April Showers Bring May Flowers

I spent the morning in my garden planting for a tour I've agreed to host in May. Five of us were asked to open our gardens to a visiting club from Pasadena, and while I'm happy to do so, between you and me, this is both an unexpected honor, and an awfully BIG CHORE . . . which is why I've been working on the flower beds a little bit at a time.

That being said, gardening is one of the few tasks that pay you back in spades . . .

In fact, the more effort you put into a garden, the greater the rewards. And with the recent rains, my garden couldn't be happier. Each sunrise brings fragrant spring blossoms, reemerging perennials, and new discoveries. As the saying goes, "April showers bring May flowers."

​However, not everyone enjoys getting a little dirt under their nails (my husband, Cliff comes to mind immediately), and that's okay - different strokes for different folks, but when it come to Real Estate, the garden is often the first thing a prospective Buyer sees, so it makes sense (and cents) to give it a fair amount of time and attention. Moreover, gardens provide an excellent ROI (return on investment) unlike temperature-controlled wine cellars which are expensive to install and often hold no value for the next Homeowner. (I get it, you like wine.)

In fact, experts report that good landscape design returns 200-400% of its investment. What's more, an inviting landscape may contribute up to 28% of your home’s overall value. And while it's difficult to compare what the home would have sold for without the garden, I do know that Sarah and I often see surprising results on homes that offer large, lush, GREEN gardens. In short, whether the Buyer has a green thumb or not, Homeowners aspire to the idea of a backyard that will host a barbecue, and give their kids room and space to kick a soccer ball . . . (even if they never do).

That assumes, of course, that you take care of the landscape and nurture it. Sadly, we often plant whole gardens only to find that the new Homeowners have let everything die within the first year. (Don't do that!) Because we live in California where people live outside nearly year-round, our gardens hold special significance. In other words, plant a tree when you move in and watch your garden grow.

There are few things that are more life-affirming than seeing the garden literally spring back to life each Spring!

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