Overview

Landscaping is a good way to add value to your home if you are planning on selling your home--or just want to give your home and the neighborhood a better look. You can increase the value of your home with cosmetic additions--like adding landscape features and plants--but you can also enhance value by removing some landscape features such as a diseased and dying tree or a large evergreen that obscures the view of the house from the street.

Step 1

Add flower beds that hide parts of the yard or building that might be considered unsightly. For example, a flower bed of colorful annuals or low growing perennials along the driveway adds a feeling of elegance to the landscape. A blooming perennial can hide a water hydrant, air conditioner or other utility connection to the house or soften the sharp corners of the house or fence.

Step 2

Mow the yard so it will have a neat appearance and mow every week or two to give the house a continually neat appearance. Edge along the driveways and the flower beds so there is a clean line between the grass and the area you have edged. There should not be grass sprawling into the flower beds or across cement areas. Edge around the trees in a circle 36 inches away from the trunk of any existing trees and clear out all grass and weeds within the circle. Add a 2-inch layer of mulch within the circle to prevent weeds from regrowing and help conserve moisture. Leave a 1-inch gap between the mulch and the tree trunk to prevent mildew from spreading to the tree from the mulch as it decays.

Step 3

Trim trees properly with loppers or a saw so you can see and work around the bottom of the trees and you can see under the trees when looking into the yard from the inside of the house. If a tree is not healthy, consider removing the entire tree. A dead or dying tree continues to decrease the value of the home as long as it is in the landscape. Also, it can fall and damage other parts of the landscape or home and end up costing you more money. Clear grass around the base of all trees in a circle 36 inches away from the trunk of the tree and cover the cleared area with a two-inch layer of mulch. Leave a 1-inch space between the mulch and the bark of the tree so mildew cannot spread to the tree from the mulch. Trim shrubs with pruning shears the proper way. Not all shrubs should be sheared straight across the top and sides. Some shrubs simply need to have the unruly limbs trimmed back to a main branch to give the shrub a natural look. Remove overgrown shrubs that are planted in the wrong place and will not recover from severe pruning. For example, when the wrong type of juniper is planted under the eaves of a house and outgrows its space, it will never produce new growth once it is drastically cut back, so it is a good candidate for removal. Trim during the winter when plants are dormant of possible, but as often as needed to keep a neat appearance.

Step 4

Plant the same type or color of flowering plants in the same area to create visual impact. For example, plant all the same type and color of blooming plants in one area such as the same color of zinnias or snapdragons. You can also plant shrubs with a certain color of foliage behind flowers of similar colors such as a yellow euonymus behind yellow flowering annuals such as marigolds. Mixing colors, textures and plants with different growing requirements in a small garden space creates a confusing and unkempt appearance. For example, mixing broad leafed hostas that thrive in shade and moisture with succulents that prefer sun and dry soil along with different color pansies and dianthus that only grow in cooler weather in full sun will make the garden appear messy.