FEATURE
care budget may be focused on maintaining the status quo, early in the season is also ideal for planting bedding plants and hanging baskets to increase the aesthetic appeal of sites. Alternatively, this can be a good time to make changes that encourage biodiversity or improve environmental impacts – for example, wildflower meadows that add visual interest while also supporting pollinators. In this way, effective grounds care planning can proactively support organisations’ environmental (ESG) commitments. It’s also worth looking at how different approaches can help to control budgets – for example, setting aside areas as wildflower meadows can also help to reduce the increased overhead of keeping lawns tidy.
Catching risks early Many of the recommended proactive measures can be summed up by the phrase, ‘fixing the roof while the sun is shining’ – making well-timed interventions to avoid greater maintenance costs at a later stage. However, this is also the time to mitigate serious liabilities.
This is an important time to keep an eye out for reportable invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed. Japanese Knotweed starts its rapid growth in spring and flourishes vigorously during the summer. Making sure grounds staff are trained to identify species can be vital to ensure early intervention and control measures are applied by specialist contractors.
Naturally, domestic vegetation can also present risks. Autumnal site improvement works such as tree surgery and arboriculture activity are key to keeping sites safe, secure and compliant, especially ahead of strong winds
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and winter storms. Hence, the summer is a good point to schedule professional tree surveys to identify risks and prioritise tree works. Once again, the key to effectively planning and budgeting the season’s activity often relies on scheduling surveys and inspections at the right point in the year to deliver actionable insights that could prevent greater costs or liabilities further down the line.
Weather heating up? Time to plan your winter gritting This final point may seem counter-intuitive but late summer is also the best time in the calendar to start planning for frosts and snowfall. Prudent organisations work to lock in contracts for winter gritting and snow clearance at this stage to ensure budget certainty and guarantee of service provision. This is also a good time to engage new contractors as it will provide plenty of time for them to survey your sites to identify particular high-risk areas.
Helping you take on every seasonal challenge At OUTCO we provide year-round support to help our clients maintain the safety, functionality, and longevity of their external estate. During the summer this involves striking the right balance between managing the increased grounds care pressures of the peak growing season but also maintaining a forward view of challenges and risks ahead. Despite the budget pressures of this busy time, proactive planning and professional surveying is critical to identifying risks before they escalate and helping to plan essential maintenance with confidence.
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