A card from Fair Play by Eve Rodsky
Lawn & Plants
Home suit
If you’ve got a lawn, a backyard or balcony vegetable garden, or just a struggling succulent by your kitchen window, then you know it takes careful CPE to keep your greenery alive, no less thriving. Even if you have a helpful gardener to lend you his or her green thumb, it’s still on you to keep an eye on limp or leggy plants that may need a shot of Miracle-Gro.
Holding this card means owning all three
C
Conception
You have a lawn & plants
P
Planning
- Researching appropriate plants for home (climate, sunlight exposure, seasonal, water usage/drought resistance)
- Defining maintenance plan
- Managing weather conditions OUTSOURCED (LANDSCAPE, GARDENER, LAWN MOWER, ETC.)
- Sourcing
E
Execution
- Executing maintenance plan
- System control (sprinkler set-up, daylight saving times, stay apprised of local laws on watering)
- Purchasing seeds, flowers, plants, fertilizer, sod, mulch, soil, shovels, gloves, trimming supplies, chain saw, wheel barrel
- Lawn/garden maintenance (mowing, fertilizing, weeds and pesticides)
- Pest control: monitor pet/animal/insect prevention
- Pruning/trimming/raking/citrus removal: trees, bushes, flowers
- Hiring
- Paying
- Managing & communicating (including access plan)
Suggested Minimum Standard of Care
Are your plants/lawn alive with no safety hazards?
A starting point. You and your partner agree the real standard together, and the holder meets it without reminders.
Holding it well
- The holder owns all of it: noticing, planning and doing. No “just tell me what to do.”
- Agree the Minimum Standard of Care together, then let the holder meet it their way.
- Not working? Bring it to the weekly check-in and re-deal it. Don’t take it back mid-week.
Put this card on your table
Deal it, agree its standard, and see who holds what. Free.