lawn mowing

Broadlands southern walk -- when do they mow, and do they mow backyards too?

 

The landscaping contractor's mowing schedule is an ongoing rotation, getting each common area at least once every week or two. They don't do backyards of houses or townhomes, just common areas of those. There are areas that pay more in HOA fees for mowing of yards. To find out if you are in one of these, I would check the paperwork you were given at closing, or call the HOA office to be sure.



Neil Z.
Resident since 1999

 

If you are in the Southern Walk Single Family Homes then you don't get the lawn mowing. I think Overland Park has it as part of their HOA dues but Southern Walk does not. Not sure about Broadlands North.

 

The Courtyards single family homes in Southern Walk have complete lawn mowing included as part of the HOA fees. I believe these models are all sold out though, so if you are moving into a new home you probably don't fall into this category.

 

Owners of Southern Walk Courtyard homes in the Longleaf section pay an extra fee each month to have their front and back yards mowed.

jaeris

 

did not know they got their lawns mowed. I wonder why specific house types get their lawns mowed and others do not. Kinda odd that the service is offered at all. Must be nice for those people.

 

Thanks, I think? Southern walk, Courtyard SFH. It looks as if the neighbors backyards have been mowed, but the 115lb pooch in my backyard may have scared the landscapers off. Am fairly sure that backyards are mowed, just unsure of the schedule.

 

Courtyard series homes in Southern Walk and Overland Park have lawns mowed (and seasonal mulching of flower beds), and the HOA dues are accordingly higher than for other single family homes. The current contractor will mow the backyards also, so long as they can get access to the backyard with the larger mowers. Hence many of us have double gates on the backyards.

 

Courtyard Single Family Homes also receive the services of seasonal fertilization, aeration, and seeding.

In 2004, we paid approx. $23.00/month to receive the additional landscaping services.
In 2005, we are going to pay $35.00/month for the additional services.

And it looks like in 2006, it is going to go up again $20 - $30.00 more.

The board is setting up a meeting with Courtyard Home owners next year to decide what they want to do.

 

is there no competition?

 

$35 a month is not too bad for next year.

$60+ per month for 2006 and beyond is outrageous, though, especially when you consider that we will pay this additional fee for a full 12-month year and nothing</u> is done to our lawns for 4-5 months of the year. In effect, we will be paying about $100 a month in order to have our lawns mowed about twice a month during the growing season(s). No thanks, I'd rather do it myself.

 

Finally, a voice of reason.

Are these 25-60/monthly fees mandatory? Thats absurd...yards around here aren't very large at all...just mow/seed it yourself and get some sun/exercise in the process.

 

Currently the fees are mandatory.

 

I live in the Courtyard at Southern Walk and wasn't aware that they also did seasonal fertilization, aeration, and seeding. I also wasn't aware that they mulch the flower beds. Where did you get this information? Is it written anyhwere? I was told by the builder that they only mow the lawn and it was up to the owner to maintain the lawn and flower beds.

 

To be honest I would rather do the lawn maintenance myself than pay any monthly amount. The landscape contractors do a terrible job. When it comes up for a vote, I am hoping the Courtyard residents choose to drop the service. Additionally, I feel robbed of the homeowners experience not being able to mow my own lawn.

 

I for one have wanted to do my lawn from the time we moved in. I will be voting to save my money!

 

As someone who commutes to DC every day for a 12-hour work day, I gladly pay someone else for these services so I don't have to worry about mowing on the weekends. I prefer my free time to be really free and not constrained by having to mow, aerate or seed my lawn and mulch the flower beds.

I know everyone's situation is different, but in our case the lawn services were part of the Courtyard homes' attraction. It has been a very worthwhile expense for the last 2 years and I would not want the services to go away.

 

We request new landscaping bids every two years. That is why this year's costs are basically the same as last years for the Courtyards. Next year is a different matter.



Neil Z.
Resident since 1999

 

I think that a close look at what we really get is needed, once a yard is established, overseeding is really not needed or a home owner could do it themselves. Also mulching could be reduced to once a year, and maybe not done at all. I have noticed quite a of neighbors increasing the size of thier flower/mulch beds to almost 1/3 of thier yards. The landscapers have to mulch all that additional area as part of the contract, adding more to the cost of the service.

I do agree though that the basics, areation, cutting, trimming and bagging of yard waste would be better handled by a service. The additional items can be handled by the homw owners.

 

Why should the entire community have to be locked into the same overpriced contract, though? If you want to pay someone for these services, wouldn't you want to hire the company yourself and have control over the quality/cost/etc.? If I were going to hire a company to do this service for me, I would think I could get it for less than the $700 or so that it will cost me in 2006 under the anticipated rate increase.

As far as I can tell, the only benefit to having a community-wide contract for these services is that you don't have to worry about the lazy neighbor who lets their lawn "go," creating an eyesore. That is what HOA's are for, though.