Easy Landscaping Tips When Selling Your Home

The prospect of "doing your house up" to increase its value before sale can be somewhat annoying. Yes, it's a good idea to make your property as alluring as possible to a potential buyer. But it can also be a bit of a downer to do all that work just for someone else to enjoy. When it comes to the exterior of your home, there are a few basic aspects of landscaping that make your garden look lovely, but with only a minimum of effort on your part. So what are some of these things that can be done to your garden to make a potential buyer fall in love with your home?

The Edge of Your Lawn

The shape of your lawn is defined by the layout of your garden, but a sharply edged lawn looks infinitely tidier than one where the grass simply meets the path or courtyard (and possibly extends over it for a centimetre or two). An edged lawn looks tidy, which in turn gives the impression of a low-maintenance lawn (even though this might not be the case). Keep the lawn trimmed and give it a good edging. You can do this with an electric trimmer or a manual edger, or you can of course hire someone to do it for you.  

The Body of Your Lawn

If your lawn is looking a little patchy in places, you can scatter a little seed around and water sparingly. Rye grass seeds are best as they don't need much water and will thicken existing grasses rather quickly. Do this as soon as possible after putting your property on the market to allow the seeds to grow. To make it even easier, keep an eye on the weather forecast and scatter the seeds before a rain shower. Don't bother if heavy rain is forecast—the seeds will be washed away before they have a chance to take root.

Quickly Increase Foliage

An abundant amount of foliage can make a backyard look bright and healthy (and alluring). If you don't have a lot of plants growing in your backyard, you can easily remedy this without too much work. Visit your local garden centre and buy a selection of reasonably priced potted plants and shrubs which can then be strategically placed around your backyard. The plastic pots that these plants come in don't look so great, so you'll need to do something about that. Rather than buying new pots, look for a secondhand dealer who stocks garden supplies and buy as many ceramic pots as you need. Ceramic pots are usually the most cost-effective option and can be made to look new again. Just scrub them with a mixture that is three parts water to one part white vinegar, and they will look like you just bought them.

Beware of Pruning

You might be used to pruning larger plants and trees on your property, particularly trees that need aggressive pruning in order to maximise fruit or flowers the following spring. While it can affect the plant's ability to produce flowers or fruit, you might want to skip the pruning for the moment, or at least prune sparingly. Freshly, aggressively pruned plants can look naked or even unhealthy. This is not a good look, and the plant will look better in the short-term if you simply leave it alone.

So while you will be doing a bit of work for someone else to enjoy, these easy landscaping tips really don't require much effort and yet can have a striking result.