Grow some extra kerb appeal
Because first impressions count! How to spruce up your front garden on a budget to help sell your home.
Looking to sell your house this summer? First impressions count for a lot, so it may be time to spruce up your front garden. Some 68% of home buyers think ‘kerb appeal’ is important when buying a home, according to a Home Owners Alliance survey. A well-maintained front garden, pathways and fences were highlighted as important, in addition to a well-painted frontage.
“You only get one chance to make a first impression — and sprucing up your front garden can maximise the ‘wow’ factor,” says Sam Mitchell, CEO of online estate agent Strike.
“A few small changes could make your home more attractive to potential buyers. Take a day to clean your windows, mow the lawn and get rid of any weeds,” Sam suggests. “Repainting your front door, adding new hardware (a letterbox, number, and knocker) and freshening up any fencing can really make a difference to potential buyers.”
Want to maximise your home’s kerb appeal? Morris Hankinson of Hopes Grove Nurseries, offers these tips…
GET YOUR LAWN IN ORDER
If you have an area of lawn, then this is one of the quickest and easiest fixes, as it can transform the appearance of your outdoor space. Keep your grass neatly – and regularly – cut. If it’s been looking long and unloved after the winter, cutting it may expose some bald patches – don’t buy expensive turf to fill the gaps because a scattering of grass seed ‘scratched in’ with a rake and watered will germinate and cover them quickly now we have some warmer weather. Keep the edges of the lawn neatly trimmed and delineated.
Sharp edges are another easy quick win, focusing the eye away from less perfect horticultural aspects.
TIDY UP YOUR BEDS
With a tidy lawn, any messy flowerbeds will now come into clear view. Take out weeds, dead plants, old foliage, and prune back overhanging or overgrown shrubs. Plug any gaps with some new plants. Finally, consider adding a decorative mulch, such as bark or cocoa shells for a proper show garden finish.
BUY SEEDS, NOT PLANTS
If you’re not in a huge rush to sell, now that the soil is warming up, gaps in your flowerbeds could be filled with some hardy annual bedding plants – these can be planted as seeds directly into your beds and borders. Only £10 or less spent on a few
packets of seed could be enough to keep your garden plugged with colour for most of the summer. Go for easy and fast types such as cornflowers, love in the mist, calendula and the best of all ground-covering space fillers –nasturtiums.
SPRUCE UP WOODWORK
Tired-looking fences can give the impression of poor maintenance and discourage a potential buyer (or encourage them to put forward a cheeky offer). Get them all painted if they need it to bring your garden up to a good standard. Go darker with the colour and any planting or features you have will pop out with this effective dark backdrop.
CLEAN, TIDY AND DRESS A PAVED AREA
If you have a paved area, get it scrubbed or power-washed off and remove any leaves, weeds, algae and moss.
Tidy up any messy potted plants and anything else that looks out of place. Refresh the pots with new plants if they need it. If you don’t have pots then get some to brighten it up. Go for small groups of smaller pots, set them at different levels for best effect – maybe one on the ground, one on a brick and the third on another upturned pot. They can be very effective and will be a lot cheaper than a few larger ones.