The Best Time to Renovate Your Landscape

Co-founder of Columbine Design and award-winning container designer Annie Huston says, “Any time is the right time to add to your landscape when you’ve been coveting a water feature, an outdoor kitchen or your own Monet garden (green bridge included).”

But when it comes to full-scope landscaping projects that require time, money, energy and creativity, many homeowners question as to when is the best time to invest in a landscape renovation.

According to Money Magazine, landscaping projects have a return on investment of 100% to 200% when they yield quality results that harmonize well with surrounding foliage and landscapes. Similarly, a study by the American Nursery and Landscape Association revealed that thoughtful landscapes can increase home values by 7 to 14% and can decrease number of weeks on the market by up to 6 weeks.

As you can see, landscape renovations play a major role in maintaining or increasing home value. Professional landscapers advise those homeowners – even those not planning to sell – to upgrade gardens at least every 15 years, but necessary upgrades may also depend based on particular plants.

The best way to extend the life of landscapes and keep them from looking tired and old is to periodically clean them. For a thorough job that will leave landscapes squeaky clean and sparkling, we recommend the following:

• Weeding
• Cutting back perennials
• Pruning overgrown shrubs and trees
• Burying irrigation pipes
• Adding fresh layers of mulch
• Changing light bulbs
• Redefining bed lines
• Fertilizing all plants
• Removing any dead or dying plants
• Scrubbing and scraping outdoor kitchen surfaces
• Pressure washing water features and hardscapes