I learnt my lesson the hard way! Nurtured my garden lovingly, borders,ponds,wildlife area etc. When it came to downsize sold to a family that made all the right noises then they bulldozed the lot levelled it to make huge extension,massive terrace and lawn with footie goalposts! Have moved twice since then.All my most precious speciman's are in pots and I took pieces of every other plant possible. Family joke is that I had to have a separate transit van for the plants,with the largest specimens in the back of the removal truck! They reckon I have more plants than furniture.
I don't understand why people would make a garden for the sole purpose of increasing the value of the property, make a garden you and your family to enjoy don't worry about what other people might think it's your space your the ones living there no one else.
It's like people who fit new kitchens, bathrooms or decorate the whole house top to bottom chances are the new owners wont like it any way and in a few years will change it unless you going to get back at least twice what you invested don't bother, we never did and always got the asking price.
If you want to sell take down any net curtains clean the windows and when viewers are due put a loaf of bread in a warm oven and brew fresh coffee people cant resist the smell of warm bread and coffee 😜
"You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
We made a feature of our garden, pergolas, rock gardens, original Victorian summer house, winding paths, beautiful herringbone patios. Miniature lavenders planted under the clothes dryer.
It really helped sell the house.
A year later the new owners had stripped everything out, bought a b&q shed and placed on the herringbone laid patio, chucked the Victorian summer house, removed the pergola and paths, laid the whole lot to lawn, and only weeds grew under the clothes dryer.
The fact is that not everyone is a keen gardener - in fact, most people aren't. I'm not an estate agent (thankfully), but I think most studies show that what most people want in a garden is something low maintenance with a lawn, a patio and a shed. Beyond making your garden presentable, money is probably best spent elsewhere if you are looking to increase the value of your home. The truth is that even keen gardeners would often prefer to start with a cleanish slate, so even they might opt for a basic layout over a garden that has already been built and planted according to someone else's tastes. And if you are not a keen gardener, then a heavily planned and planted garden might just look like a maintenance nightmare - hence bringing in the diggers and replacing with lawn. Also, strangely, there is such a thing as a garden that is too big, and once gardens get over a certain size they cease adding much value to the property, unless you would be able to flog the extra land for other purposes. Like almost everyone else in this thread I garden for myself and my family alone, but I would also say that if you think you are adding much value to your property by improving the garden (beyond the basics), then you are probably going to be disappointed.
It does astonish me how often people rip out all the concrete that the last family put in, or put in a lawn that the the last lot spend thousands tending. We build walls and destroy them, lay foundations and dig them up. It does seem a grand, crazy waste, esp hard landscaping. I have kept my garden changes fairly reversible. I have covered gravel with thick wood chip so that if anyone (including myself) wanted to go back to gravel, they don't have to buy (and move) a whole lot more, but just take off the chip. The terracotta tiling is easily removable / shiftable as are the planters. I have added very little concrete to the garden since I moved in seven years ago, and it was important to me not to.
My small garden could easily be turned into one lawn, wilderness, all raised beds or all gravel. I wouldn't say my thought process was concerning property values, but more stewardship for future house stewards. It has been important to keep things at least as good as I found them, and ideally better. I have improved the soil a lot in the last years - added a lot of (home-made) compost and manure, nurtured worms and soil microbial life. I do imagine future gardeners appreciating my crumbly, chocolate cake soil and not having to grapple with the heavy clay I inherited.
I garden because I just have to... I can’t leave that spot bare or not add some colour once the thought has entered my head. I sometimes think that it might put off a potential buyer who will view the garden as a maintenance nightmare, but who can predict what anyone will think? In the meantime, I just need to widen that bed to fit another rose in....😄
@Fire."I've kept my changes fairly reversible". That's it for me too! I have a large lawn which, for us, is a bore. So I carved out a curved border right across the middle and planted it with Grasses and roses which we enjoy. Easily reversed, dig it up and plant football pitch. Everybody happy.
Posts
It's like people who fit new kitchens, bathrooms or decorate the whole house top to bottom chances are the new owners wont like it any way and in a few years will change it unless you going to get back at least twice what you invested don't bother, we never did and always got the asking price.
If you want to sell take down any net curtains clean the windows and when viewers are due put a loaf of bread in a warm oven and brew fresh coffee people cant resist the smell of warm bread and coffee 😜
"You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
It really helped sell the house.
A year later the new owners had stripped everything out, bought a b&q shed and placed on the herringbone laid patio, chucked the Victorian summer house, removed the pergola and paths, laid the whole lot to lawn, and only weeds grew under the clothes dryer.
So do it for yourself, nothing else matters
I don't like the smell of coffee.
Like almost everyone else in this thread I garden for myself and my family alone, but I would also say that if you think you are adding much value to your property by improving the garden (beyond the basics), then you are probably going to be disappointed.
"You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog