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Street view of front garden in Burwood garden design by Inspiring Landscape Solutions

Adding Value to your Property with Landscaping

August 31, 2017
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Landscape Design, Maintenance
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Posted by Parveen

Motivation

Adding value to your property with effective landscaping is easy to achieve if you follow a few simple rules. Whether it is your home or an investment property, adding value will be a key consideration when looking to design the garden and construct it. The main elements when adding value are aesthetics, budget and low maintenance.

Questions to ask yourself – aesthetics

When looking at how to design or renovate your garden you will need to consider what elements the garden needs – A seating area?  A lawn?  Low maintenance plants?  Storage areas?

The golden rule – low maintenance!

As a rule of thumb when looking to renovate for sale and in adding value you want to create a low maintenance garden. People want easy care, they generally don’t want to be spending their entire weekend in the garden in their free time! Low maintenance gardens will appeal to buyers and renters alike, increasing the value of your property.

How do I design a low maintenance garden area?  Here are a few landscape design secrets to achieving a satisfying and successful garden design:

Practicality

A practical garden design for a property needs to be thought out carefully.

Here are a few landscape design tricks and tips – Firstly what practical functions do you need your house and garden to achieve?  A seating area, lawn for the kids to play on, a vegetable patch or a chicken coop.

These practical areas need to be designed around so that the garden seamless flows between the various utilitarian areas, keeping in mind the aesthetics of the garden.  A practical low maintenance garden need not be an ugly garden!

Plant for impact

Use hardy, colourful foliage plants for year round appeal.  Plant your plants in groupings to add impact. Over planting narrow garden beds adds depth to the perimeters of the garden, making the boundaries feel further away and the garden space seem larger.

Decking v Paving

A seating/dining area is essential in the garden these days.  Pavers will require less maintenance than a deck, so consider that as an alternative for a seating area. All these elements can be easily achieved by a DIY gardener, with careful research and planning.

Garden style or feel

The framework of your garden is entirely up to you – whether formal or informal.  A garden design that is open and free form style may have the same maintenance regime as a formal garden depending on the elements that you use/put in.   Remember that rigid straight lines and formal hedges do require some upkeep to maintain that look so to reduce that impact, use slow growing hedge plants to work within that.

A paved courtyard can be warm and inviting if planted out with plenty of foliage. Add contrasting clumps of foliage to create interest and excitement to the planting design such as lush foliage boundary screening plants eg murrayas and viburnum and plant in front of these colourful ornamental grasses such as fountain grass or colourful flaxes.

Winding, flowing pathways also add a sense of intrigue to any garden.

To turf or not to turf, that is the question!

Decide if you even need a lawn at all.  Remember that the choice of grass drives the water usage so be comfortable with the practicality of your choice and if you have dogs/kids/shade, you need to factor that in.

Water features – do you need it?

Water features tend to require ongoing maintenance, so avoid using these in a low maintenance garden. Bird baths, are however, easier to maintain as you may only need to flush out any build up of leaves etc once in a while.

Follow these simple landscaping tips and you can help increase your property value, make a property easier to sell, or increase your rent.

Some tips for low maintenance plants

Do not skimp on this aspect as plants make or break your garden.  All low maintenance gardens are at their best when planted with a full display of garden plants set out in layers including small trees, shrubs, perennials and ground covers, including the following low maintenance plants:

Feature trees – Crepe Myrtle, Cercis

Hedging species – Box hedge, Viburnum, Coastal Rosemary, Lilly pillys, Camelias

Climbers – Star Jasmine, Ivy

Fruit trees – Citrus for evergreen, Stone fruits (deciduous)

Grasses – Fountain Grass, Native Grasses, Flaxes

General shrubs – Murraya, Camelias, Liriopes

Groundcovers – Ajuga, Mondo Grass

Perennials of choice

Bulbs of choice

Herbs

 

If you like what we do and are needing help in designing your garden, please contact us for an onsite 90 minute consultation.  We charge $220.00 for the visit and can subsequently quote on project managing the entire transformation for you within your budget.

If you like some additional reading try our articles on design for DYI clients, rock mulch and how to create your perfect outdoor space.

Our passion, your garden

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ilandscapesolns

⁠⁠ I love black and white - its classic and cr ⁠⁠
I love black and white - its classic and creates a sense of drama.⁠⁠
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I could have easily taken this picture full of colour and the story being narrated will be different.⁠⁠
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Here, by omitting the colours, you focus on shapes and textures and create an intrigue of what elements are being used in the design. ⁠⁠
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What do you see when you look at the picture? ⁠⁠
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Do tell if you recognise the plants! 💚
Artfully distressed or rusted iron and steel offer Artfully distressed or rusted iron and steel offer a rustic charm, while metals such as bronze or copper can add a glamorous touch to an outdoor area.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Here is a recent picture of our Glen Waverley project completed in 2015 using custom corten steel panels which double up as a lightbox.💚
Wherever life plants you, bloom with grace.⁠⁠ Wherever life plants you, bloom with grace.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
A French proverb which is quite well known. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
It sounds simple, but carries a lot of meaning. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
No matter where you are settled, there is always that bit of fear within you of the what ifs and the unknown in the windy road that is life. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Wherever you feel called, know that there is beauty in being rooted. There is beauty in accepting where you are – even if it’s only for a season. There is even more beauty when you learn to thrive. 💚
"Art" ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ the expression or application "Art" ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.⁠⁠
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Art is of course is open to interpretation.⁠⁠
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I loved this creation so I thought I'd finally share it as it gave such joy both to my youngest and I when we spotted it on a way back from a client's.⁠⁠
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This was when lockdown was finally eased up in Melbourne in November 2020 and we could travel beyond the 5kms restriction. ⁠⁠
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Very thankful to the person or family that created this! 💚
Why not create a vege nook in an unused corner in Why not create a vege nook in an unused corner in your garden?⁠⁠
⁠⁠
In creates a win-win situation all round.  Bountiful healthy, organic harvest to be shared with family and friends and has made use of a neglected space!⁠⁠
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As you can see from the picture you can make use of both built in garden beds or simply use portable pots to boost your harvest! ⁠⁠
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Bundoora project completed in 2015!  Still creating bounty for my lovely clients! 💚
What are the benefits of pathway lights?⁠⁠ ⁠ What are the benefits of pathway lights?⁠⁠
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In addition to leading the way in the dark, pathway lights offer other benefits, including:⁠⁠
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💡Home security.⁠⁠
💡Protection of path border plants from being trampled on.⁠⁠
💡Marking path boundaries.⁠⁠
💡Highlighting your favourite  low garden plants.⁠⁠
💡Added curb appeal.⁠⁠
💡Ambient lighting for garden entertaining.⁠⁠
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💚
A different view of the humble fig? ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ A different view of the humble fig? ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Or as my close friends will say, my overactive imagination!!⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Love this shot of their fan shaped leaves as they remind me of an Indian dancer spinning around!⁠⁠
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What do you see in your garden using your imagination? 💚
Food Forest Gardens ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ "Forest gardenin Food Forest Gardens ⁠⁠
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"Forest gardening is a low-maintenance, sustainable, plant-based food production and agroforestry system based on woodland ecosystems, incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables which have yields directly useful to humans. Making use of companion planting, these can be intermixed to grow in a succession of layers to build a woodland habitat." From Wikipedia⁠⁠
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A little bit of a mouthful but essentially the idea is to provide good, healthy food from your own garden to the table for you to enjoy and by those you love!⁠⁠
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This is the idea behind this compact front yard designed for our clients in Glen Huntly constructed in December 2020!⁠⁠
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Moving on their backyard sunken garden soon! 💚
Flowers are evidence enough that the rain will end Flowers are evidence enough that the rain will end, the clouds will part, and spring will always come, no matter the difficult winter that precedes it.⁠⁠
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There is beauty when you learn to thrive. ⁠⁠
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To accept the challenges that are thrown at you and to convert them into opportunities to learn from!⁠⁠
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Look out to your garden and take the positivity within! 💚
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contact +614 0332 9128

contact@inspiringlandscapes.com.au

 
Adding value through landscaping - general principles