An overwhelming 97% of real estate agents rank landscaping your lawn in the top five home improvement recommendations, saying that a homeowner can expect a return on investment of an astounding 215%. And while your landscape designs don’t have to be as advanced (or as creepy) as the topiary and hedge maze from the various adaptations of Stephen King’s The Shining, they should still be eye-catching enough to turn some heads. This is especially important if you’re looking to sell your home, as it’ll increase the value of your property and home by 12% and 14%, respectively.
Landscape designers do more than simple lawn maintenance. They can completely change the look and layout of lawns. This could be something as relatively simple as adding certain plants and bushes to your lawn that have complimenting and contrasting colors to more in-depth projects such as adding steps, wells, statues, and the aforementioned topiary. Here are a few things when trying to come up with landscape designs for your lawn:
- Know your property. While full, large-scale landscaped lawns can look absolutely stunning, not all lawns unfortunately have the size for projects like that. You don’t want to overpower a small yard with large Greek statues or fountains, but you also don’t want to just have an empty sea of green grass if your lawn is several acres large.
- Think of a theme. As with most things that relate to homes, themes can pull everything together and unify your property. It’s important to look at the architecture of your home when trying to decide on a theme for your lawn, since you don’t want a theme that clashes. There are a lot of fascinating and beautiful themes for lawns, so be sure to think long and hard about it and consult your landscaper before committing to any particular idea.
- Don’t forget about time. Plants, like all things, change with the passage of time. They grow — in some cases dramatically — and can be a hassle to cut back down. You don’t want to plant a bush while it’s young and fits with your theme only to find out that it’s known to grow four times its size and is too thick to cut easily. A lot of plants also change with the seasons, either changing color or losing all their leaves completely.
There’s a lot more that goes into landscape designs than what’s mentioned here — it’s definitely recommended to ask professional landscapers before committing, especially when there are so many variables to consider.