In the News - August 2008
Healthy landscaping, trees can help sell a home
SEARCY, Ark. - Homeowners are looking for ways to add value and beauty to
their home at a time when the housing market is sluggish can find a solution in
their own back- and front yards, says Sherri Sanders, White County extension
agent with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
A Clemson University study found that landscaping can result in more than a
100 percent return on investment. However, just plunking down new plants
willy-nilly in the yard won't make a positive difference. Mark S. Henry's study
found three factors that affected property values: The quality of the property's
landscaping, the landscaping in the surrounding neighborhood and the landscaping
of the yard next door.
"If you are preparing your home for resale, you should consider a few
relatively inexpensive landscaping measures that enhance property values,"
Sanders said. "There is nothing more unappealing than overgrown shrubbery
directly in front of a house, particularly if foliage blocks a window.
"If the shrubs cannot be salvaged by pruning, for just a few hundred dollars
they can be replaced," she said. "It's worth it because the front foundation
planting is prominent enough to set the tone for an entire house."
Sanders also said shade trees and foundation plantings --shrubs planted to
conceal a building's foundation -- are, along with top quality lawns, the most
sensible investments for suburban homes. For homeowners with less than one-half
acre, or who intend to resell their property within a few years, trees and
shrubs are great investments.
Of all landscaping elements, trees probably add the most to a property's
perceived value, but this is true only when trees are healthy and well
maintained, she said.
"If necessary, hire a professional to whip a neglected lawn into shape and
also remove dead or unsightly branches from large trees," Sanders said. "One of
the easiest improvements homeowners can make on their own is to apply a
decorative mulch to shrub borders, flower beds, and tree borders. A layer of
chips or shredded bark mulch, spread a couple of inches thick, will instantly
add polish to almost any landscape."
For more information visit
http://www.uaex.edu/.
The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the University of Arkansas
Division of Agriculture.
August 8, 2008
Media Contact: Lamar James
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207
ljames@uaex.edu
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