Looking after the garden can be expensive – but is it money well spent?
Following their success at the Chelsea Flower show earlier this year Homebase announced the true value of British gardens. Can you believe that in the UK we spend some £20 billion on on our gardens each year?
The Homebase survey found that last year the an average garden had an investment of £1,790, so overall that is a total of £80 billion pounds spent on furniture, water features, ornaments and plants in the last 12 months.
This investment is however paying back dividends as property prices reflect the condition of the garden and many keen gardeners have found that their efforts in the garden have paid off in terms of return on property value. Many property purchasers will not consider buying a house that has a garden that needs ‘too much work’.
House hunters are also suckers for traditional English Country Flowers, with the rose still being the most popular flower to have in a garden. This is the round up of the survey’s favourite flowers for house hunters:
TOP 10 BLOOMS
Rose
Lavender
Fuchsia
Tulip
Sweet pea
Lily
Jasmine
Geranium
Hydrangea
Sunflower
People buying houses still want to see a lawn despite all the fuss about building decks and and patios. So if you can’t be bothered with all that mowing, to make sure you have a well maintained lawn why not see if you can employ a man with a mower like the chap in our photo?
If you are thinking of making some improvements to your garden this year here are the top ten items that house-hunters like to see in a garden according to the survey.
TOP 10 MOST WANTED – IN THE GARDEN
Grass/lawn
Trees
Plants
Flowers
Shed
Hedges
Wildlife
Vegetable patch
Pond
Garden furniture
Sadly Garden Gnomes have not made a comeback in the popularity stakes even though they were allowed a hall pass for Chelsea this year. They are still spurned by house hunters, so if you like gnomes in your garden you might have to lure them into the shed during viewings!
If this beautiful weather is tempting you outside why not check out our Gardening Section for loads of Gardening Ideas and Projects?
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