Historically, almost 50 percent of total home sales occur in the spring and summer months. If you’re planning for a speedy, summer sale, waste no time in getting your house ready for buyers. Try to finish any work on the interior as soon as possible and then concentrate on using landscaping to create curb appeal – after all, we’re talking about first impressions. Not to mention that a lush, glorious garden instantly melts budgets and mesmerizes clients. Even a patio or a balcony in tip-top shape changes the overall perception of things. Let’s see what this year’s trends are going to be.

Using different plant textures to add depth

Do you ever wonder why your garden looks plain even if its full of greenery? This is probably because you are using just one color/size of greenery. You can have a thousand bushes, but if they are all the same length and the same color as your grass, they won’t bring much to the table. Play with the textures and sizes of your herbs to give yourself and your potential buyers something to look at. Tree bark has a completely different texture than grass, and plants with big, dark green leaves create yet another dimension. If your goal is to add some color by playing flowers, make sure you have something blooming at all times. If all of your plants bloom at the same time, you will have the most wonderful garden – for a single month, leaving the other months deprived of color.

Outdoor rooms

This is probably by far the biggest trend that is pouring over into this year. An outdoor kitchen, living room, entertainment room, bar and any other room you can think of will instantly give your yard a luxurious look and score points with buyers. One very popular option is setting up a small living room with a couple of couches and a fireplace in the middle. There are several things to consider when designing this type of a room. First, make sure you protect the furniture against the elements. This includes any lightweight objects that can be carried away or broken by the wind and anything else you wouldn’t like to be left out in a storm. Next, design your room to be functional, not just pretty. Make sure you can imagine at least five scenarios that can regularly happen at that place because there is no use in having a room that just “looks pretty”.

Edible plants get the spotlight

Let’s face it – organic food is expensive. Luckily, there is a somewhat easy solution to this–grow your own food! It can be not only very cost efficient and easy on the eyes, but also healthy and fulfilling. Having salads, carrots and spring onions growing in your garden will both look beautiful and allow you to eat healthy. But it doesn’t end with veggies – Imagine the centerpiece of your garden being an orange or cherry tree. You can place a few chairs underneath for relaxing, and you won’t even have to get up to grab a snack. If you don’t have the space for a full vegetable garden, consider having a herbal garden; it’s ideal for small spaces, since you can fill up even a small balcony with hanging pots and flower boxes and have fresh herbs at hand all the time. This could also have a big impact on anyone who considers your house as their potential home.

An outdoor kitchen, living room, entertainment room, bar and any other room you can think of will instantly give your yard a luxurious look and score points with potential buyers.

Sustainable

One of the biggest trends of the year bears testament to our busy lifestyle. Self-sustaining gardens featuring plants that don’t need a lot of help to survive, grow and look beautiful are taking over the gardening world. If you want to take it a step further, you can buy some animal repellent devices, like the ones from Bird Control Australia. The devices will make sure that you don’t need to go out every morning in fear that some rabbit ate your salads which you were trying so hard to grow. But the sustainability doesn’t end there. Developing a routine that includes recycling your green waste and using it as fertilizer for growing more plants is as important as timed sprinklers. Make sure you have LED lighting and install motion sensors too, so that you are not wasting any electricity.

Having a beautiful garden can take a lot of work, but it doesn’t have to be that way–a little bit of smart planning at the beginning of each year can go a long way when it comes to landscaping. The best advice would be to choose manageable projects, especially if you want to add equity to your home. Grow one type of plant before moving on to more, or you will be left with a ton of unfinished projects, and who wants that?