Landscape improvements increase home's value by nearly 13%

by Norman Winter

Featured in the Corvallis Gazette-Times on March 12, 2006

When a publisher suggested an article on easy steps to improving the value of your home through landscaping, my first thought was seven shrubs and three trees. While I say that tongue-in-cheek, this is however fairly close to FHA requirements for a new home.

Landscaping is a subject that should be dear to the hearts of all homeowners because at some point in time selling the home is sure to occur. It may be sooner than you think.

A few years ago the statistic came out that the average family moved every five years. Since homes are being sold in such short periods of time it becomes increasingly apparent that everything possible should be done to enhance the value of the home allowing the owner to make the next purchase.

At some past garden and patio shows, attendees were asked to complete a survey for Dr. Patricia Knight, associate research professor with Mississippi State University who was working on a joint project with several other states to find out consumers perceived value of landscaping on a home. The first results were published in the December 2000 issue of the Journal of Environmental Horticulture.

You, the consumer, were asked to look at drawings of homes with landscapes from those with small plants to large, and with various combinations. It can be concluded that consumers do see landscaping as adding value to a home.

The base value of the home pictured was $192,000 and the viewers looked at various landscape additions. In almost every scenario landscapes with 20 percent annual color added a $1,000 value. Homes with sophisticated landscapes combining evergreen, deciduous, color, and hardscape brought the perceived value to $215,147 an increase of 12.7 percent.

Another point that might surprise is that the larger, more mature shrubs and trees, brought the most perceived increase in value while young immature plantings though considered sophisticated had a much smaller effect of only $201,184.

If the consumer perceives an added value from the landscape, is it so? In a way, yes. What does a real estate appraiser see? Grayson Boucher, an appraiser in Louisiana, gives a realistic look.

He says that on an appraisal sheet there is no place to add value for the curb appeal from the landscape for a perishable product like plants. There is, however, immediate value from irrigation systems, lighting and hardscape items like patios, decks and fences.

But, what about the landscaping - doesn’t that do something? Boucher says indeed it does. It gives marketing appeal. This home will most likely sell quicker while the home lacking the landscape may take longer which may also result then in a lowering of price.

Jan Maselle, a leader in Mississippi real estate, looked at my home a few years ago and stated that my house would sell quickly - one of the reasons being that the backyard had been landscaped. She said it was surprising how many homes skipped the backyard when it came to landscaping.

This spring, take the opportunity to really look at your home’s landscape. Play like you are a buyer. Whether or not you plan to sell is another matter. I can say, however, that when you arrive home after a hard day’s work, seeing an attractive landscape welcome you will put you in a different frame of mind.

Norman Winter is a horticulturist and the author of Paradise Found: Growing Tropicals in Your Own Backyard.

Beth Young Garden Design, LLC

Corvallis, Oregon

info<at>bygardendesign.com