With National Gardening Week taking place on Monday 26 April - Sunday 2 May 2021 and the hope of fair weather over the coming days, we thought we'd share some great reasons for sellers to get outdoors and get their garden into shape.
National Gardening Week started back in 2011 with the aim of celebrating the great British garden and to raise awareness of the difference a garden and gardening can make to peoples lives. We're truly a nation of garden lovers and a garden is near the top of many buyers' wish lists, with data from Rightmove ranking garden as the 4th most searched for keyword.
Great gardens really do help to sell a home
Whilst there are lots of different factors that will influence how fast you sell your property, it's true to say that kerb appeal has a high impact on the likelihood of you receiving an offer. In fact property website Zoopla did some research in July 2018 which concluded that a well-maintained garden could add as much as £27,000 to the price of a property.
If your property is on the market, or you're thinking of putting it on the market, make sure you do the following to ensure your garden looks as appealing as possible to potential buyers.
Tidy up the borders
Anyone with a garden will know that they take quite a lot of effort to keep it looking good and one of the most time consuming jobs in the garden is perhaps keeping borders weed-free and well defined.
The secret to a good looking garden, isn't necessarily spending thousands of pounds on plants and fancy water features, but ensuring that what you've got is well cared for and maintained.
Any wild runaway bushes need to be tamed, hedges clipped, trees well pruned, and weeds eradicated. Doing all of these things will make your garden look better, enhancing perception of your property without the need to spend money.
Mow the lawn
An overgrown lawn looks messy and may raise questions in the mind of prospective buyers. The average lawn won't take much more than 15 minutes to mow, so If you're selling and you can't be bothered to keep your lawn looking neat and tidy, buyers might wonder what else you've not bothered doing!
Short grass is the easiest way to ensure your garden looks like it's been cared for, especially if you have a front lawn which prospective buyers will notice first, so ensuring it's mown makes sense.
If your grassy is looking a bit patch, then making a simple lawn repair by sowing grass seed in the patches will leave your lawn looking brighter and fresher in no time at all.
Cut back large plants and trees
Huge trees and bushes can not only look messy, but they can block out light too, so make sure you have a good look at all of your plants and make sure everything is trimmed back neatly.
Use decorative touches
Solar powered fairy lights are inexpensive and are an easy way to bring something a little extra to your outdoor space. Decorative aggregates in borders, pretty pots and planters and even liberal use of garden ornaments can all help to make your garden look more appealing.
Just remember that an enormous collection of garden gnomes won't be to everyone’s taste, so just as you'd stage the interior of your home, make sure you apply a similar logic to your garden.
Plant hanging baskets & containers
Freshly planted hanging baskets and containers bursting with colour will make your garden, and by extension, your home feel loved and well cared for.
A riot of colour or pretty petals cascading from a hanging basket can also produce a feel-good effect. As gardens are such a big selling point and high up on the wish list of many buyers, ensuring you present it in the best possible way makes absolute sense, and it's easy to spruce up the look of your outdoor spaces with hanging baskets and containers and the best thing, is that any investment made into these are well worth it as they can be taken with you when you move.
Keep it clean
It only takes a couple of years for a patio to accumulate grime and totally change colour, so use a pressure washer to blast the grime off your patio, from patio furniture and also your uPVC windows and doors to make them gleam.
We'll help you get moving faster!
If your property is on the market, or if you're thinking of putting it on the market soon, why not get an instant online property valuation, or alternatively, get a fast online quote for our low cost conveyancing services.