By Barb Ambrose
It’s always sunny in the Sunshine State, and that includes home sales prices compared to a year ago. Even in a sizzling hot market, you want to maximize the offers you receive on your home, and one of the quickest and least expensive ways to do that is your landscaping. Here are some hot landscaping trends sure to bring in higher bids.
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Small Gardens
Our yards are also bigger, with plenty of room for small gardens. People have been spending more time at home the last couple of years, which makes maximizing the square footage of your living space – whether indoors or out – a hot landscaping trend. A small garden is a smart way to increase the space to sit and relax while cultivating a restful green space.
Think container gardens and vertical gardens. A small kitchen garden is a big draw as well – and a source of fresh herbs and vegetables that helps slash rising prices at the grocery store. A window box filled with flowers in the front maximizes your curb appeal.
Love your Lawn and Shrubs
Giving your lawn some TLC could be the fastest, cheapest way to increase your home’s desirability and value. In most cases, all it takes is some regular maintenance – mowing, watering, fertilizing, and edging at the right time – to make your lawn thick and green.
Pro tip: in many parts of Florida, the time to do your springtime weed and feed is right around Super Bowl Sunday. Your lawn will thank you later.
Prune and shape the shrubs before listing. Homebuyers want a pristine yard, but they don’t want to spend hours working on it. Keeping everything neat and trimmed will give the appearance of a low-maintenance yard.
Outdoor Entertaining
Outdoor entertainment areas are more than a trend. The last two years of staying at home have made them even more desirable. It can cost a lot to renovate anything in your home right now, thanks to shortage and supply chain issues, but creating a small outdoor entertainment area can cost as little as a few hundred bucks – if you buy the supplies at your local home improvement store and DIY.
You can spend well into the thousands if you choose to hire some pros to create the outdoor living space of your dreams. The good thing about this landscaping trend is that you’re in control of the costs.
Gone to the Dogs
More than 48 million households in America have at least one dog, and that’s a good reason to landscape for your four-legged family members. That means fencing and lots of shade. But it also means things like a sandbox for digging and plants that repel pests that target canines. A garden full of marigolds, rosemary, and sage will help keep the fleas away. Dog-resistant ground covers like silver carpet and Irish moss stand up to the zoomies far better than many varieties of grass. A few tweaks here and there in your yard, and it will welcome both humans and canines.
It doesn’t take much to lift your landscaping to a new, trendier level – and that can prompt more potential buyers to make a bid. Even if you’re not looking to put your home on the very hot market, upgrading your landscaping can make your outdoors feel a lot more like home.
The Next Move is Yours
Gitta Sells has over 30 years of experience in the Orlando real estate market and is here to help you sell your home as quickly as possible and for the most money. We are here to help you with all of your home selling and buying needs. Please feel free to reach out at 407-330-2181 or gittasells@gitta.com!
Barb Ambrose is a home stager and landscape design writer. She loves entertaining and playing in her backyard, but she despises yard work. She recently expanded her patio and added an outdoor kitchen so she has less grass to mow.
