Curb appeal plays a significant role when selling a property. If you plan on putting your home on the market soon, now is the time to change the landscape to attract more buyers. However, there are right and wrong ways to boost property value. Homeowners must know what helps sell a home and what can turn potential buyers off.

Maintain the Lawn

A well-maintained lawn provides a significant return on value. Fortunately, maintaining this lawn costs the homeowner little. Potential buyers want to see a well-kept yard because it not only makes the property look better, but they can imagine themselves enjoying a relaxing evening outdoors, watching their kids play, or gathering with friends.

Individuals concerned about the environment and their carbon footprint appreciate a thriving lawn, as grass absorbs water while removing contaminants. This ensures the pollutants don't make their way into the groundwater supply. In addition, grass reduces soil erosion.

Don't install artificial turf on a property, however. While artificial turf requires little maintenance, buyers don't like it. Not only does the turf serve as the perfect host for bacteria, it also harms the environment. This petroleum-based product requires replacement every 15 to 25 years and is not biodegradable.

Invest in Mature Shrubs and Tree

Most things in and around a home lose value over time, and trees remain an exception. Mature trees on a property raise the value. Although having these trees placed in your yard costs a significant amount, homeowners find the money they spend in treating the trees comes back to them when the property sells. Potential buyers love the look of the trees and appreciate knowing they help keep energy costs down. Speak with Chilliwack Tree Services to learn which trees to buy based on the local climate and other factors.

Clean the Garden

Never allow weeds to grow in the garden. Buyers don't want to see this, as they recognize an unkempt garden means more work for them if they buy the home. Trim the plants and wash any patio furniture in proximity to the garden. This gives the landscape a nice, clean look that people will love when looking for a new residence. Very few people wish to buy a property, knowing they will have to put a lot of work into making it their dream home.

A big, eye-catching garden draws the eye, while a few plants scattered here and there detract from the overall property appeal. Keep this in mind when choosing what to plant in your yard. It's better to go big, so long as the garden is well-maintained.

Walkways

Landscape all walkways and ensure they are in good condition. This provides numerous benefits. Not only will guests appreciate having a safe walkway, but they will not bring dirt and mud into the home. Nobody wants to spend time cleaning the entryway when they could be visiting with family and friends. A well-maintained walkway ensures nobody has to miss out on the fun.

When cleaning and landscaping the walkway, look at other outdoor features. Nobody wants to see unsightly outdoor features when they visit a property, as the first thing they think is that fixing these problems will be costly and time-consuming. In addition, when looking at homes, potential buyers want to see a well-kept fence. They like that the fence will help keep children and pets contained while preventing intruders, be they human or animal, from entering the property.

The fence provides the property's residents with privacy and seclusion, something many people want at home. They spend their day surrounded by others and enjoy peace at their residence, and the fence ensures they have a place to relax and unwind.

Install Lighting

It's easy to entertain outdoors when strategically installed lights are around a property. Thanks to advances in technology, homeowners have more choices than ever before. Consider solar-powered and LED options today to reduce energy costs while illuminating the property. In addition to showcasing a garden or landscape feature after dark, the lights provide an additional layer of security for the home residents and their guests.

However, many buyers want something other than a hot tub or pool on their property. Rather than envision themselves enjoying a lazy day relaxing in the pool or playing water games with their children, homebuyers typically look at a pool or hot tub and immediately think of the time they will need to spend maintaining this residential feature. In addition, they worry about the cost of insuring the residence with a pool or hot tub.

Outdoor Kitchens or All-Season Decks

Countless individuals today wish to have an outdoor kitchen on their property. The pandemic forced many people to stay at home for extended periods, and people developed or cultivated a love of cooking outdoors. Other homeowners discovered they want an all-season deck so that they can enjoy the beauty of their surroundings year-round.

The outdoor kitchen or all-season deck extends the living space of the home. A homeowner may find they no longer wish to sell their residence once this feature is installed. It provides them with additional space they want, so they no longer feel they must relocate. While the cost of adding one of these features to a home is high, it pays for itself thanks to the space it adds to the home and the enjoyment the residents get from it.

Nevertheless, not all outdoor features of this type serve as a wise investment. For instance, a parent may install a backyard sports court to give their child a place to practice their favorite sport or activity. When the time comes to sell the home, the pool of potential buyers decreases significantly when this feature is present. In fact, the owner may need help to sell the residence in a reasonable time frame due to the presence of the sports court.

Container Gardens

Add some color to the property with the help of container gardens. Any container works for this purpose, from a wheelbarrow to a pot. Place some containers on the porch or entryway to greet individuals when they arrive home. This can be one of many places you put containers, and they can use them anywhere the property needs color.

Another option involves installing a new flower bed. The flowers add visual interest while brightening up an area where other plants don't grow. Consider both annuals and perennials. Annuals only last one year, possibly two, but cost less than perennials, which return each year. Perennials grow and will fill in the landscape. Speak with the local garden center to learn which plants are best for the climate. Choose natives, if possible, because they require less maintenance. They thrive naturally, as they are specifically suited for the environment.

Large areas covered in concrete detract from the appeal of the property. The concrete absorbs heat, collects water where it pools, and lacks visual appeal. If the property has a large concrete feature, such as a patio, add brightly-colored flowers or plants in containers to break up the expanse. Not only will the containers help to break up the slab, but they also bring color to an area that would otherwise be monotone and boring.

Mulch

Add fresh mulch to the property. While the cost is minimal, the mulch transforms the yard and makes it look like the homeowner spent a great deal on landscaping. Choose a mulch color that complements the home, or select a color that blends with the dominant plant species in the yard. Place the mulch around garden plants and shrubs for a gorgeous look. The mulch reduces evaporation, moderates the temperature of the soil, stops erosion, and blocks weeds. Consider aerating the soil and incorporating organic material to help the mulch hold more water.

No Fruit Trees

Countless people today choose to grow their food when possible. They do so because they want to know what they are putting into their bodies, and they worry about the rising cost of groceries today. Planting fruit trees along with a garden may appear an excellent idea, but they often turn out to be more of a hassle than a help.

These trees require constant pruning, and they attract bugs to the property. In addition, the fruits must be harvested. A good harvest also becomes an issue because the owner must determine what to do with the fruit. Should they can it, share it with others, or allow it to rot? Tending one or more fruit trees requires more time than many people imagine.

This means a person can have a fruit tree on their property if they remain home for many years. However, it would be best if you did not plant an entire orchard. Doing so could make it harder to sell the home in the future, as the new owner may want to avoid the hassle of caring for the trees. If you need to remove a fruit tree on your property, work with Chilliwack Tree Removal to have this task done quickly and efficiently at an affordable price.

An Irrigation System

Lawns need water to thrive. Manually watering a lawn requires time many people find they have in short supply. A fully automated irrigation system ensures this task gets done routinely with little or no input from the homeowner. Buyers love having an irrigation system already in place when they purchase a new residence. These systems have come a long way over the years and now include many features previously unavailable. For example, the system can be equipped with sensors that determine the water levels in the yard and adjust the watering schedule automatically.

Update the Patio Furniture and Decor

If the patio furniture and decor are outdated, remove them before showing the house to potential buyers. They detract from the property's appeal and make it difficult for buyers to envision their items in the space. If you include the furniture and decor in the sale, spruce them up before showing the home. This may be as simple as washing the fabric coverings and painting or staining any wooden areas. When the furniture can only be salvaged by spending large sums of money, like buying new items, removing them may be better before showing the home. The new homeowner can then purchase furniture they love at their own expense.

Don't Overdo It

Visit any garden center, and it is easy to go overboard when purchasing flowers and other items for the yard. Retailers know how to arrange items to offer the most appeal, and you may need help choosing just a few plants or shrubs. However, once you get home with the purchases, you might find what you loved in the store doesn't look great in your landscape plan.

For example, a person may choose to group similar plants or flowers only to be disappointed with the results. At times, it is best to scatter these items throughout the yard, planting them in deliberate patterns. Placing the items in clusters distracts the eye and draws attention away from the residence.

Furthermore, a person must take care when planting seeds. Placing them too close together can interfere with proper root development, as the roots must compete for sunlight, nutrients, and other essentials. When visiting a garden center, choose a few items. Take them home and plant them before reassessing the landscape and determining where additional items are needed and what appears to be lacking.

Professional Landscape Design

Countless men and women love to plant items around their homes. They enjoy working in the dirt and choosing plants for different parts of the yard. However, professional landscape design often pays for itself in the form of a higher asking price when the home sells. It allows the house to stand out from others for sale in the neighborhood. This help comes in many forms.

Some homeowners invest in a software program or app that allows them to design the landscape with input from the program. The homeowner may be asked for their property information, such as house size and location on the property. The program or app makes recommendations based on the information supplied.

If a homeowner wants in-person help, many garden centers today offer assistance with landscape design. They may provide a quick sketch of the property and recommend appropriate plants, trees, and shrubs for the space. A homeowner should consider this option if they feel comfortable taking this advice and choosing items for the yard.

For those who want to leave the work to someone else, a landscape designer can be helpful. They not only prepare a detailed plan for the landscape, but they take on the installation of any plants, shrubs, and trees the owner selects. If trees need to be removed during the implementation of this plan, call Chilliwack Tree Services for help.

Another option involves hiring a certified landscape designer. This individual provides many of the same services a landscape designer offers and additional services, such as top-tier plans. Every homeowner must determine which services they feel will benefit their property most.

Avoid a Highly Personalized, Niche Landscape Design

Although a home should reflect the owner's personality, a quirky, charming landscape detracts potential buyers when the home goes on the market. For example, a homeowner may love gnomes and choose to incorporate these figures in every aspect of the landscape. Before putting the home up for sale, remove most of these decorations. This allows potential buyers to see their items in the space rather than being distracted by your decor. Avoid personal touches when selling the residence. It's okay to leave a few items scattered across the yard, but less is better.

Don't hesitate to call for professional help regarding your landscape. If your trees need attention, look no further than Chilliwack Tree Services. Whether you need tree removal, emergency tree services, or tree trimming, our tree services team is happy to help. All you need to do is ask.

Do you have the time and the talent to trim and prune your plants, shrubs, or trees? Do you want to learn how to take care of your landscape trees and bushes correctly, or would you prefer to hire a well-trained professional to do the job? Trimming and pruning plants and trees to remove diseased, damaged, or dead parts to encourage healthy growth and improve airflow is important. Pruning also helps shape and control plants, shrubs, and trees, making them healthier.

Pruning is a task that must be approached with the appropriate methods and tools during the correct season for each plant. The following tips will help property owners learn how to prune trees, shrubs, and perennials in their yards.

1. Basic Pruning Techniques

When you prune, make the proper cuts so it will not damage the plant.

• It would help if you made the pruning cuts on the branch side of the stem collar that grows outward from the stem at the branch's base. This protects the other branches and stems that might be growing and helps the tree to heal better.
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• To avoid tearing the bark when cutting, use the three-cut method. First, make a small wedge-shaped cut under the branch on the branch side of the stem collar. Then, cut off the branch 6 to 12 inches from this wedge, leaving a stub end. Finally, cut parallel to and only on the branch side of the stem collar as close to the tree trunk as possible.
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• Use the correct tools. Loppers are good for trees, climbing vines, and large shrubs. For big cuts, loppers give better leverage and require less effort. Anvil blades have one sharp blade that crushes and tears off a stem, making it work well for blunt cuts of dead branches and dry, hard, older growth. Bypass trimming models that have sharp blades to sweep past the lower sharpened jaw for precise cuts in new growth.
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• Use the suitable size cutter for the size of the plant. So, use pruning shears for small cuts up to 3/4th inch in diameter, lopping shears for branches up to 1 1/2 inches in diameter, and hand and pole saws for branches up to 4 inches in diameter.
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• For flowering plants, pinch off the spent blooms before trimming, which is called deadheading.
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• Keep the plants from getting overgrown and hard to manage. Pruning should start early and be part of every plant's maintenance.
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2. Spring Pruning Tips

It is essential to prune at the correct times for each plant or tree. Look up the growing information for each tree or plant, and follow the basic rules of thumb.

Flowering shrubs, hedges, and perennials bloom in the spring. Please wait until after they bloom to give the plants the care and pruning they need.

• The past year's perennial plants need an early spring trim to encourage new, healthy growth.
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• Spring is the right time to shape out-of-control plants; last fall should have removed harmful growth.
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• Deadhead spent blooms to encourage a new spring start.
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 3. Summer Pruning Basics

Most pruning is done in the spring and fall, but it may also benefit some plants and trees in the summer.

• Hydrangeas also need pruning. Determine if the hydrangea blooms on old wood in early summer. If this is the case, the blooms may fade by early summer. For larger, more plentiful blooms lasting longer into the summer next year, prune the flowers as they fade.
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• Think about pruning edibles like fruit trees in early summer for healthier, larger fruit. Pruning during the dormant season invigorates the fruit tree, and early summer pruning allows better light penetration and airflow. Doing both dormant season and early summer pruning might yield the best results. The goal should be thinning out a dense canopy in older trees. The tree that needs to be properly pruned and trained will have upright branch angles that lead to limb breakage when there is a heavy fruit load.
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• Only clip a little. Some species will be harmed by summer trimming, which may deter growth. New shots might need more time to mature before the cold weather sets in, leaving them vulnerable to damage.
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• Keep a garden journal to keep track of each tree's needs and pruning schedule. Before spring comes, look up information on care needs for each tree, shrub, and plant in the landscape. Make a schedule showing when each plant or tree needs attention, then mark the tasks as completed.
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• Most trees do not require summer pruning unless water sprouts and suckers are removed from near the trunk or base of the tree.
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4. Fall Pruning Advice

Choose the correct fall pruning projects. Corrective pruning is one task for the fall, and this means removing branches that interfere with the whole landscape, including branches that could cause damage during storms or interfere with other plants.

The second reason to do fall pruning is to remove damaged or diseased limbs. Careful removal can also be used to let in more light and reduce the need for pesticides.

• It would be best if you did fall pruning to improve growing conditions for the following year.
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• Only prune once the leaves have fallen from deciduous trees, as fall cuts heal more slowly, leaving the tree vulnerable to diseases.
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• Prune dead or diseased branches first.
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• Start small with hand pruners and do smaller branches. These small precise cuts will heal faster.
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• Stick to pruning the weaker limbs that winter storms might damage. The branches with narrower angles will be weaker.
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• Prune spring-blooming plants such as rhododendrons, azaleas, maple, birch, dogwood, walnut, and elm trees in the fall.
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5. Winter Pruning Tips

The trees and shrubs can be invigorated by winter pruning. A careful trim can help plants produce more flowers and prevent damage from pests and diseases.

Deciduous trees should be pruned in the winter while they are dormant to encourage more growth in the spring. Trees in their dormant state make it easier to see the branch structure. Fruit trees can be pruned mid-winter to open them up to more light, and it might be safer than in-season pruning.

During winter, pruning concentrate on diseased, dead, or damaged branches. Remove these branches before doing any other pruning.

Trees like birch, dogwood, maple, elm, and other "bleeding trees" will lose sap after winter pruning, but the trees are not harmed.

• A good guide is to trim at most 1/3 of the branches that produce new growth.
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• Trim azalea bushes before new growth shows up. They only require minor trimming of overgrown limbs.
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• Blueberries should be trimmed in the coldest part of the winter. Save the new branches and cut the ones older than three years old to the ground.
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• Butterfly bushes should be cut to ground level in the winter so they can regrow in the spring to bloom.
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• Do a minimum of pruning of crape myrtles in the winter months. They don't need pruning for health, only for looks and shape.
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• Hydrangeas bloom on existing old wood, so limit winter pruning. Different varieties have different needs, so read up on them before pruning.
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• Oak trees should not be pruned in the winter because it will leave them susceptible to Phytophthora ramorum, a disease that will cause them to die.
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6. Trimming Hedges Correctly

Hedges need care in pruning.

• Use hedge trimmers to make your hedges wider at the bottom than the top to allow rain and sun to reach the lower growth.
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• Don't trim hedges straight up and down.
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• Hedges are fast-growing and may need trimming more than once a year. But do this trimming at the correct time, or they might not bloom the following year.
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• Use sharp loppers or hand pruners to remove dead, damaged, or diseased wood.
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• Prune branches that grow inward so the shrub can get more sun and air.
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7. Pruning Perennials Right

Perennials can benefit from careful pruning when dormant and in the season to ensure long life.

• Start by pulling out all loose or dead stems.
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• Use sharp knives or pruning shears to cut older dormant stems close to the base of the plant.
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• Keep the area around perennials clean and free of debris.
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• Add several inches of mulch if needed.
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• Prune carefully, but know that mistakes grow back, so don't worry.
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8. More Advice For Pruning Trees

Take care when pruning trees, and think about safety. Only prune what can be reached safely. Consult an arborist for high-up damage or severely damaged or dead trees.

• When trees are young, protect the main trunk or leader from the competition.
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• When two branches rub against each other, please remove one of them.
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• Remove suckers or side shoots from the base of trees.
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• Prune lower branches to expose more of the tree's trunk.
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• Never top or drastically cut back a tree with a chainsaw.
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• When removing a whole limb, avoid cutting too close to the trunk.
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• If you see a young tree starting to split into two trunks, you decide which of the two to cut away. The remaining trunk will grow stronger.
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If these rules and tips make proper pruning of your landscape trees and plants sound too complicated or time-consuming, consider contacting a tree service company like Chilliwack Tree Services in Chilliwack, BC, to do the work for you. We have the training and knowledge to complete the job correctly the first time, and we offer affordable pricing for tree services, including pruning work.