Landscaping budgets
There is no standard landscaping percentage. Here is what to check before you write one in.
There's no fixed formula for a landscaping budget line. Start with what was actually spent last year, not what was budgeted, check the contract for any renewal or escalation terms before assuming the number repeats, and decide deliberately whether to carry the prior figure forward or rebuild it from zero.
Start from actual spend, not last year's budgeted number
Two boards can build the same landscaping line two different ways. One starts with last year's budgeted figure and nudges it up or down, a method called incremental budgeting. The other throws that figure out and rebuilds the line from scratch, asking what irrigation, mowing, and seasonal color should actually cost this year with no reference to what was budgeted before.
"the budgeting process starts from a base of zero, with no reference being made to the prior period's budget or actual performance"
Source: Comparing budgeting techniques (Incremental v ZBB), Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
Either method is defensible. What isn't defensible is carrying forward a budgeted number that the landscaper hasn't actually invoiced in three years. If the line always comes in thousands under budget, that gap isn't savings, it's a sign the number was never checked against reality.
Read the contract before you assume the price repeats
Landscaping is usually a contracted service, and contracts renew on their own terms, not the board's. Some vendor agreements tie the renewal price to an index, such as a CPI-linked escalation clause; others simply reset at whatever the vendor quotes. Check your specific contract's renewal and escalation language before budgeting. A board that assumes "same as last year plus a little" without reading the renewal clause can end up short by a number the contract already told them.
This is a five-minute check, not a negotiation: pull the contract, find the renewal section, and see whether a number is already written in.
Treat a cushion as a decision, not a habit
Storm cleanup, irrigation repair, and a dead tree that wasn't on anyone's list are the kind of costs that make a landscaping line run over some years and under others. Padding the line by a round number "just in case" isn't wrong, but it should be a deliberate board policy the board can explain, not a habit nobody remembers choosing. Set the cushion, write down why, and revisit it against actual spend the next time the budget comes up.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
The landscaping contract renews this year with a clause tying the price to an index. The board budgets last year's number plus a round increase out of habit. What should the board do first?
A board wants every landscaping line justified from scratch this year, with no reference to last year's budgeted amount. Which approach are they using?
The landscaping line has come in thousands under budget for three years running, and the board treats the leftover as free cash. What should the board check?
Sources
- Comparing budgeting techniques (Incremental v ZBB), Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
Budgeting
Next, see how these individual expense lines roll up into the full annual budget.
Whether your landscaping contract includes an escalation clause, how large a cushion your board keeps for storm or irrigation repairs, and whether your association budgets this line incrementally or from zero are set by your vendor contract and your own board policy, not by a single rule that applies everywhere.