Green keeping

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Consideration of maintenance requirements at the design stage is crucial, say contractors.

Taking over a maintenance contract can also be tricky for the new contractor appointed, particularly if the landscape has been badly maintained, in which case the contractor will struggle to get the design back to its original concept.

"If you take over an existing maintenance contract that is anything over three or four years old that hasn't been maintained properly, it is very difficult to get the site back to a reasonable condition. When certain trees and shrubs grow beyond a particular size they can become very leggy and woody. This means you can't cut them back hard, or make shapes out of them," says Bill Rowe, general manager of landscape contractor Blakedown.

Collaboration

Collaboration between the designer and contractor is key to efficient and sympathetic project maintenance.

While some designers may regard maintenance as being outside their remit, at the very least they need to recognise that choices made at the design stage have a big impact on maintenance.

Unfortunately this isn't always the case. "Sometimes the designer does not focus on the landscape from a maintenance point of view. Designers might install a feature or plant that is difficult to maintain. There might be a strip of grass that is awkward to cut with a lawn mower," notes Mohammed Zafar, operations manager at contractor Royal Gardens.

"There has to be coordination from the start, so designers can take into account the long term challenges."

As part of Desert Group's design and build division, Balderstone sees both sides of the maintenance question. "While maintenance is the role of the contractor, if the landscape has not been installed properly, or unsuitable plants have been used, maintenance will be more difficult and far more expensive," he says.

Plant selection is an important factor in reducing maintenance requirements and design integrity. While the trend in the region is for lush, exotic planting, experts recommend native landscaping where possible because of its low water usage.

"Indded, succulent plants, mulching and rock mulching create successful, easily maintained landscapes in the region. While hotels want the lush look, mulching can still be used in between the green areas," says Balderstone.

While long-term collaboration between designer and contractor will be beyond the budget of most clients, more collaboration between the two parties would help in improving maintenance standards, agree designers.

Louis Viens, landscape architect at Australian planning and design consultancy Place Designs, says his firm tries to revisit a site whenever it can.

"It depends on the contract, but usually we do carry out some site visits to check everything is in place. We call it warranty visits," he says, "and we feel it is one of our most important duties to check that everything is as per the original design."

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