So you’ve hired a landscaping team for your site. Now what? The team is looking to you for a scope of work, or what is commonly called a “specification” or “spec.”
If creating a spec sounds like a daunting task to you, you’re not alone. That’s why we created this cheat sheet on writing a spec. Your spec isn’t just for the landscape contractor. It’s a way to ensure that you have thought of every detail of your landscaping plan. Whether you’re an expert or a novice, this guide will help you write a spec that is clear to all parties and provides a way to measure successful results.
Spec Best Practices
- Provide room for feedback – A great landscape team will enhance your specification. If they can bring up points you haven’t thought of, your partnership with a landscape firm will be more successful. Create space for collaboration.
- Use detailed language – “Flower installations, including soil prep, planting, deadheading and watering” vs. “flower maintenance.”
- Tailor your specification to your region – Do you live in a dry area where droughts are a concern? If so, sustainable practices should be a priority.
What to Include
- Emergency Measures – What should a contractor do if they damage part of your property? What if there is a safety breach? What if an injury occurs?
- Seasonal Considerations – How should your landscaping process evolve to serve seasonal changes? Do you need spring cleanup? Winterizing?
- Deadlines – If you have deadlines for the bidding process, include them. If perennials need to be planted by a certain month, say so. Get as granular as possible on your spec.
How to Organize
- By Time Frame – For a large and long-term contract, you may have annual considerations to build in. Other contracts might require a monthly checklist. Still others need weekly and daily care, or some combination of these time frames.
- By Category – Your landscaping plan will comprise many different areas of service. At your level, landscaping goes beyond just mowing a lawn or watering plants. You will want to break down your spec into categories:
- Plants – Processes related to planting procedures, shrubs, vines, pruning, weed control, and rock layer.
- Hardscape – Processes related to the sidewalk, pavements, walls and curbs.
- Soil – Processes related to soil preparation, mulching, seeding and sod.
- Lawn – Processes related to aerating, seeding, mowing, edging, fertilizer, weed control and cleanup.
- Irrigation – Processes related to water application, leaks flows and drips, piping, drainage and repairs.
- Cleanup and litter removal – Processes related to waste removal, recycling, leaf removal and third-party contractors.
- Chemicals – Processes related to herbicides, pesticides, chemical runoff, pest treatment and disease control.
- Seasonal – Processes related to spring cleanup, fall cleanup, perennials, snow removal and winterizing.
- Reports and Approvals – Processes related to reporting, communications, sign-offs and chains of command.