A home is the greatest asset for most people, whether it’s a primary residence, vacation house, or second home in a destination location. Does landscape add value to your home? Yes, and it’s no secret that curb appeal — that exterior first impression — can drive property value up or degrade it if landscaping is neglected.
How much can professional landscaping boost a home’s selling price? Based on data from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), property owners investing in their landscapes can fetch an asking price of 15 to 20 percent more. And high-quality designs usually have a return of 20 to 30 percent of your overall home value.
A professional landscape company can guide you toward the best enhancement projects to invest in to increase your home’s value and provide the level of landscape maintenance required to elevate your property’s appeal. Equally important is the enjoyment you gain from professional landscaping and outdoor living spaces offering a luxurious, entertaining, and relaxing retreat.
Prioritize Your Landscaping Budget to Get the Best ROI
Everyone has a budget. To increase property value with landscaping, be sure the top outdoor living and landscape maintenance projects are accounted for when determining what you can afford to spend. ASLA recommends spending 10 to 20 percent of your home’s value on landscaping and outdoor improvement projects for a good return. That said, small big-impact projects like adding seasonal color to attractive containers can earn a handsome return for a modest investment.
We’re saying to check all the boxes for landscape maintenance and outdoor living projects that appeal to potential buyers and increase value. Those include, but are not limited to, the following:
- A well-maintained green lawn
- Mature trees and shrubs that are neatly pruned
- Tidy landscape beds — clean edges, weed-free
- Freshly mulched landscape beds
- Annual color in landscape beds or containers
- Landscape Lighting
- Irrigation system
- Outdoor living areas — patio, deck, grilling space
How Professional Landscaping Increases Property Value
In reality, only some people have the time or know-how to properly maintain their landscapes or take on large projects like constructing a hardscape patio, deck or features like enclosures and pergolas. And regular property maintenance is key to ensure a healthy, weed-free lawn, neat landscape beds, and trimmed shrubs. These are the “basics” for maintaining and improving your home’s value.
Lawn Care Essentials. A lush, green lawn doesn’t happen by accident. You need a plan and a pro to carry it out. An experienced landscape professional understands turf health requirements and can prescribe a custom lawn care program with appropriate fertilizer, weed, disease, and insect prevention maintenance to preserve your lawn.
Landscape Bed Maintenance. We recommend mulching annually — at least applying a thin layer to suppress weeds, protect plants’ roots and retain moisture. Mulch also provides a canvas for plantings and helps them stand out. Overall, professionally mulched landscape beds improve curb appeal and value. A landscape professional will also ensure that the right plants are in the right place — such as creating tiered designs with a combination of low-growing, mid-sized, and taller plant material for visual interest.
Pops of Color. Annual flowering plants in the landscape are visually appealing, add interest to front porches and patios, and are an overall inviting way to welcome guests to your home. Combined with long-lasting perennials, you do not have to replace them every year or season; you can achieve a beautiful balance of constant blooming and variety.
A landscape professional can help you select plants that are native and require less care, along with plants with low watering requirements, which can appeal to buyers who appreciate efficiencies like this. Also, a landscape pro will save you money when selecting plants because replacing the ones that fail because they are not ideal for the site is a lot more expensive than choosing the right plants in the first place.
Landscape Lighting. Extend the time to enjoy your outdoor living areas while enhancing safety with landscape lighting. And we’re not talking about the DIY solar lights you pop into the ground. Those will not improve your property value. What will? Professionally designed LED landscape lighting, including uplighting architecture, spotlights on outdoor features, intimate path lights, and other effects like moonlighting or festive bistro lighting in dining areas.
Smart Irrigation Systems. Today’s advanced irrigation systems offer valuable water savings. Hence, the ROI is in lower utility bills, water conservation, improved lawn and landscape health, and the peace of mind that a landscape professional supports the system. If you already have an irrigation system, you might consider a retrofit to capture the benefits of smart irrigation technology.
Outdoor Living Projects. Everything “out” is in. We’re blending the indoors and outdoors with living areas that offer all the amenities for cooking, dining, entertaining, relaxing, and simply getting away without leaving home. Trending outdoor living projects include fire pits and fire features, water features, hardscape patios with built-in outdoor kitchens, and enclosures that offer shelter from the elements.
Add Value and Luxury to Your Outdoor Living Spaces
We’re talking value, and there is a lot to be said for investing in outdoor projects to sustain and increase your home’s potential selling price, even if you have no intent on pitching a for-sale sign in the yard. But you gain an incredible amount of value from enlisting a landscape professional for lawn care and maintenance. Consider what your time is worth and how else you could spend those hours. And there is value in simply enjoying your home’s outdoor spaces — the memories you make with family and friends, the relaxation you experience, and the feeling of having a getaway at home.
How can we help? Our design and build landscape professionals bring inspiration, expertise, and professionalism to every project. Let’s talk. Reach out by calling (845) 849-2953 or fill out this simple contact form, and we’ll get in touch with you.
