Summer Landscaping & Maintenance Tips For Your Community Association

With summer starting soon, community association management services begin to spike. That’s because landscaping is already challenging. Maintaining the looks and feel of your outdoor efforts merely adds to the difficulty.

Everyone has excellent advice for landscaping. However, we’ll provide some of the best strategies we’ve found working with our clients. Make sure you create an approach with your community association based on these tips.

Focus on proper watering

Notice that we say “proper” instead of “more.” That’s because quantity isn’t the best solution for healthier gardens and lawns. Start by checking your irrigation and other watering systems.

While watering, you might benefit from a lower frequency. That’s because you must focus on slow drips for deep hydration—Additionally, water in the evening or early morning to avoid evaporation.

Aim for green and living colors

Healthy grass looks green and vibrant. The same is true for your flowers. You want your garden to look as colorful as possible, but you might cut corners with certain decisions.

To start, don’t cut the grass too short; keep it around 3.5 inches in height. Go for organic fertilizer as well, and don’t over-fertilize your spaces. Schedule lawn checks to find any weeds that could steal your plants’ nutrients.

Consider outdoor amenities

Outdoor living spaces, like event rooms and children’s parks, can reduce your lawn work. They make your community’s areas more entertaining while reducing garden work.

However, it’s still a hefty investment. The best community association management services can help you optimize your amenities without spending too much.

Perennial plants are better

When planning flower beds, it’s best to prioritize longevity. You can save lots of time and money in the long term by buying perennials, not annuals.

These flowers, like the purple coneflower, require less maintenance. Sure, annuals tend to be prettier, but you need to assess how much your community association can spend. Perennials require pruning now and then, and that’s it.

While speaking of low-maintenance plants, also remember to plant native species to make your life easier.

Potted plants are also good

For many, potted plants lack some of the charms of a “natural” garden. While we can understand that, potted plants offer unique advantages.

Firstly, they need less maintenance. You can also move them wherever you want with minimal effort. Even if you prefer to plant everything on the ground, keep a few pots for parties and events.

Check for any pests

Remind your staff to check for pests while performing regular maintenance. Removing dead matter and weeds makes an excellent opportunity to find unwanted visitors.

It’s much better to catch pests early, as it can make treatment much more straightforward. Additionally, opt for organic solutions if you need to treat said pests.

Enact rules and guidelines

Finally, community association management services usually place rules and guidelines around open areas. These recommendations can save a lot of time and effort in maintenance.

For instance, forbidding smoking and drinking alcohol in the open can keep cigarette butts and beer cans off your lawn. Think about regulations that could protect your landscape and make them visually available for everyone.

What To Know About Opening Your Pool

With communities finally looking beyond the pandemic, more people are impatient to go back to their hot summer’s day dip at the community pool. 

Now, these pools are not only a great source of relaxation for residents, but also significantly increase the asset value of properties within your Homeowner’s Association (HOA).

If you’re planning to open a community pool post the pandemic, there are a few things you should know.

Getting a permit and adhering to statutes 

Should you be planning to build an ingrown swimming pool, you need to get specific licenses and permits from your local municipality. Talk to your municipality for all the necessary documentation and receipts you will need. 

Additionally, you will have to adhere to the regulations set by your federal, state or local authority for running a swimming pool post-pandemic. Click here to know about maintenance requirements recently implemented by the California Legislature that community pools within large HOAs need to abide by.

You can use CMA’s services to get your HOA an on-site manager who can take care of all the licensing related to opening a community pool. CMA currently has nearly 150 state-licensed association managers working in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. 

Setting guidelines 

Your HOA needs to develop a comprehensive set of guidelines that residents can follow while using the swimming pool. 

Some rules that you can incorporate into your guidelines are:

  • Restrictions for children to use the pool without adult supervision.
  • Restrictions to take play toys, food items or drinks inside the pool. 
  • Using proper safety gear required for swimming.
  • Identification check before entering the pool. 

In addition to this, you need guests to maintain social distancing protocols in and around the swimming pool. For this, you can have time and maximum occupancy restrictions while using the pool area. 

If you are a large HOA, playing catch up with the rules and regulations can be tough. Taking the help of a community management consultancy like CMA will make this process a lot easier for you. 

Staffing 

Ensure the safety of your residents by having adequate staff in and around your pool. The team shall include lifeguards to prevent accidents and attendees from looking into inconveniences faced by residents while using the pool. 

If you are a large HOA with many people using your community pool, you may want to hire a pool management company. 

Management 

Pools can enhance your property’s aesthetic value and marketability but may also lead to accidents and mishaps. Maintaining a community pool safely and efficiently requires a great deal of commitment from an HOA. 

Building and maintaining a pool for your community requires a significant investment. CMA’s unique corporate structure offers boutique-style custom services that let you reap the best out of your pool experience. With CMA, you can enjoy the benefits of a community pool within your HOA without having to go through the trouble involved in setting up and maintaining it. 

 

How To Proceed With Caution: Reopening Community Amenities

States are starting to lower lockdowns and social distancing regulations. That’s mostly good news, but it’s bred new concerns regarding how to reopen installations for property management. Many firms are starting to provide insight into how to do so.

Community amenities are one of the most common issues brought up in these tips. They’re some of the most important spaces in building management. However, they also enable crowding and security concerns.

Proper communication is vital

The most important first step when planning a reopening approach is to communicate with everyone. That includes your property management staff as well as residents within the residence.

Therefore, make sure you share every strategy with everyone. Luckily, modern property management software enables messaging and notifications. You should leverage these features as much as you can.

Report your plans

You want everyone to stay on top of every information available. You want to share schedules, renovations, and plans. Doing so helps the entire process to run smoothly without compromising your community’s safety and comfort.

The most important reason behind this need is to avoid disruptions. You don’t want people to crowd as soon as your community amenities reopen. Remember that easing restrictions doesn’t mean the pandemic is over. You still want everyone to remain healthy.

Strategies for reopening amenity spaces

The National Apartment Association has an outstanding article about reopening public spaces. They provide vital guidance and recommendations for building management to streamline the entire operation.

Now, the article also touches on office spaces, but community amenities are our main focus. Property management is responsible for ensuring security while residents start to go back to their daily lives.

Clubhouses

You need to clean your clubhouses if they’ve been unoccupied for more than a week. Thankfully, the virus hasn’t been proven to survive for more than seven days.

However, you should still limit crowding in these areas. Make sure you don’t allow for enough people to compromise proper distancing during events.

Fitness centers

Your fitness center can actually benefit your community’s overall health. When reopening, you want to focus on cardio areas, which help cope with the virus’ symptoms.

The most important method to reopen gyms and similar installations is to set strict schedules. You want to make sure people can exercise without crowding.

Swimming pools

There’s no evidence suggesting that COVID-19 can spread through water. Proper maintenance also helps to inhibit the virus’ transmission in these areas.

However, you still want to avoid people crowding in pools. Like gyms, pools can benefit residents’ health, but schedules and social distancing must be implemented.

Outdoor spaces

Outdoor areas are some of the least problematic amenities for building management. They’re already excellent to avoid crowding, but proper maintenance is still required.

Pay closer attention to installations prone to crowding. Those include playgrounds and courts.

Laundry rooms

Finally, laundromats are vital for homeowners to keep their hygiene, but they’re prone to overcrowding.

Guarantee proper maintenance and disinfection before and after their reopening. Create strict schedules to limit how many people use the space as well.