As a professional landscaper, you are the go-to guy or gal, whenever property owners need to revamp the curb appeal of their properties.
They come to you confident that you will solve their landscaping needs. Local rental owners are always looking to renovate their properties to attract new tenants but they still care to profit. You, therefore, need to have novel yet practical decoration ideas to not only impress your clients but also ensure that you remain competitive in the market.
If lately you have been struggling to come up with exciting concepts for enhancing your customer’s curb appeal, here are a few ideas to get you back on top of your game.
Introduce outdoor lighting
People’s busy lifestyles have transformed to the extent that most renters prefer to go house hunting in the evenings. Make it easier for your clients to showcase their units to potential tenants or buyers, by lighting up their property.
Fortunately, you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to the various landscaping lighting ideas at your disposal. These options include downlights to create a striking moonlit effect, up lights to illuminate the pathways, or cross-lighting to enhance the aesthetic features of the landscape, devoid of unsightly shadows.
Besides aiding the property in remaining visible even after dusk, outdoor lighting also makes the place safe, secure, inviting and friendly, much to the delight of both your client and their guests.
Edge the paths
An ingenious way of making your customer’s curb neat and clean is to demarcate high-traffic areas. For example, you could install borders along the driveway and the walkways, using easy-to-find, conventional edging materials like stones, pavers, flagstones, and bricks.
However, instead of just selecting one item, showcase your landscaping prowess by combining a variety of edging materials, to create colorful, texture-rich, beautiful designs, guaranteed to transform the rather mundane yard into an elegant, welcoming open space.
Revamp the mailbox
Many property owners spend too much time and resources upgrading their units to make them habitable and market-friendly, but for one unclear reason, they always seem to neglect the mailbox.
Ironically, the mailbox is one of the first features that guests on the property encounter. Imagine visiting an advertised rental property only to find that it has a rusty mailbox mounted on an unstable leaning-to-the side post. Naturally, you couldn’t help but wonder what else in the house is outmoded.
Help your client make a good first impression to the prospecting visitors by giving his or her mailbox a much-needed facelift. You could repaint the box and replace the post with a new sturdy one, or you could opt for the more durable stone or brick columns, to complement the house’s style.
Add flowers
One of the best landscaping ideas for revamping any property is flowers. Still, you must make sure you select the right type of flowers that accentuates the mood and theme of the property, and whose maintenance is relatively easy.
It makes no sense to grow beautiful flowers whose sustenance will prove a challenge. Go for perennials that do well in your client’s area. A simple phone call or a visit to the local nursery should be enough to inform you what type of flowers are ideal.
Moreover, instead of just sticking with the tradition of growing flowers in front of the house, and along sidewalks, consider bolder options like growing them on raised garden beds, in flower boxes, berms, and on hanging baskets.
Establish a berm
If your client has a relatively flat and uninterrupted lawn, you could build a berm to breathe some life and excitement into it.
Berms are a convenient way of adding color to the property by using trees, plants, stones, or even mulch. The fun thing about them is that they have soft and curving edges, making it possible for you to come up with interesting, innovative shapes and designs.
The flexibility also makes it viable for you to add aesthetic improvements without making any significant structural changes to the property. Such a possibility is a much-welcomed idea, especially when working with a client who prefers minimum changes in their garden.
Conceal the dead spots
Even though plants are an effective solution for enhancing a property’s curb appeal, sometimes they can just do the opposite. Robust trees are a perfect example.
They deny the area around their base water and essential nutrients, causing those areas to have ugly dead spots. When faced with such a challenge, the initial reaction for most novice landscapers is to try and restore the grass.
That, however, is fighting a losing battle. Instead of wasting precious time and energy, be creative and work with nature. For instance, look for flowers that can thrive in such a shaded setting and plant them around the base of the trees. Alternatively, you could cover the dead spots with mulch to help the yard look healthy and appealing to the eye.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was written by Alexander Huxley. Huxley is with Costello Realty & Management, a local property management and realty company located in Las Vegas, Nevada.