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Do you garden for yourself or for your property value?

AchtungAchtung Posts: 159
in The potting shed
This will be be my last house purchase but I still garden it, not for me, but for the overall value of the property. I wish I could just do what pleases us but I can't help thinking about "Is this naff or increasing value? "
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  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    I moved house quite a few times in the last ten years before we came here, so I understand what you mean. I always wanted to have a garden that would be My Garden, that I could do at my own pace instead of trying to get it to a saleable state as soon as the building work (which invariably ruins whatever was there before) had stopped. When we came here we always knew it would be for the long term and I've always seen it differently. Things get done when they get done. No one else can see it, we have very few visitors, it's not visible from the road and we've no plans to sell (haven't finished building the house yet, so we couldn't if we wanted to). So I do what I want, or what I can manage, or what I can afford. And if anyone else doesn't like it, too bad.
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • TheveggardenerTheveggardener Posts: 1,057
    A bit of both. I like to be in the garden and to have something nice to see. If it adds value that good but it's mainly for my enjoyment. I would like to move and have a bigger garden but one that is not on four sides.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    My garden is for me (OH is not interested).  It has small areas of lawn, minimal hard surfaces, some privet hedging and lots and lots of different plants.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Apart from clearing rubbish or brambles, I didn't realise people did that. Is it like painting all your rooms magnolia?
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • HelixHelix Posts: 631
    I find that a bit hard to get my head round.  My house is my home, garden included, so everything we do is about making it more our “home”.   We justified spending money on some new windows last year by saying that more modern high spec windows would be better for its energy rating - but actually it was because we were fed up with drafts. 

    With all our previous homes we had a bit of a whirlwind last few months getting it ready to sell, but until that point it was as we wanted it. (Except of course for all the things that were unfinished!)

    Our garden is for us....and I try not to think that they next owners will probably raise it to the ground....
  • Catherine164Catherine164 Posts: 27
    The garden is planted for me and by me - with help from hubby who digs the big holes for big plants, and digs out weeds, and sometime plants... :#  

    We've talked about possibly downsizing in a few years, but I'm still not going to change it to an "estate agent friendly garden".

    New owners will make changes, and that's ok. I won't be seeing it - and hopefully I'll still be fit enough to start developing the new one to my own taste. That might mean digging up the previous owner's pride and joy - but we've all got to make the home & garden our own. 
  • AndyRAndyR Posts: 11
    For what it's worth, I bought this house last year and one of the things that I love about it is the garden. The previous owner (elderly lady, now in a retirement flat) clearly loved gardening and I love that I'm not starting from nothing.

    I wouldn't have had the time or energy to deal with a "blank canvass"!
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    The garden is for us.  It's never crossed my mind to set the garden out to increase property value.  In our previous house the garden was kept tidy, with the grass cut and just a single border because the garden was small.  It's just automatic to me to keep things looking nice if you are planning to sell, but I would never 'dress' the garden to impress anybody.
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    Just over two years ago we spent nearly £40,000 upgrading and renovating our garden. We’re delighted with the outcome and I do not regret one penny but, a double win, I think the value of our house has consequently increased by around £75000.
    Rutland, England
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    The value in our property is in the land area, not the house or garden. When we leave it is likely that developers will eventually get hold of it and put several houses on the site. The upside of this is that it doesn't matter what we do to the house or garden as it won't affect the value so we are free to do what pleases us.
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