Property Today

After giving you 20 top tips for DIY safety, today we're turning our attention to your garden. If your garden looks fantastic, it can only add value to your home, and will certainly make it easier to sell.

Here are Property Today's top ten tips for adding value to your garden:

1) Create more usable space
No matter how big your home, it's always good to add more usable space outside. That means a patio or decking. Some experts say if you have decking that you can walk out onto from patio doors, it makes your rooms seem bigger and will make your house more sellable. But make sure whatever you put in has been installed properly and looks great.

2) Update the features
If your garden is full of pampas grass, then maybe it's time for a change. Nothing is more off-putting to buyers than a garden with plants from decades gone by. Ask your local garden centre what's popular at the moment, or get a gardener in to advise you.

3) Create atmosphere
With a bit of careful planning you can create a garden that really has the "wow" factor. Use different types and sizes of plants to create impact, and splashes of colour to create desirability.

4) Avoid features that need lots of maintenance
As nice as it might be to have a pond, it's a hassle to clean and maintain it. If your plan is to improve your garden to help make your house more desirable to potential buyers, removing features they don't want is sensible. Some features can also be hazardous, for example you must be careful with small children if you do have a pond.

5) Make it practical
The best gardens fit the lifestyles of potential buyers. If you think your house will appeal to a family, then create a garden that a family would want with plenty of lawn space for children to play on. If your property is aimed at single people living on their own, they will probably be more interested in a low maintenance garden.

6) Find somewhere to hide clutter
No-one likes seeing a load of kids' toys spread all over the lawn. Build a shed or find somewhere to hide clutter. If you don't have a lot of space, then you can buy cheap garden storage units from DIY stores.

7) Be green
With a huge focus on green living at the moment, your garden is the first place you can do this. You can recycle virtually everything in your garden. Set up a compost heap or maybe buy a wormery. You will be able to recycle organic household waste this way too.

8) Make it low maintenance
Unless you are a very keen gardener, you won't want to spend hours on your garden every day. When planning and building your garden deliberately make it low maintenance. That means plants which only need attention now and again, and features which only need annual servicing.

9) Tidy your garden every week
But no matter how low maintenance a garden is, it will always benefit from a weekly tidy up, even if it is just a few minutes. Make it a habit and you will soon have a fantastic looking garden for very little time investment.

10) Get someone in if you can't be bothered
If gardening isn't your thing then just hire a professional. There are many garden mowing firms that will visit your home regularly, or local gardeners who will be happy to do the work for you. Think of it as an investment in the future value of your home.