A modern home is made up of many parts, and one aspect of making a property more attractive and cozy that some homeowners neglect is to invest in landscaping. Landscaping is broad term for any practical or aesthetic feature in the home’s front or back yards, and can be anything from a private pool to an outdoor kitchen or grill to a patio or a koi pond. Often, the most affordable landscaping, and the most attractive, is gardening and planting trees, which can also have health benefits for the home and even make its utilities more energy efficient. Another bonus is that a home that invests in landscaping is more appealing to buyers on the real estate market, so when a homeowner is ready to sell his or her home, having landscaping in place will strengthen that home’s value and appeal on the market. How can a garden center contribute to this? Will a good garden make a home more beautiful and sell better? What should a homeowner look for in local plant nurseries?
Why Do Landscaping?
A local garden center will offer all kinds of hardware and plants alike for a homeowner to launch a home garden project, and wholesale shrubs and lawn care equipment is just the start. Water hoses and nozzles, fertilizer, bird baths, bricks and stones for walling off gardens, and more can be found, along with a dazzling variety of flowering plants, fruit trees, and more. All of this can be a powerful investment for real estate, and the professionals have the numbers to back it up. the National Association of Landscape Professionals carried out a survey with Harris Poll and found that among 2,034 American adults aged 18 and up, 75% of people think it’s important to spend time in the yard. And among real estate agents, 97% of them say that landscaping ranks in the top five home improvement recommendations, and if done right, a homeowner may expect a 215% return on their investment. Finally, a survey showed that 63% of respondents would in fact pay more for a house or an apartment that has sufficient green space around it, even more than those who would pay more for local shopping or cultural value.
A Garden Center and You
The local garden center for any homeowner is a great place to buy equipment for revitalizing the front or back yard, as well as maintenance for existing home gardens and other landscaping. Someone starting from scratch can find supplies like wheelbarrows, gardening gloves, tools like hoes and spades, fertilizer, hoses and their nozzles, watering cans, and more. The plants themselves will come in a huge variety of species that may differ on color of blossoms, sunlight and temperature requirements, fruits, and specific soil acidity needs or fertilizer needs. Some plants are sensitive about these factors, so a homeowner is urged to ask the garden center staff about which plants are best for their soil type, sunlight, and more. In fact, some plants do better indoors than outdoors, so mixing those up could cause trouble.
Trees and shrubs can round out any home garden and yard alongside the flower bed. Trees can bear fruit such as apples, which is not only festive but provides home-grown ingredients. Trees are also energy-friendly; their shade helps block hot sunlight from striking the house, which in fact eases the strain on its air conditioning during spring and summer. Trees, shrubs, and flowers can also attract pleasant wildlife such as bumblebees, hummingbirds, songbirds, and more, and amenities for those animals such as hummingbird feeders and bird baths can keep them around longer. But a home gardener should also be prepared for unwelcome wildlife, ranging from gophers (who devour plant roots) to squirrels (they can use tree branches to access and break into the attic) and wasps and hornets, who may build nests on trees. Homeowners can take measures against these pests should they appear; special paint on the roof deters squirrels, and many countermeasures for gophers exist, from poison pellets to underground wire mesh to sound emitters that scare them off. A homeowner should be aware of any local laws that forbid killing wildlife, however.
