LANDSCAPE
Weather, seasons and scheduling
Weather delays might sound predictable, but they’ re schedule killers in landscaping. Rain turns planting areas into muck. Frost locks up soil that needs to be shaped. Asphalt crews may pause production, meaning curbs or walks needed before landscape installation suddenly slips a week.
Smart landscapers schedule heavy earthwork, soil import / export and drainage installs in drier or moderate windows whenever possible. Even so, a single missed weather window can cascade. If the subgrade isn’ t ready, you can’ t install hardscape. If curbs aren’ t poured, you can’ t complete the final grade. If the final grade isn’ t set, you can’ t plant or sod. A two-hour storm can cost days.
One advantage landscaping crews often have is flexibility. Heavy equipment can continue shaping berms, prepping beds or building retaining walls during mild winter stretches long before planting season.
Better planning, better outcomes
The key to better outcomes is early involvement. Looping in your landscape team during schematic design allows them to catch issues before they become delays. This might include offering a more efficient drainage layout, suggesting a soil blend that supports long-term plant health or flagging a grade transition that will require a retaining wall.
Requiring well-developed drawings – ideally 70 % to 80 % complete – before bidding helps reduce change orders later. A crew needs to know early whether soil import is needed, how many cubic yards of topsoil must be stripped and stored or whether irrigation sleeves need installation before paving.
Clear communication with general contractors and owners builds trust and prevents surprises. For example:“ The structural soil is scheduled for delivery.”“ Irrigation mainline installs start Friday.”“ The detention basin outfall has been approved by inspection.”
When teams communicate well, timelines become predictable. When they don’ t, even simple sitework tasks can snowball into client frustration.
All photos provided by Beverly Companies
Lessons learned
All these experiences reinforce one truth: high-quality sitework is the invisible engine of on-time, on-budget landscape delivery. Cutting corners on soil prep, grading or drainage almost always leads to the delays everyone hoped to avoid.
Site preparation shouldn’ t be treated as background noise. It’ s the critical first act that everything else depends on. When the ground is stable, shaped properly and built to manage water, the rest of the project tends to stay on track. When it’ s not, even the most beautiful designs can come apart.
Tom Marsan is general manager at Beverly Companies, which provides landscaping, snow removal, paving and topsoil services to the Chicagoland area.
20 OPE + March 2026 www. OPE-Plus. com