Part of the job of a condo board is to keep your association’s grounds or lawn looking healthy and attractive. After all, curb appeal can do  wonders when it comes to appraisals and even the morale of your community  members. But most condo boards—whether urban or suburban—are populated by volunteers, few of whom are likely to be professional  landscapers or horticulturalists.  

 That being the case, they’ll probably depend on a professional landscaper to maintain and beautify the  grounds. We polled landscapers throughout New England to figure out what you  need to be asking the landscaper before you hand over your green space. Here  are their top 10 questions, in no particular order:  

 How do you apply your pesticide?Pesticide application to lawn and turf is becoming a big no-no, says Gary  Goldman, president of G&M Landscape in Sherborn, Massachusetts. “We are trying to make sure contractors are following a handful of LEED  (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) things,” he says. “It is important to ask your landscaper ‘how do you apply your pesticides and when do you apply them?’ We also try to push Integrated Pest Management (IPM is an approach to pest  management that relies on comprehensive information on the life cycles of pests  and of their interaction with the environment.). Landscapers should take the  time to evaluate the site and only spray what has to be done as opposed to  blanket spraying.”  

 How do you dispose of your material?If a landscaper is cutting grass and bagging it, it’s important to know where they are putting it, says Goldman. If there is a  pesticide in grass and it gets dumped in the wrong spot, who will be liable? “On our landscape we have to provide a statement as to where we dump our grass,” says Goldman. “The best way to get around that is to mulch the grass as opposed to bagging it.  I try to convince clients to do that. It is always best to tell landscapers to  mulch it and leave it on site.”  

 Can I see a copy of the landscape audit? A landscape audit is a site assessment that gives you the information you need  to transition to a sustainable landscape. It includes detailed inventory and  analysis of the landscape surrounding your property and provides guidance on  the how’s and why’s of creating sustainability on your site. “I like to put a 3- to 5-year plan together,” says Goldman. “As things mature, you need to identify problem areas, things that need to be  changed, how things should be pruned, when they should be pruned. Because  horticulturally, it all wraps up together. If the trees wrap up the lawn, you  are not getting proper moisture or sunlight. When that happens most people try to overcompensate by throwing more fertilizer  down—when that is the case, maybe just pruning the trees will help.” An audit doesn’t need to be done more than once every five years. It is just a plan to put  everything together so that you know what is there and how everything is  working, says Goldman.  

 Are all of your crew members properly documented?Though a condo board wouldn’t necessarily be on the legal hook if one of their vendors is caught using  illegal labor, it’s still a good idea to ask, says Stephen Faulkner, president of Faulker  Landscaping & Nursery in Hooksett, New Hampshire. “If a company is using foreign labor, make sure they are here on legal work  visas,” says Faulkner. “Oftentimes, an immigration board will spot-check work sites to see if  landscapers have correct paperwork on their employees. If the paperwork isn’t in order, then boom, in some cases half the workforce is gone the very next  day.”  

 How experienced is your pruning crew?How many years of experience do they have? Are they properly trained? What is  their knowledge? These are all questions association boards should ask their  landscapers, says Faulkner. “If a landscaper is not using the same pruning crew year after year, this can  cause a problem. You can have one person come in and prune a certain way, and  another person come in the following year and prune a different way. There’s two types of pruning: there’s shaping plants, which most landscapers can do, but when you go into different  cuts, working on a tree to create a certain architectural shape, that requires  a different skill level.” The worst case scenario would be that someone else comes in and is either  inexperienced, or has a completely different vision for the tree “and the tree gets butchered,” says Faulkner.  

 Have you serviced other sites this size?It’s admirable to employ a start-up company or a mom-and-pop operation, but you  have to make sure they are up for the job. “If you hire a growing company, make sure they are not biting off more than they  can chew,” says Faulkner. “Once a guy came in and underbid my company—he did the job for two years, but his work was inconsistent and the client wasn’t happy with his work. We came in on year three and had to take over because the  guy just got overwhelmed. It was the first time he was doing a job of that  size, and he was having a tough time finding dependable labor.”  

 Will you remove excess mulch?Mulch is laid over the surface of the soil as a covering. It is used to retain  moisture in the soil and it also suppresses weeds, but using too much can  backfire. “Most landscapers don’t factor in removing excess amounts of mulch that may be piling up from previous  years,” says Faulkner. “If too much mulch is used, plants can be impaired for years down the road. They  can also pick up diseases from the excessive mulch. Then you are looking at a  possible situation that these plants are dead and diseased and there is a  possibility that they could be spreading disease to other plants.” It would be an added expense to replace the plants but it would have to be done  to keep the condo owners happy, he says.  

 Do you personally provide year-round service? Lawn maintenance varies radically from summer to winter, so everyone should be on the  same page. Some companies only do winter maintenance and subcontract spring maintenance,  and vice-versa. “What can happen is that your winter snow plowing crew can cause damage that the  summer maintenance crew may have to provide repair for—and charge extra for,” says Faulkner. “If you have experienced plow people in the wintertime, you don’t want to have them ripping up lawns and causing damage for the spring crew. If  you have the same company hired for winter and spring, they tend to be a little  bit more careful about damage. They are not going to rip up lawns plowing snow;  they’ll take better care of them because if they don’t, it’s going to come back to bite them in the springtime. They’ll also probably pay extra attention to the application of salt, which could  kill some plants.”  

 Are you additionally insured? Condominium associations and HOAs will typically want to be named as an  additional insured on insurance policies of their lawn care professionals. One  of the main advantages of being an additional insured is the existence of  insurance to cover any losses, says Keith Anastasy, manager of The Dirt Doctors  in Pembroke, New Hampshire. “Everybody that we do business with wants to to listed as additionally insured.  It makes the insurance company provide the association with notice if there is  a cancellation of the policy. The condo association should definitely ask the landscaper if they want  to be listed as additionally insured. It protects the condo association for any  screw-ups.”  

 Can I see your references? It’s important to make sure your landscaper’s style fits your needs, so it’s very important to speak with previous clients and actually visit their  properties to see the landscaper’s work. A landscaper can develop a bad reputation very quickly, says Anastasy. “You should get five to 10 references from previous clients so you can find out  how they performed at other places,” he says. “This is very important.” But it shouldn’t just stop there: the landscaper may only be leading you to clients who were  pleased with the job. You should also see if anyone has filed any complaints  against the landscaper. You can do this via the Better Business Bureau  (www.bbb.org), where you can see any complaints filed against the company for  free. You can also spend a minimal amount of money to get a paid membership to  Angieslist.com, where you can see all reviews of the landscaper. Through  Angieslist.com, you can also see what the landscaper charged past clients.    

 Danielle Braff is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to New England  Condominium. Staff Writer Christy Smith-Sloman contributed to this article.