While few home buyers ever make a purchase based on the garden, your green-thumb skills always leave an impression – good, bad or indifferent.
As an experienced local real estate agent, I always advise my clients to focus on the front yard to tempt the buyers to fall in love with their property at first sight.
Buyers can drive straight past a property if they don’t like the look of the front yard. Tidy away garden clutter, such as outdoor toys, gardening equipment and trash cans. Your lawn should be mown consistently during any sales campaign. Flowerbeds must be kept free of weeds – putting down mulch is a great way to get on top of that problem.
You can add definition to your garden by installing or updating the flowerbed edging. This is a simple and inexpensive weekend project.
Here are five types of edging to consider:
Brick – New and second-hand bricks can be laid length or width-wise, on an angle or vertically. Try to match the color of the brick with those used for your home. Dig a small trench around your beds to lay the bricks. If you’re going to put them vertically or on an angle, then the surface needs to be flat or contoured smoothly, otherwise you’ll get a jagged result. Leave a small gap between the bricks and lawn so the grass doesn’t grow into them.
Stone – Grey, flat stones laid on their edge are an elegant solution to defining your garden beds. They complement any home.
River rock – If you want the appearance to be closer to nature, then you can’t go wrong with river rocks. These come in a variety of colors and sizes. Dig a small trench before laying them to prevent any movement in wet soil. A little variation in the height of the edging enhances the natural look.
Wood – You have a lot of choices here, but it can get expensive in a big garden. Ideal solutions include treated pine, railway track timber and road ties. For treated pine, you’ll have to insert post-supports. The road and railroad ties will need a trench that is half the height of the wood to stay in place.
Synthetics – If you’re seeking the wood look but your budget won’t stretch to the real thing, then consider plastic or resin-based products that are designed to be installed quickly and with a minimum of fuss.
Cinder Block – Not the most elegant choice, but they’re practical and will fit into most budgets. It would help if you dug an even trench and then lay timber planks at its base. This will ensure the blocks don’t move in wet soil. Use a plumbline and spirit-level for an accurate result. If your flower beds have a lot of curves, this is probably not the best solution, but they can make good retaining walls.