With the peak real estate selling season here, it’s time to consider what can be done to intensify the street appeal of your home. Sprucing up your garden is a big part of staging your home to sell but is often under-done. Even if you’ve spent more money than you’d planned in staging the interior of your place, there are inexpensive and effective ways to make your landscaping appeal to even the pickiest buyer.Begin with the Obvious
The Lawn:
Take a long look at the condition of your lawn. Lawns that get plenty of wear and tear are also prone to being compacted. Air is necessary for any plant to grow, so the immediate answer to a happy, healthy lawn could be the process of aerating. Hiring a spiked lawn roller is probably the most efficient way to get this job done. A lawn roller is just a big drum with spikes around the outside. You fill the drum with water to make it heavy enough to push the spikes into the earth, allowing air to circulate around the roots of your grass.
This can also be accomplished with a garden fork if you have a small patch of grass. With either tool, work outward so that you can keep from walking on the areas you’ve already treated.
Feed your lawn with a quality fertiliser according to package directions. This, along with the aeration, will give your grass a burst of growth and give it a head start on spring. A healthy patch of grass can starve weeds out but, to be on the safe side, try a herbicide on the unwanted greenery.
Weeds? If weeds have overtaken your grass, you can use a selective herbicide such as a weed and feed variety that will fertilise the grass as it liquidates the weeds. Be careful to follow manufacturer’s directions with any chemical. Too much or too little when it comes to chemistry can be problematic. It can kill the grass or do too little and be a total waste of your time.
Shrubbery and Trees:
Now is the perfect time to trim your shrubs and trees so that they look their very best. Be sure tree limbs are not abrading the roof of your house or outbuildings. Get rid of dead branches and limbs – though this may entail a call to a tree trimming service for larger trees. Your trees will look spectacular without all that dead wood.
Shrubs planted at the perimeter of your house may require cutting back if they’ve begun to look like handy hiding places for robbers and other varmints. Add fresh mulch to brighten up your foundational shrubbery.
Flower Beds:
A few brightly blooming plants can brighten up even the plainest of houses. A trip to your local plant nursery or home improvement store can net you a truckload of colour that can give your place just the right touch. Be sure to invest in a few bags of potting mix to give those bloomers the boost they need and avoid the shock of planting. Your flower bed(s) will also benefit from a healthy topping of mulch. Mulch holds the moisture in the soil – a handy helper if the house is to be vacant during the listing period.
Finally, in terms of street appeal there is nothing quite as welcoming as a few potted plants on the front verandah or entryway. You want prospective buyers to feel drawn in and at ease when they first see your property. That first impression can be the clincher when it comes to the big sale. Don’t skimp on making it the best it can be.
Your professional house stager is a valuable source of information in the spring selling season. If you need information on lawn care professionals or just the name of a really good nursery, your stager can help. When it comes to staging your house for sale, remember that the first view of your house will be the exterior. Make it as appealing as it can be without being too fussy. (Some prospective buyers might not like gardening.) Just make sure what’s supposed to be green IS green, and everything else looks well maintained. The rest will take care of itself.