Purple wisteria in bloom

5 Takeaways from Stakeholder Surveys on Your Landscaped Site

Some people love surveys, some people cringe. But when managing a large landscaped site long-term, the data a survey can provide decision makers is invaluable. Plants are living assets, which grow, change through the seasons, require ongoing maintenance and monitoring. There are so many choices in the market for landscape service providers, new plant cultivars, water restrictions, noise considerations, tree ordinances, demographics of site users, and so much more to each specific site. It is not one size fits all.

So why not ask them? We make it simple and user friendly to get the data to support smart decisions.

  1. What is important to site users? It could be using less water, having colorful plantings at community entrances, safe and inclusive playgrounds or budget friendly maintenance services. Or maybe it is something you never thought of, a community garden, understanding the benefits one mature tree can provide a community, knowing the plants in their environment.
  2. What is not important to site users? This is possibly better data than what is desired. This is an area of potential cost savings.
  3. What results are desired? What level of maintenance do users expect? Do stakeholders expect to see someone on site every day, once a week? There are many ways to achieve a well maintained appearance, as long as the results are visible and apparent to the people who pay for it.
  4. What percent of the communities landscape budget should be spent on what? This gets stakeholders who love numbers to understand where their money goes. Maybe a phased plant replacement plan is prudent for the long term budget.
  5. What is the long range vision for the site? Users can imagine what their community will look like 5 to 10 years down the road.

From here we have data to develop a long range plan and budget to meet the landscape goals of our clients. We can write specifications for landscape maintenance to deliver results expected within our clients budget. We know our decisions are based on data with input from all stakeholders and site users. We can move forward to implement the plan collaboratively, in the best interests of the site and our client.