Landscaping does indeed add value to your home. Before potential buyers walk into your home, what do they see first? The outside! The outdoor landscape of your property weighs heavily when making a first impression of the house, so it’s important to take the time to tidy up and improve your overall curb appeal. Unpruned shrubs, unattended vines, peeling paint, and patches of brown dying grass are unsightly and often diminish the overall look and feel of your property. If you care about the appearance of your New England home, and to ensure you can sell for the most amount of money possible, you will definitely want to assess and spruce up your yard. Another huge reason to dedicate time, attention, and investment to home landscaping is that it can add 15% to your home’s overall value. Some landscaping elements have proven to boost the value more than others, and there is always something that can be done at any time during the year, whether you’re selling in the spring, summer, fall, or winter.
Landscaping Elements That Can Increase Your Property Value
Your yard is an extension of your home. There are endless opportunities to transform it into a highly aesthetic and functional space that prospective buyers will swoon over!
- Overall Landscape Design: The layout of your yard is just as important as the inside of your home. Creating a pleasing flow will be far more appealing to buyers and it will allow them to envision themselves there. Having designated sitting, gardening, and playing areas makes your yard look functional and organized.
- Plants and Bushes: The colorful plants and green bushes that bloom every year are sure to increase value by enhancing the yard’s natural beauty. If you have a green thumb, perhaps you can design and plant a garden that will make buyers swoon. Additionally, did you know that incorporating plants of various heights and sizes can make your yard seem bigger?
- Outdoor Living Areas: Whether it’s a patio for summer BBQs, an outdoor bar to catch up with friends, or a pool to sit by and relax, outdoor living spaces will always boost a home’s value. Essentially, it creates a whole additional room in the house!
- Landscaping Lighting: Having proper landscape lighting is just as important to prospective buyers. Even if you have a beautiful backyard, no one wants to sit in the dark, and so the space becomes non-functioning as soon as the sun goes down. Investing in exterior lighting or solar lighting will allow for this space to be used even after hours!
Sprucing Up Your Yard with Landscaping: Small Steps to Get Started
Improving the overall appearance of your yard doesn’t necessarily require a full-blown renovation. There are several simple steps you can take to add some spice to your outdoor space without spending a large amount of time or money.
1. Look at your Landscape with a Fresh Pair of Eyes
First, assess your landscape, and there are two ways to do this. One is to stand a couple of feet from it until you’re able to see all of it. Squint your eyes till the landscape blurs, and examine it once again. Some areas may look dark and overgrown, others may look untidy because there are too many plants or pots, and one section may be empty while others may be overcrowded. Another method is to take black-and-white photographs of your landscape. Without the color, the space can appear new and you can examine it more objectively. This new outlook of your space can pinpoint elements of your yard that you can enhance!
2. Prune Overwhelming Shrubs
You don’t have to go all out with the pruning. For a neat, well-kept look, skirt the shrubs by pruning around the base and removing branches located within six inches of the ground. Also, tend to any plants that are touching the house as this can cause the paint to chip off while also inviting mold and infestations. Ideally, plants should be pruned eight inches to one foot away from your home to open up the space and make it easy to paint or pressure wash your home’s exterior.
3. Incorporate Colorful Plants to Make Your Landscape Vibrant
The focal area of the yard that you want to accentuate, must be tastefully colorful. You can achieve this quite easily by adding a few container plantings in a color scheme that matches the stony exterior or color of your house, or the shrubs in the vicinity. If your patio furniture has faded, peeled, or chipped off, cleaning, painting, and staining them can invigorate the space as well.
4. Give Some Thought to the Walkway
If you don’t have a walkway, you may want to consider one to increase the safety of your outdoor space. A clearly designated and brightly lit walkway can make it convenient for guests and visitors to make their way around your property, avoid foot traffic jams, and keep accidental injuries at bay. To get the best results from landscaping and take curb appeal to the next level, we recommend engaging a professional landscaping service.
5. Make Simple Outdoor Fixes
Think about the small things in your outdoor space that could use a little love and care. There are plenty of simple home improvement DIYs that you can tackle in just one weekend! Repairs as simple as adding a fresh coat of paint to your front door or your fence can do wonders for the overall look of your yard. You can also make easy replacements such as a new mailbox or new screens in your doors and windows. Don’t forget that cleaning can also help to improve a yard, including sweeping the walkway, raking leaves, or pulling weeds.