A tidy front garden creates a good first impression and an outside eating area is always popular with buyers. Except in the city way where outside space is a big selling point, gardens are rarely the deciding factor when it comes to selling your house. However, this doesnt mean you can ignore them, and just like any other aspect of your house, it is important to look at your garden through the eyes of your potential buyers.
Families with young children want houses with plenty of rough grass and tough shrubs where their growing offspring can kick a football around without doing too much damage. They wont be too impressed with elaborate planning schemes and island beds, and ponds – even those jumping with environmentally friendly frogs and newts – are a danger to young children. On the other hand, they will be pleased to find an eating-out area with a built-in barbeque for summer parties in the garden.
If you are selling an inner-city house or flat with a patio garden or roof terrace your likely buyer is probably a dedicated follower of the latest garden fashion. They wont want to encounter a litter-strewn patio with a few straggly plants. A quick makeover with gravel, a few evergreen plants in smart galvanised containers and some fashionable bamboos and grasses wont cost much, but will make a feature of your outdoor space, however small.
A low-maintenance garden with paving or gravel, and planted with mainly shrubs and trees, will appeal to the widest audience. Most buyers dont want to spend their life mowing lawns and tending to elaborate herbaceous borders. On the other hand, keen gardeners have a well-developed visual sense and wont have any problem planning how they will change a low maintenance garden.