For those planning a wonderful spring and summer garden this year, it’s time to roll up the sleeves and start planting.
If you’re also preparing to put your home on the market for the spring or summer selling seasons, it’s vital you highlight your garden as a significant feature – it’s a significant contributor when it comes to maximizing the value of your home.
Focusing on the garden is especially important if you’re selling a large property and targeting young families as a target buyer segment.
Hopefully, you’ve been diligent in ensuring that winter has not been too harsh on your flowerbeds. But if you have not had the opportunity to get into the garden yet, there are a few tasks that probably need doing before you begin to plant.
Firstly, clear debris and weeds from the beds and apply a layer of organic mulch (straw, shredded leaves, wood chips) to insulate the soil. This will help retain moisture, regulate temperature and prevent erosion.
Also, you should check for soil compaction. If the soil has become hard and lacks water, you should use a garden fork to loosen the soil, and then water.
Once the preparation is complete, you should be ready to make your first spring plantings.
Here are four low-maintenance favorites that thrive in spring. They’ll be perfect for your garden when you open your home to prospective buyers.
Lavender: An absolute favorite that’s easy to grow and hard to kill. It really requires no maintenance except in the first few months of planting when it needs water to settle into the soil. Lavender grows quickly and will flower in spring and summer. It attracts butterflies and bees with its wonderful fragrance.
Geraniums: The Rozanne variety offers gorgeous purple flowers and it will keep producing blooms from the first sign of spring warmth to when frost falls. Don’t put them in the shade, though. This perennial loves full sun. You can clip them into a bush, or encourage their inclination to be climbers.
Russian Sage: These plants offer purple-blue flowers across the whole year, and they’ll grow to 4ft unless you prune them. It’s good to cut them back at this time of year to encourage quick growth through the warmer months.
Cone Flowers: These are a true American icon of the sunflower species. They’re drought tolerant and there are few better plants at attracting birds and bees. They’ll grow to 5ft if you let them. They’re sure to give you lots of colour in late spring and throughout the summer. Put them in full sun or partial shade, and let them go.