Your Neighbors in Your HOA Won’t Mind, Either
One of the most obvious benefits of living in an HOA community is that it helps preserve property value in the neighborhood. Most HOAs enforce appearance guidelines through the HOA Management Company for homes and community areas, which means that in most scenarios, your neighborhood stays looking well-kept and inviting for residents and guests.
Related: 7 Mistakes New HOA Board Members Should Avoid
But even in an HOA community, homeowners still have some control over how they maintain the exterior of their home and property. It’s safe to say that most homeowners—whether they want to sell their home in the near future or plan on staying for years to come—want to keep it looking at its best. Landscaping plays a big part in that. We’ve put together a list of 5 simple ways you can boost your home’s value with landscaping improvements. And in the meantime, you’ll improve the appearance of your neighborhood, too!
- Add Potted Plants
What better way to add some color and variety to the exterior of your home than with potted plants? Outdoor planters are great because they are mobile and fairly easy to care for. Add potted plants to your porch, driveway, or other walkways (in accordance with any HOA policies, of course) where company enters your home. Planters don’t have to break the bank, either! Save money by opting for resin planters instead of concrete or ceramic planters. Or, you can even upcycle planters from second-hand stores with the help of some spray paint.
- Make Your Porch Inviting
Depending on what your HOA allows, consider adding an inviting door mat, tasteful door wreath, or even chairs or swings with comfortable, colorful cushions. Everyone in the neighborhood loves to see a porch that seems to say “welcome home” rather than “stay away!”
- Add Lighting
Landscape lighting can take the appearance of your yard to a whole new level. There are a whole host of options for outdoor lighting depending on what your HOA bylaws allow for and what fits in with your budget. A well-lit yard is also an effective security feature! If hard-wired landscape lighting isn’t the best fit for your yard or budget, you could even consider solar-powered accent lighting placed around specific landscape features or paths. These types of solar landscape lighting kits can be found at almost any big box store and are a more affordable way to add accent lighting to your yard.
- Plant Shrubs and Trees
A few shrubs and trees can go a long way in making your front yard look lush and inviting. This can also be a good way to add privacy to your home and property. Adding vegetation to your yard doesn’t always have to mean extensive maintenance, either. There are plenty of options out there for trees and shrubs that look great without requiring much TLC. Be sure to check the HOA guidelines about any varieties that aren’t allowed before you make your purchase and especially before you plant your new shrubs or trees.
- Add Fresh Mulch
If your yard has planting areas not maintained by the HOA, adding a fresh layer of mulch can do wonders for turning a tired, dull yard and into one that looks inviting and well-manicured. New mulch is fairly inexpensive which means you’ll get bang for your buck with this landscape improvement. Plus, there are a variety of shades and textures you can choose from to best fit the style of your home.
Adding even just one of these elements to your yard can take the look of your property from average to impressive. You’ll get the satisfaction of taking pride in your home while knowing you’ve done your part to keep its value as high as possible. If cared for, your HOA Management company will breeze by your yard on compliance visits. And who knows, you might inspire your neighbors to do the same!
Focusing on renovating your staircase can also increase your properties value by thousands! This is a very good article. Thank you for sharing.
I really like your tip for planting scrubs and trees. That seems like a great way to give you home a little something extra. We are going to be doing out landscaping in the next few months so we will have to keep these tips in mind. We are really excited to get the project started so hopefully, it turns out how we hope it will!
Hi Danni
Glad you liked the post and it was helpful. All the best in your landscaping projects!
Cheers
I agree that planting shrubs and trees in your yard makes it look more inviting, as long as your HOA approves of it. And as long as you take care of whatever you decide to plant in your yard to spruce it, should help the value of your home. If your trees and shrubs are neglected it will devalue your home.
I Completely agree that lighting can take the appearance of your yard to a hole new level. We own a landscaping company in Arizona and the lighting combined with simple tweaks to a patio or porch can make all the difference in the world to your yards appearance. Thanks for sharing
I would like to get my landscaping looking quite a bit better. I want to see if pots will help out. I want to make sure that they all work out for the best.
Thank you for these tremendous tips. My garden has been looking rather stale lately, and I was wondering what I should do. You wrote that a layer of mulch can really give new life to your yard and garden. I’ll have to find some good mulch, and perhaps fertilizer that I could ad, so that my yard can really look fresh again.
Great tips, thanks for sharing it! I will definitely consider your tips for my garden!
Thank you for these awesome ideas! I have been needing some fresh ideas to bring to my customers! : )
I really like your fourth tip about planting shrubs and trees since they can be a great way to add privacy to your home. That is something that we will have to keep in mind since we are going to be redoing our landscaping in the next few months. We also want to add shade to our yard since our kids love to play outside. We will have to talk with the landscaper about the best trees and shrubs that are the best for our yard and our area. Thank you for sharing!
If there’s no lighting or a fire in the backyard, the party is over! We always recommend some type of lighting aside from what comes off the house in our landscape designs and I can’t say any customer has been upset thus far!
Great tips, thanks for sharing! Some other inexpensive ideas that can really transform a garden is attention to the edges. Adding some trellising which you can have some colourful climbing roses or clematis, or apply a fresh lick of paint to worn fences.
Adding fresh mulch helps liven up the front yard. And, especially good lighting. I love looking at homes that have beautiful lighting in the front of their homes.
I appreciated that you mentioned to make the porch inviting, and that having a mat or even chairs and a swing can really help. As far as I now, consider making your porch look like something you want to come home to. Chances are, what you want to see is what others want to see as well.
My wife and I are thinking about doing some landscaping for our home but aren’t sure where to start. I like that you mention adding lighting, not only for aesthetics but because it can increase security too. We’ll have to see what kind of lamp posts would work in the yard. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the 5 landscaping tips to increase the value of your home. I definitely like the idea to add shrubs and trees to the lawn. Providing shade and a little privacy helps make the place a little more inviting.
I think you’re right that shrubs and trees can make a yard look lush and inviting. I’ll have to look into getting a few trees planted in my backyard. I’m planning on putting my house on the market later on this year, so it’s helpful to know what will increase its value.
I like the idea of adding privacy to my home. I wouldn’t mind planting a few trees to add a sort of barrier. Thanks for the tip! Do you have any tips for finding a professional who could help me out with that, like a landscaper?
I found it interesting when you said that potted plants are a great way to add some color and variety to the exterior of your home. We just moved to a new house, and we’re thinking about how we can add life to our garden. I’ll inquire to a landscaping contractor about the best options for our lawn and if he can recommend the types of plants we should put on our yard.
You are right a well-lit yard is also an effective Security feature. A criminal cannot approach your home as easily and has fewer hiding spots in the landscaping with a well-lit exterior. Illuminating entrance points, like doors and windows, with lights makes it difficult for a potential burglar to break in unnoticed. When choosing where to place landscape lighting for security, consider the darkest areas of the yard and the places near the home where a burglar could enter.
Amazing article!
We just launched our landscaping company, and this is one process people tend to think are too large an investment to make a difference in their home sale. The tips you give are not only quick fixes but very low budget. I have a few clients who will benefit from these ideas instantly. Not something many people take into consideration, but all great tips.
Thanks a ton!
Great tips with great post. I agree with you that you have suggesting about. Thank you for the post it is really very Informative and helpful for us.
That’s an awesome point that a well-lit yard is a great security feature for a home because it will keep burglars away. We are trying to update the lighting in our yard, and the biggest thing we were considering was going with more or less lighting. I can see from what you said that more lighting is definitely better because it will protect our property. I’ll have to tell my husband this so that we’re ready by the time we hire a landscaper.
I never knew that new mulch is fairly inexpensive! That would be a great thing for our yard because our plants are all drooping and ready to die. It’s about to be fall time, but maybe I should put some mulch on the flowerbeds so that the plants don’t completely die before winter. We’ll have to call a few good landscaping companies to see if any could give us a good deal on mulch in the next few weeks.
Really nice tips about Landscaping. Thanks for sharing this article.
Thanks for the information
Very nice list. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post about landscaping. So much to learned in this site. Great work.
I personally like planting trees to improve the curb appeal of your home. It also helps to shade and reduce the warmth around your house especially during summer. Great blog by the way and thanks for sharing these landscaping tips.
Great article and a very informative tips about landscaping.
Thank you for sharing it!
Thanks for the tips. We also recommend checking your sprinkler system for regular maintenance. Great lawns start with great sprinklers.
You made a good point when you explained that a well-lit yard is a good way to add security to your yard. My wife and I want to install a new concrete path in our backyard that leads around our house. We also want to install some lanterns along this path. I think it would be a good idea for us to hire a professional landscaper to handle this for us.