Adding True Values to Landscape & Home
By Ken Lain, The Garden Guy

Wow! Doesn’t this Raywood Ash look great in the landscape of this Prescott Valley home? Harold Watters told me when I was starting out in the family business, “The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago; the next best time to plant a tree is now.” Fall is the ideal time to plant autumn-colored trees that will vastly improve your home’s landscape.

Besides adding a tree to your landscape, you can plant a perennial border in a weekend for color and interest that change with the season. A simple stone walkway makes your house more accessible from the yard and an attractive fence adds a welcoming touch. Such simple landscape projects are a relatively inexpensive way to increase the value of your home.

The Horticultural Research Institute funded a recently released study conducted by a Clemson University professor. The study’s results show that there is a positive link between the quality of a home’s landscaping and the property’s selling price.

By analyzing more than 200 home sales the research found that properties with landscapes judged to be “excellent” realized a sale price 6 -7% higher than equivalent properties with landscapes judged to be “good.” Landscapes rated as “good” brought 4-5% percent more at sale than those found to be “average.”

The study concluded that the individual benefits of improved landscaping, such as increased aesthetics, buffers from noise and unsightly views, climate control through shade and windbreaks, did not immediately increase the value of property. Instead, the benefits were realized later when the property was sold. Just like any other home improvements, like remodeling a kitchen or a bath, homeowners who enhance the landscaping of their properties can immediately enjoy the advantages of the improvement and recoup a large percentage of the investment later, through an increased sale price.

Top 7 Reasons to Improve Your Yard’s Landscape
1. A Gallup Poll found that landscaping could add between 7 and 15 percent to a home’s value.
2. ‘Money’ magazine found that kitchen remodeling brings a 75 to 125 percent increase to recovery rate, bathroom remodeling a 20 to 120 percent increase, and the addition of a swimming pool a 20 to 50 percen increase. Landscaping could bring a recovery value of 100 to 200 percent increase.
3. For the past ten years I have been appraising large trees for insurance claims. A mature tree can often have an appraised value of between $1,000 and $10,000. The values of large trees can easily reach the upper figures of this range.
4. By shading the windows and walls of your home, landscaping can reduce air conditioning costs by up to 50 percent,.
5. Trees can reduce bothersome noise by up to 50 percent and can mask unwanted noises with the pleasant sounds of birds or the “white sound” of wind rustling through the trees.
6. In summer trees can reduce yard temperatures by as much as nine degrees.
7. Studies suggest a single urban tree can create more than $270 yearly in erosion and storm water control, air conditioning, pollution reduction, and wildlife shelter benefits.
If you want to increase your home’s resale value by improving its landscape, don't try to change the entire yard at once; just work on small sections at a time. Start with the back patio, your entryway, driveway, or a designer touch to the back deck
The folks at your favorite garden center are used to helping with these projects and love to share ideas that have been successful in other landscapes. So don't get frustrated with the design process. This is what garden center employees spend most of their days doing. Even your rough sketch with a few measurements enables you to tap into their wealth of landscaping information.

Once you have the design in mind and know that you want to add plants to your yard, but don't want to install them yourself, have your garden center do it for you. Most garden centers offer a planting service. This will usually cost about half the value of the plants and the guarantee of proper installation is worth the expense.

Research has found that the reasons people garden are: To be outdoors; to be in beautiful surroundings; to relax and relieve the pressures of everyday life; to stay active and get exercise.
So get out there and indulge yourself in this fall’s gardening season. You’ll not only enjoy the beauty of your work, the fresh air of the outdoors, being close to nature and the relaxation that follows, but you may just very well be money ahead when you sell your home.
Each Saturday, 7-8 AM, I host a radio garden show, “Gardening in Granite”, on KYCA 1490 on the AM dial. Give me a call if you have questions about outdoor plants, landscape designs, or about any other garden-related topics. Call in or just listen to other callers’ questions and comments as we discuss gardening topics applicable to our local area.

Until next week, I’ll see you in the garden center.

Read Past Articles