents are not aware of the current or projected water rate increases. For many residents, it will be important to know that the association is working hard to balance the increasing cost of water with the need to maintain an attractive landscape. They will want to know that their property value will not be negatively impacted by the changes being implemented.
- Community projects may increase resident “buy-in.”
- Some communities report that having fun landscape projects where residents could participate helped increase the concern for common areas. Such projects also improved communication between residents. Such an event might be a morning trash pick up followed by a potluck lunch. A short educational program may help, too.
- Develop a “neighborhood sprinkler watch.”
- Set up a hotline where residents can report sprinkler problems.
- Sprinkler problems occur on a regular basis. Some communities with limited budgets have saved water by instituting a sprinkler hotline. The hotline might be the phone number of a designated resident or the property manager. Residents who notice sprinkler problems can report them to the hotline. Encouraging all residents to report sprinkler problems increases the chance that problems will be fixed quickly.
- A reporting system helps get problems fixed more quickly and saves money on water waste.
- Leaks, both big and small, can be a major drain on association budgets. Some associations have spent their entire year’s landscape budget in one month on wasted water from a major leak. Avoid this situation by getting leaks fixed immediately. A community reporting system helps identify leaks as soon as possible, saving money in the process.
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