Landscaping Tips to Elevate Your Property
The landscaping sector has seen considerable growth over the past 10 years, and the market is currently valued at just over $150 billion, thanks to more and more people investing in the exterior areas of their homes. These investments are not just about creating a beautiful garden but about creating cutting-edge landscaping designs that incorporate innovative features like smart irrigation systems, sustainable materials, and unique plant arrangements. These designs complement their homes and elevate luxury both inside and out.
Perfecting the right landscaping for your property is an art that can significantly enhance its value. In fact, a well-executed landscaping project can increase your property's value by as much as 20%, according to the American Society of Landscape Architects.
With this in mind, if you are planning to invest in creating a stunning outdoor area for your home, what are the secrets to well-executed landscaping and maintenance that will boost your property profile and value and increase your enjoyment of your home?
Know Your Garden
Before you even trim a blade of grass, it's crucial to understand your yard. What is the ground composed of? Where are your boundary lines? Are there any restrictions on what you can do with your property? These are important factors to consider, especially if you're planning to add a pool or if you're close to bodies of water or power lines.
How easy would it be to excavate if you needed to do this? What type of soil do you have if you're planting flower beds or trees? The more you know about your yard prior to making the plans, the easier it is to create the perfect landscaping and preempt any issues.
Get Ideas
Have a look at your neighbours to see what type of landscaping they have carried out and what might be possible in your yard. Talk to landscapers to assess the types of work they can do and what is possible realistically before you pin down definitive plans. While it might seem like things will work in your head, viewing existing successful landscaping renovations and talking to landscape architects can help you rule out things that might not be possible.
Know Your Limitations
This means your physical, time, and skill limitations. While some options, such as thriving greenery and bountiful flower beds, can indeed be stunning if you're able to keep up with the maintenance or pay for someone to do so on your behalf, then before long, it will lose its appeal and quickly become a mess, and that's not what you're going for. So before moving ahead with plans, be realistic about your plans, your capabilities, and what you can afford.
Maintenance Required
Tying in with the above point, you need to consider maintenance moving forward. Will your stone tiles need resealing if you don't choose specific outdoor options? The same goes for porcelain tiles. How much maintenance does your new lawn need if you opt for a real lawn over an artificial choice? Will any features need upkeep, like painting or regular cleaning, to keep them looking new?
There are multiple tools and types of equipment you can purchase to enable you to keep your new landscaping looking immaculate; robotic lawn mowers can assist with keeping your lawn looking lush, and Worx weed eater can help remove unnecessary weed growing between paving or in your lawn and flowerbed and power washers can assist you with cleaning dirt and debris from hard surfaces. However, knowing the upkeep required prior to committing to a landscaping style can help you make more informed decisions.
Yard Usage
An essential aspect of planning your new landscaping is how you will or currently do use the space. What exactly do you want to achieve, and what do you want the space to do for you? Are you looking to add outdoor cooking areas? If so, where will it be best placed to access from the home without blocking the flow of the space? That same goes for adding in permanent structures, level changes, and features such as ponds, pools, fountains, or play equipment for kids and entertaining spaces.
Budget
We're not skipping over the budget for your backyard transformation; however, the level of finish and the scope of the work will be directly influenced by the budget you have available.
On average, Americans spend $11 per square foot. However, as with anything, the cost depends on the scope of the work and the complexity of the design, with some landscaping efforts turning into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
However, it's also important to keep ROI in mind when contemplating landscaping designs. ROI, or Return on Investment, is the ratio of the profit or loss made in a fiscal year expressed as a percentage of the total cost of the investment. There is a maximum ROI you can achieve regardless of the design. Typically, this is between a 5.5% and 12.7% increase in home value, meaning if you splurge too much, you won't get any ROI, and it could be wasted cash if you're thinking of selling in the near future.
Consult The Pros
Sure, there are landscaping software you can use to help you bring your ideas to life to see if they will work; however, contacting the pros can enlighten you as to what is possible, give you a more accurate timeline and pricing structure, and ensure that you are floating any regulations or restrictions on landscaping in your area and everything is legal or has permits before the work starts. Professional advice, even if you end up carrying out the work yourself, can be invaluable when it comes to landscaping or to ensure that your ideas on paper translate well to real life.
Perfecting your landscaping prior to starting work can reduce problems, give you more control over the work and changes required as you move along, and help you visualize the end result more clearly. The more you know, the better your plans can be and the morue impactful your design will have once completed.