In A garden isn’t necessarily something people think about when staging and preparing their property for sale, but it is a prominent element of the property, especially if you have a lavish fruit or vegetable garden, flowerbeds, or lush landscaping. There are 1001 articles on how to stage the inside of your house and even several more on curb appeal, but what happens if you have a specific garden or unique landscaping features? How do you stage a garden when selling?
Here are simple tips for staging and preparing a garden when you’re selling your property.
Edible Gardens
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we love our personal gardens and you’ll find many homes with larger lots around the Puget Sound that have beautiful vegetable and/or herb gardens. When it comes to selling, you don’t want to disregard the fact that you’ve put hundreds of hours into tending your garden and allowing it to provide you nourishment and some delicious salads for however long you’ve had the property. Here are some tips if you have an edible garden on your property.
Depending on the time of year, your garden is going to look different. If you’re selling in the winter, there’s very little you can do to a garden other than mulch the dirt so it’s all nicely prepared for spring planting, trim around any edges of raised beds or boxes, keep the yard mowed around the boxes, and basically present the garden as fresh and ready for whatever plants or seeds will accommodate the next owner. It needs to look garden ready.
At the beginning of spring, it can be easy to mulch the ground, grind it up, and plant beautiful seeds with spikes on each and to identify the rows or even have a few existing starter plants perfectly spaced out, ready for the next owner. This shows a neat and organized garden, proper planning, and will show care over the rest of the property.
In the summer, you might be enjoying the fruits of your labor so there may be sparse openings where you have already picked or harvested vegetables, and in this case, clean up around the existing plants, make sure there are no weeds, and trim around any raised beds. If you have potted plants, make sure they are either season ready, or trimmed, staked, and in full bloom or showing their own offerings such as ripe tomatoes hanging from the vine, herbs ready to be picked and added to a chimichurri sauce, or fresh peas and greens ready to be steamed or sautéed.
Remember, you’re creating a setting. Buyers want to see the setting in its ultimate beauty. Even if it’s in the dead of winter, a bed that is prepped and ready for spring shows a lot of care.
Additional: Is a Home Garden a Good Selling Point?
Flowerbeds
The best thing about flowerbeds is that you can usually find flowers any time of the year. For spring and summer, annuals were great to add an instant burst of color. Check out Pinterest for flower bed designs and ideas. Always plant taller plants towards the back and smaller plants or bedding plants down in front.
For the fall and winter, poinsettias and chrysanthemums work best as they add fall colors or pop of Christmas cheer. Most poinsettias don’t last outside for too long but Christmas cactuses, evergreens, and shrubs that don’t lose their leaves can add a fresh and unique pop of green to any flower bed.
Other tips:
- Add garden lights, either solar or battery-powered to illuminate your flower bed or edible Gardens and walkways.
- Be sure to keep the lawn well-trimmed and mowed
- Add herbs whenever possible and scented flowers around garden gates and walkways to not only wow what the buyers with the sites but smells as well.
- If you know you’re going to sell next spring, use the winter months to plant tulips and daffodils so they come up just in time for listing.
- Consider sweet peas. They work well in cool weather and are fast-growing flowers.
Because Mercer Island is full of custom homes and larger lots, gardens are a prominent piece of the landscaping. Staging that garden could be what makes the sale.
