No Pink Flamingos — Landscaping for Homebuyer Appeal

Preparing to sell your existing home requires checking your emotions and feelings at the door and taking a hard look at how a potential buyer would view your home, inside and out. What is your house "saying" from the street?

De-cluttering the interior of your home is a step that your Realtor will advise. But what about the outside? The curb appeal could make or break someone's desire to even step foot in your home. With today's real estate market, removing any potential objections is critical to getting the attention your home deserves from potential buyers.

Jay Neyens, of McKeown's Landscape Mart in Peoria, advises that the landscape is a reflection of how well the home has been maintained. "A well manicured yard implies the owner has invested time, money, energy and creativity and is proud of their home inside and out," said Neyens.

Take a critical eye to how your home looks from the street. "Make sure the yard is not over grown. Remove the bushes and plant material that are dead or dormant. Allow for spatial room, a blank canvas so to speak, where the potential buyer can imagine their own landscape touches." Further, he suggests that the plants should be in harmony with the size and scale of your home. "Don't plant things that overwhelm the view of your home," he noted. "Plants should graduate in size so use lower plants toward the streets and increase moderately toward the home," Neyens said.

Neyens also noted that many cities will even offer an incentive to homeowners who remove heavy water-usage plants and replace them with drought tolerant plants and replace grass with other ground cover material. Check with your municipality to see if it offers this incentive and what the requirements are. Typically the city will want the submission of a landscape plan which then is reviewed and ultimately approved or declined. If approved, it is possible to receive a credit towards other city services.

While it's still relatively warm in the Phoenix and Tucson areas, October is the month to start preparing plants for the winter season, enhancing the beauty of your yard. The idea is to encourage the slowdown of growth so leaf and stem tissue will toughen and be more resistant to frost damage. Stop fertilizing and gradually begin cutting back watering frequency to achieve this. We have all seen frost damaged plants and they aren't pretty.

According to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, which hosts one of the world's finest collections of desert plants, this is the perfect time of year in the desert for getting most plants into the ground. Since growth is tapering off and days are getting shorter (fewer hours of intense sun!), plants won't be as stressed above-ground. Warm soil temperatures will trigger new root development almost instantly. With root establishment beginning, fall-planted material has a jump on things when next summer's high temperatures roll around.

If you want to enjoy vibrant spring colors in your garden, plant your annual wildflower seeds this month. The Desert Botanical Garden website offers tremendous resources to educate homeowners on various plants materials and schedules. Classes are also available at the Desert Botanical Garden as well as some landscape showrooms such as McKeown's Landscape Mart.

Landscape Resources Noted in This Article

The Desert Botanical Garden is located at 1201 N. Galvin Parkway in Phoenix. Information is available at www.dbg.org or by calling the Garden at 480-941-1225.

Desert Botanical Garden Fall Class Schedule

September 21 - Soils and Fertilizers
September 28 - Trees
October 5 - Planting and Staking
October 12 - FALL BREAK - PLANT SALE
October 19 - Pruning Principles
October 26 - Pruning Practice
November 2 - Agaves and Yuccas
November 9 - Wildflowers, Perennials, Vines & Groundcovers
November 16 - Final Exam / Lecture-Working around Utilities

Landscape Mart is a landscape showroom and design center located at 8028 W. Thunderbird Road in Peoria. Information is available at www.landscapemart.com or by calling 623-298-6800. Their website has great landscaping information and suggestions, plus information on a free landscape seminar on October 18. Learn tips and tricks to maintain your landscape, including pruning, plants, watering and timers, fertilizing and more. Space is limited and reservations are required by calling 623-298-6800 ext. 291.

Additional Landscape Resources

The Desert Botanical Garden's herbarium database is continually being updated. This is a particularly useful tool if you are unable to utilize their herbarium on-site.
http://seinet.asu.edu/

Wholesale grower Mountain States Wholesale Nursery has tremendous information available on their website. Learn about hundreds of plants suitable for desert gardening, get help choosing the perfect plant for conditions in your yard, or find retail nurseries that carry their plants.
http://www.mswn.com

The University of Arizona, Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Service offers a wealth of information for desert gardeners. A variety of demonstration gardens are offered at the main office.
http://www.cals.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden

Desert USA provides a variety of information ranging from plants to wildlife and geology, as well as associated updates and activities.
http://www.desertusa.com

The United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service offers the PLANTS Database, providing standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories.
http://www.plants.usda.gov