Advice for Longford homeowners on how to spruce up your front garden on a budget

Some 68% of home buyers think ‘kerb appeal’ is important when buying a home, according to a recent survey.

A well-maintained front garden, pathways and fences were highlighted as important, in addition to a well-painted frontage.
Want to maximise your home’s kerb appeal? - Here's a few tips to consider...

1. Get your lawn in order

After the first cut, some bald patches may be exposed so just sprinkle grass sends and scratch in with a rake before watering. Keep lawn edges trim, and sharp exges are an easy win.

2. Tidy up your beds

With a tidy lawn, any messy flowerbeds will now come into clear view. Take out weeds, dead plants, old foliage, and prune back overhanging or overgrown shrubs. Plug any gaps with some new plants. Finally, consider adding a decorative mulch, such as bark or cocoa shells for a proper show garden finish.

3. Buy seeds, not plants

If you’re not in a huge rush to sell, now that the soil is warming up, gaps in your flowerbeds could be filled with some hardy annual bedding plants – these can be planted as seeds directly into your beds and borders.

4. Source plants economically

Check for discounted plants in nurseries and garden centres. Enthusiasts often sell their surplus from roadside stalls, church or school fetes, horticultural society sales and boot fairs. The key is not to be too fussy, if it looks good, healthy and is cheap then it will do a turn.

5. Spruce up woodwork

Tired-looking fences can give the impression of poor maintenance and discourage a potential buyer (or encourage them to put forward a cheeky offer). Get them all painted if they need it to bring your garden up to a good standard. Go darker with the colour and any planting or features you have will pop out with this effective dark backdrop.”

6. Clean, tidy and dress a paved area

If you have a paved area, get it scrubbed or power-washed off and remove any leaves, weeds, algae and moss. Tidy up any messy potted plants and anything else that looks out of place. Refresh the pots with new plants if they need it. If you don’t have pots then get some to brighten it up.

Go for small groups of smaller pots, set them at different levels for best effect – maybe one on the ground, one on a brick and the third on another upturned pot. They can be very effective and will be a lot cheaper than a few larger ones.

7. Use recycled accessories

This really is a good mindset to get into – at its simplest, it could be planting up an old pair of wellies or saucepans with some cheerful flowers or herbs. At the other extreme, perhaps a seating area constructed from upcycled waste pallets. Let your imagination take hold – the only rule here is it should be free, or almost free.

8. Keep it simple

Remember that you are selling, not staying. Nothing overly ambitious is required here, just good quality window dressing. Show your property in its very best light, without splashing out on a new water feature or decking.

9 Do it yourself

Finally, Hankinson’s best piece of money-saving advice: tackle these tasks yourself. “If you employ an individual or company to carry out your garden jobs, labour will certainly be the largest part of the cost – and therefore the biggest saving is you!”