Did you know that your home’s landscaping can either increase or decrease the value of your home? Many landscapes look like a collection of randomly chosen and haphazardly placed plants. Not only do they lack cohesion, but even worse, the poorly placed plants become liabilities, requiring expensive pest treatments, frequent pruning or complete removal long before they have fulfilled their natural life spans.
So while we’re not typically in the landscape architecture business, we thought we would at least pass along the following 8 landscaping tips to help increase the value of your home.
If you have any questions in regards our actual area of expertise – insurance, please feel free to give our office a call.
Plan for Equipment Access
It’s important to anticipate future access, whether it be mowers or stump grinders, or future building projects such as a porch or patio. At some point in the life of your home, you will be faced with a project or repair that requires some loud, monstrous machine to get into your backyard. Plan for it in advance, or be faced with having to tear out some of your precious plantings.
Start With (and Maintain) the Focal Points
Although we typically think of using a specimen tree or statue as a focal point, there are many other possibilities. The key is to find something that is slightly to very different from the rest of your landscape in form, texture or color. It could be an architectural feature of your house or even a borrowed view.
The trick is to make them stand out, yet not stick out. It should be somehow connected to the rest of the landscape, either through a repeated shape or color, or a connection to the overall style of the landscape. Scale is also important. If your landscape is several acres with broad vistas, then perhaps an ancient oak would play the role quite well. In a small urban lot, an ornate garden bench or small statue might be the perfect size.
Leave Formal Landscapes to the Rich and Famous
A formal landscape is one of the most challenging to create, and the upkeep can be arduous. Symmetry is very difficult to maintain. If, for example, you have two identical evergreens at the corners of the house and one dies, it could be very difficult to find a matching replacement. One of the most common dilemmas is the hedgerow or foundation planting where one or two shrubs have succumbed to a plague. Be wary of putting all your eggs in one basket.
Keep Curves in Check
Incorporating curves will add interest to your garden, but don’t overdo it. A collection of amoeba-shaped beds would be overkill, as would a curvy path that takes you far out of the way of your destination. Long, subtle curves are often best. Limit the geometries so that one dominates. If you incorporate curved lines in beds and walkways, for example, repeat those shapes in the third dimension with the shape of the plants you choose and the way you arrange them.
Add Movement
A landscape without movement is like a painting. Paintings are fine for hanging on a wall, but a garden needs movement to add life and interest. No garden is complete without some ornamental grasses to sway in the breeze. Add flowers to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, and several berry producers for the birds.
Accent Your House
Unless your house is an architectural masterpiece, it could benefit from some thoughtful plantings to soften the edges and help it blend with the surroundings. But take care not to end up at the other extreme, a house that is hidden by overgrown shrubbery. Even the smallest starter home usually has some interesting architectural feature. The best design will highlight that feature.
Take Nothing for Granted
When you live in a place for a while, you tend to accept existing features as obstacles, sometimes without completely noticing them. Rather than designing around the overgrown shrubbery, established trees, or worn-out deck, consider removing them. You may discover new possibilities, such as a sunny spot for a vegetable garden or rose bed.
Finally, keep in mind that you needn’t have a five-figure budget to achieve an exceptional landscape. Whether your landscape venture is a two-month multiphase project, or a Saturday trip to the nursery, the key is to select your plants purposefully and place them thoughtfully. The result is sure to bring you years of enjoyment.
