When you wish to sell your home, already you’ve likely made at least some investments into the property’s interior.

Perhaps you’ve updated the kitchen? Maybe you’ve painted the living room walls a fresh colour? And it could be that prior to that first viewing, you’re intent on baking some fresh cookies so that your home smells cozy and inviting.

Nevertheless, a prospective homebuyer will not only consider the interior. They will also consider your home’s exterior.

A well-maintained garden is among the most common things that buyers consider when they’re looking to invest in a new property.

If you’re intent on a quick sale, you’ll definitely want to improve not only the appearance but also the functionality of your garden.

This could mean you may get an offer sooner, and it could also mean you get a better offer than otherwise you would.

To that end, to ensure that your garden is going to work in your favour, check out the following tips.

 

 

How your garden can help to sell your home
How should my garden look when I’m selling my home?

 

 

Tidy Up the Mess

Your home’s interior may be completely spotless, but your garden may be far from ‘spotless’. Perhaps your kids leave their toys outside. Or maybe there are a few tools scattered around.

Whichever it is, or could be that it’s both, now is the time to put things in their places.

Kids’ toys: Kids’ bedroom.

Garden tools: Garden shed.

Everything that’s in the garden that shouldn’t be in the garden should be put in its place before potential buyers arrive for a home viewing.

 

Weed-Free

A garden that is neat and tidy is definitely a garden that is far more likely to appeal to a home buyer. Any weeds, any overgrown plants – likely that they will put a potential buyer off.

A study conducted by Gocompare.com, the UK financial services comparison website, found that some 19% of potential UK homebuyers ‘hate’ a shabby-looking garden. That in itself is enough to put them off completely.

Incidentally, that same study found that no less than 57% of folks that were asked said that if there’s no garden then the deal is off. Just goes to show how important a garden is to many homebuyers.

Anyway, before you start showing your home, spend some time removing any weeds that have sprouted up. Likely it’s a job that will take an hour at most, depending on the size of your garden and the number of weeds. And yet, it’s a job that will help to transform the look of your outdoor space.

Have a driveway, a patio? Make sure those are clear of weeds, too. You can use a stiff broom to get rid of any loose soil.

If your driveway and patio are badly stained, it may be worth investing in a pressure washer or borrowing one from a friend. A good wash down with a pressure washer can brighten things up a whole lot.

 

Get Rid of the Pets

… though only while you’re conducting home viewings.

Pets are popular with most people, but that’s not to say that a homebuyer wants to see your pets running around your garden (or running around your house, for that matter). So, with that, when you’re showing your property, why not lock your pets safely inside a kennel.

It’s better still if you have a neighbour that will look after your pets for a short time.

Many homebuyers associate pets with a home that’s dirty: Obviously not something you want to be associated with your home.

 

Additional Outdoor Living Space

If you have a large garden, that’s a blessing. But even if your garden is small, it’s maybe still possible to add a little more living space.

If you don’t already have a patio, now would be a good time.

How about a gazebo? The addition of a gazebo could help you in finding a buyer.

The goal here is to create a space that potential buyers can imagine themselves relaxing in.

 

Add More Colour

Brighter colours tend to be associated with a sense of happiness. So, the aim here is to incorporate more bright colours into your garden.

During the spring and the summer months, add some shrubs that are just about to bloom. Make sure to water thoroughly if the weather is warm. Geraniums and sunflowers are an excellent choice. Nevertheless, any flowering shrub will do the job.

For the autumn and winter months, you might have to think ahead for that added splash of colour.

Bulbs and corms such as crocus, cyclamen, winter aconite (Eranthis), snowdrops, some viburnums, and some asters look beautiful.

Otherwise, you could head to the garden centre and invest in some ready-planted pansies. Pansies most certainly bring a very welcome splash of colour to any garden during the cooler months of the year.

 

Pleasing Aromas

It’s easy to brew coffee or to bake some cookies in your kitchen. This way, your entire home will smell delightful. However, what about the garden?

A vegetable garden brings food to your table, but it can also bring a pleasing aroma to the garden. Moreover, many people want to grow their own vegetables these days. Having a vegetable plot in your garden is certainly a positive.

Herb gardens or herb planters (pots planted with different herbs) is another way to encourage a pleasing aroma within the garden, and inside the home, if you have a few pots of herbs inside your kitchen.

Of course, there are plenty of excellent flower choices for the spring and summer months. Some of the best flowers for your garden, at least in terms of aroma, and for the spring/ summer months are:

  • Lavender
  • Lilies
  • Choisya (Mexican orange blossom)
  • Viburnum (good for autumn/ winter, too)
  • Wisteria
  • Clematis
  • Buddleia
  • Sweet pea
  • Philadelphus (mock orange)
  • Honeysuckle (also a winter-flowering honeysuckle named Lonicera fragrantissima)
  • Nepeta (catmint)
  • Daphne
  • Peony
  • Erysimum (wallflower)
  • Hamamelis (witch hazel)

 

You don’t have to stop there, though. There are a number of large shrubs/ small and not so small trees that come with vibrantly coloured foliage in the autumn. A few examples with ultimate dimensions included:

  • Acer palmatum ‘Osakazuki’ (Japanese maple tree). Grows up to 15-25 ft. tall (4.5-7.5 m) and 10-15 ft. wide (3-4.5 m).
  • Acer palmatum dissectum ‘Garnet’ (Japanese maple tree). 6.6 ft. (2.5 m) tall x 10 ft. (3 m) wide.
  • Acer palmatum dissectum ‘Ever Red’ (weeping Japanese maple tree). 10 ft. (3 m) tall x 10 ft. (3 m) wide.
  • Acer palmatum ‘Winter Flame’ (coral bark Japanese maple tree). 8 ft. (2.5 m) tall x 8 ft. (2.5 m) wide. 
  • Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’ (red maple). 40-50 ft. (12-15 m) high x 35 ft. (10.6 m) wide.
  • Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Lane Roberts’ (sweet gum tree). 33 ft. (10 m) high x  20 ft. (6.5 m) wide.
  • Sorbus commixta ‘Olympic Flame’ (Japanese rowan tree). 19 ft. (6 m) high x 13 ft. (4 m) wide.
  • Cercidiphyllum japonicum (Katsura tree). 50 ft. (15 m) high x 30 ft. (10 m) wide.
  • Parrotia persica (Persian ironwood tree). 23 ft. (7.5 m) tall x 16 ft. (5 m) wide.
  • Amelanchier lamarckii (snowy mespilus tree). 13 ft. (4 m) tall x 10 ft. (3 m) wide.
  • Euonymus alatus (winged spindle bush or burning bush). 15-20 ft. (4.6-6.1 m) tall x 15-20 ft. (4.6-6.1 m) wide.
  • Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ (North American redbud tree). 20-30 ft. (6.1-9.1 m) tall x 25-35 ft. (7.6-10.7 m) wide.
  • Nyssa sylvatica (black tupelo tree). 36 ft. (11 m) tall x 20 ft. (6 m) wide.
  • Sorbus sargentiana (Sargent’s mountain ash tree). Up to 50 ft. (15.2 m) tall x 33 ft. (11 m) wide.
  • Sorbus ‘Joseph Rock’ (mountain ash tree – yellow berries). Up to 30 ft. (10 m) tall x up to 20 ft. (3.5 m) wide. 

 

Plenty of Mulch

You may be strapped for time. Perhaps you’re strapped for cash. Either way, you can really transform how your garden looks simply by adding mulch.

Mulch helps to fertilise the soil/ plants and it also helps to reduce weeds. 

If your garden is larger scale, you can, if you’re hard-pushed for time or for money, simply mulch in some key areas.

In any respect, adding mulch – a bark-type mulch – to your garden gives it a fresh, wooded effect – an effect that homebuyers will be sure to notice, even though it’s very simplistic to do. Furthermore, if the mulch is fresh, you get the added aroma.

 

 

While it’s quite dependent on where you reside, having a garden can prove to be a massive selling point. There’s no doubt that if you’re a city dweller, owning a garden regardless of its size is a real luxury. If you live rurally, a private garden space is far more common.

The stats go to prove that UK homebuyers are willing to invest more, sometimes much more, for a property that comes with a beautiful garden. If you invest some time and perhaps a little money, it’s very likely that your property will sell much faster than otherwise it would. 

 

 Header Photo by sedat bicakci on Unsplash

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