Thinking Outside The Box When Landscaping Your Home
Homeowners often ask how much they should spend on landscaping. The answer (like so many answers to “what does this cost” questions) depends on a number of factors. Generally speaking, most building/landscaping/real estate experts will recommend a range from 10 to 20 percent of the value of your home.
Perhaps the more important question is why should you spend anything at all? One reason to landscape is that it adds significant value. Some studies suggest that good landscaping can add as much as 15 percent to the value of your home. And that’s a value that can grow, because a $50 tree planted now can be worth $500 to $600 dollars in 10 years.
The real value, however, is what landscaping adds to your enjoyment of your home. A well-planned landscaping job can open up more usable space for your family. It can enhance the environment of your deck or your patio. It can also help keep your home cool in the summer and act as a windbreak year round.
Of course, another big question many homeowners have is whether they should engage the services of a professional landscaping company, or do the job themselves. While there are a lot of things you can do on your own, having a solid, well-thought-out plan is critical. It’s hard for many of us to imagine what trees and shrubs will look like 10 years from now. What looks like well-spaced plantings, for example, can turn into an overgrown mess in just a few years. Professional landscapers have the experience to know how to organize and design in such a way that your trees and shrubs won’t take over your property.
Whether you opt to do it yourself or hire a professional don’t be afraid to think outside the box in terms of what additions you make when landscaping. We’ve written several articles on landscaping in the past (which you can find here and here) that focused on traditional and common softscapes and hardscapes. What best applies to each home will vary according to climate, layout, local geography, and local flora. It’s here that you need to bear in mind not only your unique needs but also your unique situation with your home.
Erosion
This is a big one. We’ve talked before about how to deal with erosion and water runoff, and there are various steps you can take to mitigate the effects of it. Sometimes, though, there may just be that incline or grade off to the side of your front yard that for the life of it just won’t maintain grass or even keep sod for more than a year at a time. If you find yourself in that position, don’t keep thinking the whole place has to be green; a patch of yard prone to looking a little barren due to runoff might be just the spot for a rock garden (which will mitigate runoff surprisingly well, especially if you fill it with mulch) with a nice flowerbed or a few colorful, subtle shrubs.
Reseeding Grass in The Fall
You might know a neighbor who’s the envy of the entire street because they manage to keep their lawn green year-round. No, it’s not magic. You can actually find a little more detail about this in our article on types of grass, but it’s a common practice to re-seed one’s lawn during the fall with a species of grass more tolerant to cooler temperatures. That by itself won’t change the entire composition of grass on your lawn, but it will definitely keep it looking a little greener and lusher throughout the year. You can learn more about this process here.
Bare Patches on The Lawn
Nearly every lawn has that one patch that, try as you might, just won’t retain grass. If it’s a flat surface, you may be able to get away with some sod, but this is always the perfect spot for a hardscape addition, ranging from the simple bird bath or even an ornate fountain. Lay down shale stones to make a small patio and walkway around the fountain, and if you’ve got the space, plant a few fruit trees around it and drop in some patio furniture. You may find that was once an unsightly bare patch becomes a pleasant getaway and a beautiful addition to your home.
A neat, attractive home landscape design can increase the value of the home by as much as 15%. The increased value of your home will not be seen until you decide to place it on the market. The viability of your home does not only lie on the home itself but on the taste of the potential buyers. In other words, an overly personalized home landscape can be expensive but not really viable compared to simple yet attractive design. The more detailed the landscape, the more work involved in maintaining it, so try to strike that balance between simplicity, overall appeal, and reassuring interested buyers that maintenance will be reasonable.
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