Add Value to Your Home
Last week the residents of my town voted on a budget for the next fiscal year. There was some contention among the citizens regarding the need to raise taxes during difficult economic times, but the roads need paving, the police and fire departments must be funded, and the schools for our children staffed and maintained. The proposed budget failed by 76 votes. Now there is talk to slash the education budget in order to get the next budget approved. As the parent of two school-aged children I’d like to think that the money could be saved someplace else. Closing schools, laying off teachers, and canceling educational programs seems like a short sighted way to save money.
Homeowners face similar budget dilemmas when they decide to improve their property. To pave or not to pave? Stick with oil heat or go with gas? Knock out that wall for a bigger kitchen or upgrade the appliances? But what about the landscaping? Landscaping is often the last item on the new homeowner’s to do list and as such it is often the first line item to suffer a budget cut. Studies have shown, however, that skimping on your landscaping is also a shortsighted way to save money.
Good landscaping increases the value of your home as much as 12-15%, and it does more for curb appeal than any granite counter top 
or Viking appliance ever will. I’ve preached the value of good landscaping for years to my clients and students and I met with many skeptics, but in 2001 I found an article in the Wall Street Journal backing up my opinion with statistics. More recently, another study has been released and there is a great article about the benefits of landscaping your yard in an article in the Boston Globe.
Here’s a link: Boston Globe Article
The idea is simple. Landscape your property well and it will look better and become more valuable. I’ve told clients that a good budget for comprehensive home landscaping is 10% of the value of the home. That raises a few eyebrows, 
but a million dollar house deserves a $100K landscape. Anything less looks cheap. A Master Plan should be created from the beginning to avoid a hodge podge design because it may take several years to achieve the total budget and implement the plans. Much of the budget will be used up by the high cost of hardscape features like terraces, retaining walls, and walkways. Once those items are completed don’t skimp on the plants. Well established, healthy looking plants are what make a yard into a garden, and a garden is what turns a house into a home, the value of which, like a good education, is worth more than dollars and cents.
By Daryl Beyers