Make lawn maintenance low maintenance : Common sense ideas for selecting and siting trees and plants for affordable long-term beauty.

Too often, landscape architects and designers create landscapes with little, if any, regard as to how much it will cost to maintain them. Their designs can become so boggled in aesthetics, harmony, composition and the interrelationship of spaces that they fail to recognize the costs associated with property upkeep.

With the exception of payroll and taxes, grounds maintenance is one of the most costly operating expenses property and facility managers face. Consequently, landscape architects and designers have an obligation to deliver a finished product to their clients that reflects serious consideration of long-term maintenance and associated costs.

Understanding consequences

A commercial landscape design should do the following:

* Maximize a property's overall appearance, drive-by and curb appeal.

* Control current and future landscape and grounds care costs and expenses.

* Protect and enhance the client's landscape investment through careful plant selection and placement.

As a result, a successful landscape architect or designer knows how to do more than just draw pretty shapes. He or she understands every consequence of every component of a …