Stop undervaluing your garden

When you're getting ready to sell your house, or are looking at buying an investment property, it's not often that the first thing you hear is "okay, let's start with the garden". More often than not, it get's overlooked unless the previous owner had a serious green thumb. Maybe we power-wash the decking, water the grass till it's nice and green and pull out any weeds. Beyond that, it's not given much consideration barring of course if you have a green thumb.

Dave Limburg, a professional landscape designer says that in this real estate climate, you can spend as little as $1,500 and come out with up to $15,000 in added value.

So, what can you do to spruce up your garden and help add a 10x value to your home?

1. Bring both worlds together

Firstly, work out what kind of lifestyle the house provides. Is this a family home, for couples, or even for a group of renters? Each one is going to have their own backyard desires. If you have traditionally alright weather (Brisbane) then maybe you want to consider having an entertainment area as your focal point if you'll be spending more time outdoors, but if you're in a colder climate (Tasmania) maybe more garden-centric is the way to go if you won't be outside entertaining at night.

A trend these days is to allow for a natural flow from indoors to outdoors as well, so good decking and large, expansive doors are definitely an option.

2. make your eyes move

If you've got a smaller backyard, create curves and lines to make your eyes move around the space. It seems odd, but the more you have to look around, the bigger the area will feel. By putting in pathways that snake around the space, or shoot off in diagonal lines, your eye will naturally follow them.

This can also be a great way to help draw attention to a focal point, like a feature wall or colorful tree.

3. Mask off areas of your garden.

A little similar to the previous tip, have entire garden beds come in from the perimeter of the property to completely hide areas of your yard. This helps to do two things; make the yard feel bigger because you actively have to explore to see things, and can also let you section areas for different use. Don't want to see the old garden shed, plant taller hedges in front of it to mask it off or separate the entertainment area off from turf area for the kids to play.

This, combined with a snaking path through the garden with recycled pavers will help any prospective buyer feel the true size and potential of your yard.

4. Color Rules Everything About Me

So, there's two way to approach this. Either you match it to the color scheme inside your house if you're doing a full remodel, or you just attempt to make space suit the vibe of the property.

If your remodel has as color scheme, try and pick flowers and plants that are going to match those colors. If it calls for soft reds or pale pinks, consider planting some Lilly Pilly's. These continue to help tie the outside to the inside.

Alternatively, if there's no definitive scheme, you might be better off trying to fit a "vibe" instead. Is the house going to be for an older couple? A clean, minimal outside area with soft greens and whites might be the go. But, if it's going to be housing students, consider going something hardier that won't need a lot of care that still brings a splash of color to the yard.

Make sure not to neglect the garden beds, by applying straw or a good looking mulch to help increase visual appeal.

5. Opt for turf

In this day and age, unless you have a massive yard, turf is going to be the cheapest option to make sure your home is presentable all year round.

Couch Grass can be bought for roughly $6 a square meter, so it's a small price to pay to get rid of dirt patches or yellowing grass prior to a home inspection.

6. Garden beds

Planter beds can help bring a sense of style and class to a backyard, in conjunction with the above points, can help segment and draw the attention of any prospective buyers.Garden beds are great because the possibilities are only stopped by your imagination and DIY skills. you can line the sides of your property with them or segment off sections. Even using the garden beds as corridors from one section to the next.

Because the beds are self-contained, you can mix and match plants flowers to your heart's content. Want bushy greens along the sides of the yard, but colorful flowers in the center, while a small veggie patch grows in beds down the end? That's an easily doable weekend or two's worth of work.

You can also incorporate them into your entertainment area and have built-in seating or storage!

Overall, there are tons of small iterations to your garden that won't cost you much money that can help you increase the value of the property, from sneaky ways to make your backyard seem larger, to cheap turf or garden planters.

If you plan on doing renovations or serious work to your backyard, make sure that it's been okayed by the council first. Depending on your local council, you may, in fact, need a permit. If you do, you'll need to get a building inspection before and after to verify it.

If you need a building inspection, give our friendly team a call on 1300 657 546 or book online today!