Landscaping is a fantastic way to add value to your property, however it is crucial to know your market prior to developing landscape designs, so you can tailor your garden makeover to fit your market.

Are you looking to gain the greatest possible return on investment when selling your home? There are so many options when it comes to landscape design prior to selling it can be hard to know where to start. You’re faced with questions like…

• Who is your target market?
• What are the best materials to use to create a wow factor that attracts your demographic?
• What are the key landscaping features that will excite your prospective buyers?
• How can you decide where to spend your money?

A garden makeover doesn’t have to be difficult (or expensive). With some simple tips, you can say goodbye to wasted renovation money and achieve the wow factor your buyers are looking for. First decide which market your property falls into, is it a…

1. Budget Friendly Home
2. A Classic Family Home
3. A Luxury Forever Home

Budget Friendly Homes

When deciding if your home appeals to a budget friendly market consider who your buyers are –

• First time home buyers
• Singles + Couples
• Young families

Their priorities are most likely to be focused on saving time (so low maintenance is important here) and saving money (so avoiding costly ongoing garden expenses). With this in mind, keep your landscaping makeover designed to meet these needs. Here’s my 3 top tips to achieve this –

#1 Add Low Maintenance Materials

• Paving – this is a great option to keep the garden low maintenance but can stretch your landscaping budget so only consider if the $$ are available.
• Gravel and Toppings – give the same low maintenance results as paving, but are significantly more cost effective to instal, giving you a great ROI.

#2 Simplify your landscaping

• Pots – add a low cost dash of colour with a few pots if you have bare corners
• Avoid overcrowding – Don’t overcrowd your garden beds with too many plants, as this gives the impression that it will be high maintenance. Instead choose a few natives or succulents and allow for adequate spacing

#3 Mulch

• Match your mulch – mulch comes in a variety of colours so pick a colour that will complement the colours in your house and the surrounding environment.
• Choose bark mulch – it has a low odor (so doesn’t smell like manure) and is long lasting.
• Want to know more about mulch, check out our mulch blog here

Aim to avoid overspending on your landscaping makeover and keep in mind the return on investment for your dollars.

Classic Family Homes

If you are designing your garden makeover to appeal to family, then your landscape design needs to be focused around 2 main ideas:

• Space and safety for kids to have fun and play
• Simplicity and low maintenance to appeal to busy working parents

If these 2 ideas are kept in mind throughout the planning phase of the makeover then you will be sure to create an attractive landscape for you prospective buyers.

Space and safety for kids to have fun and play

In order to keep the kids happy the best way to create a bit of space to play is buy and install turf.  Often it may be a case of reducing the garden bed size to get a decent patch of turf for the kids to play epic backyard cricket matches.

Simplicity and low maintenance 

On the other hand paving can be a good option as it is a low maintenance choice which will give those busy working parents more free time instead of mowing the lawns on the weekend.

Aim to avoid fussy garden beds with lots of planting, although they may look good, busy parents see hours of weeding and pruning.  They won’t thank you for that!  For more ideas check out our low maintenance garden blog

Luxury Homes

High end luxury homes will need to have a beautiful landscape to compliment the look and the features of the home.  That all important front entrance will be inviting and showstopping, whilst the backyard will be an area to celebrate and socialise in style.

A popular trend for luxury homes is incorporating a multi-function design, which means there are clearly defined zones for different uses in the garden. For example, a relaxed alfresco, vertical garden, water feature, BBQ and outdoor kitchen area and poolside space.

So when thinking about your landscaping makeover, keep in mind that many prospective buyers will be excited to see a patio area with outdoor seating and a barbecue pit, a nice lush green turf and garden beds filled with interesting and elegant plantings. Although this may sound quite complex, it doesn’t have to be difficult. With a little planning and thought, you can stretch your budget to include;

• High end design
• Creative planting
• Multi function landscape design

Aim to avoid getting too involved in your own unique style, remember to keep your designs appealing to multiple tastes.

We provide a full garden makeover service, quoted according to your needs and budget. If you want some help, then get in touch here or give us a call on 9013 6588.