Recent attention has been given to apartment buildings and communities that are taking landscaping to a whole new level. Upscale landscape renovations have become just as important as interior remodels to amenity-savvy homeowners.

One Hudson Park, a luxury high rise condominium in Edgewater, on New Jersey’s Gold Coast developed by New York-based Tarragon Corp., can now claim a public green space adjacent to their property that includes walking paths, a Zen-like bridge over a pond with a fountain, greenery, seating areas and a pavilion for shade. These elements go along with the unique feng shui-inspired design of the modern One Hudson Park tower.

“Tarragon Corp. has an opportunity to express what we think is good development principle and good design and do it in a way in which we can improve the neighborhoods we work in,” said William S. Friedman, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Tarragon. “We’ve been able to give an amenity to the city of Edgewater, but it’s also an amenity for all our residents at One Hudson Park.”

Velocity in Hoboken is a condo community consisting of two buildings set across from each other on Sixth and Seventh Streets with a 25,000-square-foot courtyard in between. Developed by REMI Companies, Velocity was built a few years ago on the site of an old junkyard in an underdeveloped part of town.

Velocity’s 63-by-250-foot courtyard is a visually appealing space that includes groupings of tables and chairs and wireless Internet access for those wanting to bring their laptops. If they don’t want to go online, however, there’s plenty to look at with the birch, dogwood and cherry trees, flowering shrubs and other flora surrounding the block-long space.

Landscaping Adds Value

As developers have shown at Velocity and One Hudson Park, the value of good quality landscaping cannot be understated. But even if you can’t afford to hire world-renowned landscape architects to design expensive, high profile courtyards or green spaces, there are some things you can do to gradually improve your properties.

In New Jersey, many communities built during the building boom of 25 years ago are now facing landscaping issues that make their grounds look old and outdated.

“You’ll see Juniper growing eight feet tall and covering your front window or white pine trees planted right on the foundation,” explains Aaron Kurdyla, director of operations for the grounds maintenance division of High Tech Landscapes, Inc. in Branchburg. “Communities want to do phased-in plans of how they can uproot overgrown plants, improving their landscapes and bringing their communities up to date.”

Experts agree that keeping up on landscaping is important for the image of a community.

“Landscaping adds more than just [monetary] value to an HOA,” points out William Isa, president of C&M Landscape Contractors, Inc. in Mahwah, a full-service landscape company. “More than just curb appeal, [good landscaping lets] homeowners have pride in ownership. Their landscape is a large, living investment. Properly managed, it contributes to the value, beauty and usefulness of their property,” he adds.

Remember, landscaping does not just mean front beds with some annual flowers stuck in. With the help of a landscape company—or preferably a landscape architect— common space areas can be incorporated into your landscape design that allow residents to enjoy the great outdoors.

Landscape architects consider what lures people into a common space and how they use this space. They also consider the different elements of design—which not only include landscaping materials like mulch and shrubs, but also the hardscape materials of paving, furniture, umbrellas, pergolas, arbors and fencing, according to Scott Levy, principal of Scott Alan Design, Inc., landscape architects/planners in Hamburg.

“A landscape architect to a project is just as valuable as an engineer or architect would be to a [building] site,” says Levy, who is also past president and current member of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). “The value of landscaping is enormous. It can add, I’d like to believe, anywhere from 10 to 15 percent up to 20 to 25 percent to the value of your property.”

Perhaps one of the greatest subconscious messages your HOA sends to the rest of the world (including potential homebuyers) when it has good landscaping is, “Hey, look, if we have nice grounds, we’re bound to take care of the rest of our systems, too. We wouldn’t have attractive landscaping if we didn’t also have upgraded furnaces, efficient windows and renovated interiors.”

“The biggest challenge I see in many communities is that they put money away on timeframes to reassess the roof and siding, but they don’t really put money away on a 15-20 year basis to reassess the landscaping,” says Kurdyla. “When they do, it shows they care more about their community, that they are an active community in terms of the membership taking a role in what they’re doing. It shows that they have an involved board and management team who are on top of things.”

One of the quirky parts of human nature is that we’ll often walk by all the beautiful, well-kept homes, thinking nothing of them. But as soon as we see an ugly home, one in disrepair and poorly landscaped, we’ll take notice right away. Does bad landscaping have a negative effect on these communities?

Those communities developed decades ago might now have new siding and roofs, but what about the landscaping? Is it overgrown? Has it died back, leaving dead growth or empty spaces?

“If you have a lackluster or ugly look, people will be drawn away. Bad landscaping—old or dead or dying plants or misplaced material—has a negative effect on a property,” warns Levy. “It always behooves the facility to upkeep their property and create a nice aesthetic quality to their community.”

Resident-Approved Landscaping

Do residents support spending community money on landscaping, or do they see this as a frivolous expense, only supporting it if the grounds really start looking trashy?

“Most residents support keeping a good image, but most of them don’t realize the work that goes into that,” explains Kurdyla. “Remember, you have a party of five making a decision for a party of 300. The majority of people do not like major change, especially when they don’t have control of it.”

During times of other skyrocketing expenses, landscaping might be first to go from the budget. But this can be a mistake, says Levy.

“It should be thought of as something that’s as integral as putting up new windows or siding,” he says. “It should be in that category. People shouldn’t think that landscaping is a minimum. But unfortunately that’s what happens when costs and budgets are low—landscaping is the first thing that gets thrown out.”

“Residents definitely support landscaping, good lawn care programs and enhancements,” says Gail McDermid, senior community manager of Executive Property Management in North Brunswick. “When residents see that the association takes pride in the landscaping and lawn, they tend to do the same for the front of their properties by adding flowers, etc.”

Planting flowers is one way for residents to support the cause for a more spruced landscape. Another way is to join the HOA’s landscaping committee, if there is one.

Although not a requirement for working with landscape companies, many HOAs have landscaping committees that do regular weeding and gardening and oversee the grounds.

According to the landscaping experts, about half of the HOAs they work with have committees. And it’s often more difficult to work with one than it would be just to talk to the board.

“As their landscaper, we can play the part of the ‘landscape committee’ in that we provide many ideas on improving or upgrading their current landscapes,” says Isa. “As a result, a landscape committee does not make a significant difference to a property.”

Sometimes a committee can get in the way of efficiency, too. If they meet with the landscape company to hear a presentation on what can be done to the property and then carry that message back to the board, information can get skewed or lost in translation.

If the committee has decision-making ability, however, and doesn’t have to run the bids past the board or association, then projects can be completed with more efficiency.

“Good landscaping committees are fantastic to work with for the one simple reason: you meet with them,” says Kurdyla. “They’re all involved, they’re all focused on what they’re doing and you can accomplish a lot in a short time.”

Isa agrees. “A landscape committee could be a plus for an HOA who has no knowledge of landscaping at all and can prove to be beneficial when discussing various projects or plans to enhance their landscapes,” he reports.

Refreshing Your Landscape

Whether you have a landscape committee or not, your association board and/or management company may decide it’s time to refresh your landscape. If so, start the process of looking for bids and collecting photos of landscaping you want to emulate.

“Investigate what you want to enhance,” directs McDermid. “Landscaping is very costly and sometimes boards choose to enhance their landscaping in phases and over time.”

Kurdyla recommends a phased-in plan, based on three, five or seven years.

“This does take a commitment from the board and vendor,” he explains. “However, you can phase it in, and instead of spending a large sum of money in one year, you can phase it out over a number of years to get the most bang for your buck and also get the most broad-based appeal.”

Levy also recommends the phasing plan and warns that you don’t try to do everything all at once. A call to him would start with a conversation trying to ascertain what it is the community thinks it needs, which would be followed by a walk-through around the property.

Costs for Levy’s firm could range from an hourly rate to a lump sum fee, depending on the scope of the project. Isa’s company works similarly. Call first for a consultation with a designer, who will sketch a few sample landscape layouts.

“Based on the reception to each, the designer can narrow their selections and focus on finalizing the perfect landscape setup for the community,” he says, adding that an upgrade such as this starts at $10,000 and can go all the way up to a few hundred thousand dollars.

Domini Hedderman is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to The New Jersey Cooperator.