Many industry experts say that good landscape design can add up to 15% to your home’s value. Landscaping goes beyond just plants, of course — it also encompasses everything from fencing to pathways to swimming pools.
Are you looking for ways to add value to your home without necessarily spending a ton of money? Here are three affordable changes you can make to your existing garden landscaping that will help keep it valuable.
1. Add Outdoor Containers and Planters
Not everything needs to take root in the ground. Container plants can be an interesting addition to your yard, either for your front entrance or for framing the walkway. The pots themselves can add complementary colors and serve as useful accent pieces. Look for either tropical plants you can bring inside during the colder months, or outdoor plants that grow in full and lush. Another easy way to add style to your walkway: Line it with solar lights.
2. Maintain Your Existing Plant Beds
When you first move into your home, upkeep is the name of the game. As the years slide by, however, you might become less attentive to sprucing up your plant beds. Clear out the old mulch and lay down some new colored mulch. Cut back plants that have started to wander, and buy landscaping rocks to serve as stepping stones or just interesting aesthetic components.
3. How to Help a Scraggly Yard
Don’t have much going on? You don’t need to buy a $300 tree to get things going. If you’re having trouble making your front yard look “full,” there are a few avenues you can take. A decorative wrought iron or white picket fence can often help to visually corral your yard and create an illusion of “more.” You can also invest in quick-growing plants that will fill out your space, such as forsythia, tri-color willow, or red twig dogwood. Don’t be afraid, either, to invest in non-traditional landscaping options, like boulders, landscaping stones or waterworks.