Landscape Solutions  Continued From Page 25


for managers that specialize in field productivity and keep on top of activities as the horticultural calendar progresses through the year. Landscape partners are focused on learning how landscape drives value for our customers. Look for team members who are seasoned horticulturalists that will serve as your business partner to diagnose, plan, and improve the landscape experience for your community.


Landscape Professional Workplace With the flux of changes in the labor market,


everyone is focused on keeping crews safe and satisfied while encouraging career progression. Focus should be placed on a Retention First Strategy including training and development programs, employee engagement, and increased wages. Your landscape services provider should have a goal of new hire turnover below 20%, and a safety program that enhances the quality of life for their teams to experience.


Technology: Landscaping, Trees, and Irrigation


Using technology for landscape, arbor care, and irrigation is vital. With arbor care, entire community trees can be managed from an app. Care specialists can know exactly which trees need care, and when nutrients need to be applied. With technology, associations can work with providers to review service maps and times to ensure it enhances the quality of life for the tenants and the trees. In addition to the general care of the trees, technology can help communities keep trees and roots healthy and safe for resident enjoyment.


Technology can help communities keep trees and roots healthy and safe for resident enjoyment.


It is not a mystery that irrigation is connected to technology. Timers are just the start. It is predicted that in 2022, huge adoption of landscape irrigation technology will occur due to continued water conservation efforts. Landscape irrigation system design and installation companies will begin to alter how they install their equipment.


26 Community Associations Journal | March 2022


Gone will be large clunky systems, companies will slowly move towards smaller more efficient systems. These systems leverage networks of connected devices to control, monitor, and adjust watering proactively, and feature intelligently engineered heads, nozzles, and drip lines to reduce waste and get water exactly where it needs to be. These connected systems are popular with homeowners and businesses seeking to be more eco-friendly while providing additional transparency. While these changes may seem small, they will have large impacts on landscape development as well as maintenance over time.


Intelligently engineered irrigation will reduce waste, applying water with precision.


Thinking ahead As technology advances in landscape design, drones


and artificial intelligence will become integral. Landscape developers can use drones to survey potential sites before committing to them, determining where trees need to be cut down or terrain needs to be leveled. Artificial intelligence is also used by some companies to develop customized agronomist programs for trees, shrubs, and turf that require less synthetic material over time and that are more resistant to disease, require less water or provide higher yields. Communities should start looking to companies to manage a symphony of autonomous mowers that allow for more daytime use of outdoor spaces, reduce fossil fuel use, and decrease reliance on labor. Even as technology enables smart landscape management at a faster pace than ever before, there will always be a demand for trained professionals—if not human workers—to set up and maintain landscapes across a variety of spaces around the world.


Garden trends are ever-changing and tough to predict; however, by taking a close look at what’s working right now, we can all get a glimpse of what tomorrow may bring. With more and more homeowners and HOAs making sustainability a priority, consumers will likely demand new green products that don’t compromise function. Those who aim to keep up with emerging technologies will be well- positioned in 2022, as technology will enable sustainable products that once seemed too expensive or out of reach. And it seems unlikely that skilled labor will not go away anytime soon—if anything, dedicated professionals should become even more sought after in five years’ time.


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