If your community or site was landscaped over two decades ago, you likely have been faced with repairs and enhancements. Plant material has a life span, irrigation components wear out, drainage systems fail, gardens evolve, trees outgrow their spaces, pests invade. The list goes on. Landscapes are after all, are living and constantly changing.

Are you planning for the future of your landscaped site? Do you have budgeted reserves for future improvements? How willing are community members to accept a special assessment to fund projects?

Landscaping and water are likely the largest recurring items on your budget. Landscaping directly affects your community and property values. It’s what people first see when they drive in. It is an asset which should increase in value. But how?

What we find working with clients is a revolving door of band aid solutions. Each contractor offering their services and enhancements. Some landscape contractors and boards are successful and stick with a project long term to see the communities vision through. Others get replaced, the vision is lost.

A comprehensive strategy to guide landscape planning is necessary. This starts out, like any project, at setting goals. Each community has its own. We can then build consensus, rally residents around these goals to budget, fund, and move projects along. No more band aids to stop the bleeding.

Landscape Master Plans (LMP’s) are long range planning documents built around pre-defined goals. Some common goals are to decrease water consumption, decrease maintenance costs, build sustainable landscapes and enhance aesthetic appeal. LMP’s identify the what, how, when, why, how much of future landscape projects.

We work collaboratively with landscape committees, residents, boards and contractors to guide work with specific intent. Each recommendation in our LMP’s has an intent in the goals identified. The solutions are varied and there are a multitude of options to meet the needs of any landscaped site into the future.

Our LMP’s work to quantify savings over time to initially fund projects. Much of what we recommend goes back to the basics of horticulture, plant care and nurturing healthy landscapes in the dry environment of Southern California. Botanicon analyzes the site, potential solutions and recommends varying strategies, new technologies and local incentives.

Remember quick fixes are just that, and are generally expensive in the long run. Solutions abound to guide your communities landscape assets into the future. Landscape Master Plans are about working smarter, not harder, to achieve your goals.