There are plenty of things to understand about pruning the trees at your Blacksburg rental property this fall. Most property owners know that pruning is an critical segment of ensuring that your rental property’s landscaping and plants are healthy. Pruning is also an imperative component of preventing damage to the property. By grasping as much as you can towards the who, what, why, and how of fall pruning, you can be sure that this needed seasonal task is being accomplished well by the right people every year.
Though most intensive pruning including tree and shrub shaping should be done during the growing season, there are fundamental goals that need to be executed during the fall season. Removing dead or low-hanging branches, as well as any new growth that is obstructing doorways, driveways, or walkways, is an indispensable element of rental property maintenance. This kind of pruning is about the aesthetics and maintaining property value via curb appeal. By pruning away problematic parts of the tree or shrub, you encourage healthy new growth while getting your plants strong for the upcoming winter.
Keeping trees and bushes trimmed is also a paramount part of making your tenants safe. Dead branches pose a serious safety risk to tenants and other visitors. Assuming that a dead tree falls on a tenant, a visitor, or even a neighbor, you could be held liable for any legal or medical costs. Overgrown trees and bushes can also be more of a risk during severe weather events if they cause damage to vehicles and/or the rental home. Assuming an overgrown tree or bush falls and damages the house or the tenant’s personal property, you may wind up footing the bill.
Granted that the tree or bushes do not fall, overgrown foliage can affect other categories of property damage. Bushes and trees growing near foundations, walls, or other structures can weaken the cement or brick. Roots can push up structures from underneath, cracking foundations amongst other damages. Thick foliage is also inclined to attract insects and other pests, which can cause damage to the property or transmit diseases to your tenants and their pets. All of these are important reasons to make pruning back overgrown trees and bushes a vital segment of your fall property maintenance.
While tenants can commonly be depended upon to do basic yard maintenance, pruning is one role that you should not require them to perform. A tenant could kill your trees or bushes by not knowing how and when to prune properly. Their lack of education or limited abilities might end up costing you even more in expensive landscaping repair in the future. Tenants will also need a ladder and other equipment, but remember that ladders are accountable for more than 164,000 injuries and 36,000 deaths in the United States every year. As the Blacksburg property owner, you can be held liable should any of your tenants injure themselves.
So what’s a real estate investor to do? To evade getting stuck in a sticky situation, hire a Blacksburg property manager. Real Property Management Insight conducts property maintenance, tenant communications, rentals, and more. Our team of property management experts can supervise any necessary fall pruning your property needs, making sure that it is accomplished decently and as frugally as possible. To learn more about us and what we can do for property owners such as yourself, contact us online or call us at 540-998-6917 today.
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