How to Keep Roadway Landscaping Costs Low

Municipal leaders who are considering beautifying the roadways in their communities may be concerned that costs of roadway landscaping may be too high for their limited budgets. Such individuals may not be aware of the various techniques that can be used to keep costs affordable. This article discusses some of the tips that can be used to keep roadway landscaping costs affordable.

Use of Indigenous Varieties

Roadway landscaping can be kept affordable by selecting planting materials that are indigenous to the location. This can be a wise decision in two major ways. First, the locally available materials are usually more affordable to buy when compared to planting materials that aren't native to the location. Secondly, the implementation costs are likely to be affordable because sufficient experience and expertise is locally available among the available roadway landscaping firms.

Pay Attention to Water Requirements

Costs can also be kept in check by selecting species that require minimal amounts of water in order to thrive on the roadways. Such plants will not use up large amounts of water that can strain the available budget. Similarly, fewer maintenance employees will be needed to water those plants.

Group the Plants

The landscape can be designed in a way that makes it easy to maintain. For instance, the plants can be clustered in groups (shade trees separate from ornamental trees, for example). This distribution can make it easier to maintain the landscaping because mowing equipment with larger blades can be used to keep the large swaths of grass well-trimmed. The reduced mowing time can result in lower costs of labour when compared to the higher labour cost that can be incurred when the plants are mixed close to each other and smaller equipment has to be used to avoid damaging the different species in a given section of the roadway.

Enlist Volunteers

You can also identify environmental groups in the area and ask them to take up some of the maintenance work, such as mowing and picking trash, on the roadway landscaping. Landscaping companies can then take on the task of carrying out the technical aspects (such as tree lopping) of the maintenance work that the volunteers are unable to perform. The added benefit of involving community volunteers is that a sense of community ownership will be created and there will be fewer incidents of neglect or damage to the landscaping.

As you can see, roadway landscaping can be done without incurring high installation and maintenance costs. Find a roadway landscaping company and ask them to design a system that will achieve your beautification objectives without imposing a huge cost on the resources of the urban/community authority.