The adage "what you create you have to maintain", is as true today as it ever was.

With today's costs being what they are, it is ever more important to control unnecessary "waste", both in time and equipment.

Grounds maintenance by its very nature is labour intensive ? or is it? It is ? if your original design was not as successful as you hoped. And it is ? if you neglect maintenance, in the broadest sense of the term, then it will be too.

So if you have to maintain what you create, it becomes more obvious that attention to detail is a good starting point. Coupled with this approach, one should also consider that cutting back on initial capital costs often leads to increased operating costs.

Over-planting is one of the major "sins" in landscaping. Hedges are planted too close together, thus creating problems for good growth and development; the same can be said for general plantings within beds.

Planting at correct distances saves money because fewer plants are required and labour is saved by reducing installation costs, soil and machinery, and secondly by cutting down ongoing maintenance.

Pruning is usually required two to three times per year at most. If the design is thought through, the exercise becomes redundant and is often 'harmful' to continued growth of the plant.

Good growth creates good foliage cover which in turn can reduce weed growth by creating a reduced surface area for weeds to establish themselves.

Good growth is the product of first purchasing a healthy robust plant, secondly planting in a large enough hole for the plant's roots to be self sustaining and thirdly by regular fertilising so the plant is encouraged to grow.

Watering during drought periods and observation for pest and disease problems also create a good climate for growth.

Correct pruning techniques at the right time of the year will give a plant the best possible chance of maturing and fulfilling the need for which it was planted; collectively therefore the garden in general benefits with a structured programme of maintenance.

Consider the amount of time wasted when for example a 'tall' oleander hedge is being 'hacked' back to create a silhouette of bare branches, culminating in a crew cut burst of growth within twelve inches of the 'cut'.

First determine the need for the hedge ? height, wind barrier etc. That will help in the selection process.

Then plant at the correct distance apart and maintain with tender loving care which includes fertiliser and initially water to ensure survival.

If you are growing oleander, if you want growth from ground level to the tip for a screen and also for flowering, pruning should be carried out so that new growth is created from the base up; this can all be carried out working with one man at ground level, which equals one person's hourly rate, and no additional labour costs when working one man is working on a ladder and the second man is holding it!

Even when you have chosen the right plant and planted it correctly, you should not round it or square it for just for the sake of an exercise in "sword play".

Specimen trees should be pruned by a trained tree surgeon, who has the knowledge of pruning techniques, and tree related problems that could well be the knowledge that is the difference between a 'specimen' tree and a problem tree.

Lawn care is also a major area of 'expense' where work wittingly or otherwise is guaranteed in-perpetuity when poor maintenance procedures are the order of the day and not the correct way.

Height of cut varies accordingly with the lawn grass; therefore to cut each and every lawn at the same height purely because of ignorance of the type of grass in the lawn is unacceptable.

For example, when St. Augustine grass is cut low ? below three inches ? it creates an opening for weed growth to take over, which in turn needs chemical control to remove the weeds and more often than not because the lawn looks untidy owing to the weed growth an increased mowing regime.

The end result of such work being a poor lawn and additional cost when both could have been avoided.

When thinking about design concentrate on the cost of design, installation and maintenance, all three are integral to the final product with cost being a major contributor.