10 Lawn Care Tips to Add Curb Appeal
When you’re trying to sell a house, it’s pretty important that you put yourself in the buyers’ shoes and think about the details they’re likely to scrutinize.
Any good realtor will reinforce the fact over and over again; curb appeal is a huge factor in selling any property. There’s a number of lawn care tips you can use to make your property all the more attractive when viewed from the street, which will add value to the home and help you sell faster.
Master the Art of Mowing
If you’re keen to add value to your home, keeping your lawn manicured at all times is the first step. It’s not just about mowing – you’ve got to mow the right way if you want your grass to crank up the curb appeal.
For a luscious lawn, make sure you mow when the lawn is dry, change up the patterns, and only cut about one third of the grass at a time.
Give Your Lawn A Breath of Fresh Air
If you haven’t already done it, it’s recommended to perform a core aeration at least once a year. Core aeration is the process of mechanically removing small cores of soil from the lawn using an aeration machine, which stimulates growth, reduces soil compaction and reduces weed, insect and disease infestations.
Spring and Fall are optimal times to aerate your lawn, so try and have that sorted out before you’re ready to sell.
Water Well In Advance
Even a novice knows that proper watering techniques are essential to a thick, healthy lawn.
But as the old saying goes, good things take time. Make sure you get a good watering routine going well before you put your house on the market. Check out our Lawn Watering eBook to brush up on your technique sooner rather than later.
Fertilize, Fertilize, Fertilize!
Again, fertilizing is something you need to figure out in advance. A balanced, custom fertilizer program is one of the most crucial considerations to make before putting your property on the market.
Before you invest in fertilizer, find out the soil pH so you know what you’re working with. You can buy a testing kit and do it yourself, or you can speak to a lawn care company who’ll check your soil and design a custom fertilizer program based on what your lawn needs to flourish.
Don’t Forget The Edges
When prospective buyers come to peruse your home, they’ll likely park up on the driveway and begin appraising from there. So, it’s important to make sure your sidewalk and driveway are up to standard.
Use a string trimmer to tidy up the edges of your lawn for a neat transition.
Inspect For Insects
Get your eyes down to soil level and see if you can spot any creepy crawlies in your lawn.
Insects such as white grubs feed on the roots, but more often than not, the worst damage comes from other creatures. Raccoons, birds and skunks feed on the insects found in your soil, so monitor early before you find yourself with irreparable damage during home opens.
Frame Your Lawn
Beautify your front yard and ramp up the curb appeal by framing your lawn. This will draw attention to the grass and help soften up the edges.
You could frame it with flowerbeds, hedges, stone, or maybe a few sculptures – adding attractive accents will help increase the perceived value of your property and give homebuyers a warm and fuzzy feeling about their potential new home.
Prune Your Shrubs & Hedges
While you’re giving your lawn some love, keep an eye on your trees, shrubs, hedges and other landscaping.
There’s nothing worse than an untidy feature overpowering your landscape, so make sure to take a step back and decide how you want it to look before you go ahead and remove any unwanted branches or foliage.
Watch Out For Weeds
A prospective home buyer will subconsciously pick up on the smallest of details, so don’t forget the little things. A single dandelion could be spotted from all the way down the street, so keep a watchful eye on weeds.
Spot treatments can tame the odd broadleaf weed, but a weed control program catered to your lawn’s needs is the best defense against uninvited guests.
Add a Splash of Colour
Now that the lawn is gorgeous and green, you need to make sure it’s seen!
Adding touches of vibrant colours around the front yard can direct attention to how great your lawn is looking and help add value to your property. Paint the door bright red, jazz up your mailbox, add colourful decorative pieces or get festive with flowers – all of these things will help accentuate the hard work you’ve put into your lawn and draw the eye to it.
If It’s Too Far Gone… Renovate
Sometimes, there’s just no going back. If you feel there’s just too much work to do to get your lawn looking lush, perhaps you need a complete overhaul.
Speak to a lawn care expert about renovating your lawn – we can remove the old sod, truck in new soil or compost, and then seed, fertilize and topdress the lawn to get it looking terrific and add value to a home before it goes up for sale.
Contributed by: Brent Szotak, Expert landscaper and yard maintenance professional at