While landscaping isn’t the most important thing you can do to enhance your home’s value, it can surely help someone who is already interested to place an offer, and all things considered, might be the point that gets them to make you an offer on your home instead of someone else.

You wouldn't put your home on the market if plumbing needed work or rooms needed to be painted, and the same goes for your landscaping. Your yard is the first thing that people will notice, so you need to put your best trees and scrubs forward.

Plant a Tree

Trees can do a lot for your home's curb appeal. If the buyer doesn’t like the color of a room or the carpeting, that is easy to change, but you can’t just drop a 30-year-old oak tree in the front yard to provide instant shade, so you need to think long-term as you are considering adding trees to your landscape.

Look for trees that grow well in your region, and especially trees that are native to your area. These will grow well because they are suited to your climate and soil, so you will have fewer problems with pests and diseases, and fertilizing will be easier.

Look for trees that serve more than one function along with trees that will require little or no maintenance.

Trees that provide color and fragrance

There are many trees that will explode with color when they blossom in the spring. What right-minded prospective buyer wouldn’t want a home that comes with color and fragrance? Some varieties that you might want to consider are:

• Cherry
• Crabapple
• Crape Myrtle
• Dogwood
• Frangipane
• Magnolia
• Redbud
• Witch hazel

But blossoms do not last forever. Once leaves have dropped in the fall, wouldn’t it be nice to have trees that have interesting bark to enjoy over the winter? Look at some of the following:

• American Persimmon
• Coral Bark Japanese Maple
• Snow Gum
• Sycamore
• Paperbark Cherry

As you are researching these, don’t forget to look at the color that they might provide in the fall. What could be better than a tree that gives you beautiful blossoms in the spring, shade and beautiful foliage in the summer, and an explosion of color once the weather starts to cool in the fall.

Provide shade

Come summer, and especially those hot, sunny afternoons, what could be better than settling under a nice shade tree for a nap. There are a wide variety of trees that can do the job for you–you just need to find the one that loves your zone and that you find attractive. Consider the following:

• Birch
• Elm (new disease-resistant)
• Linden
• Oak
• Magnolia
• Maple
• Sycamore
• Tulip tree
• Tupelo
• Willow

And don’t overlook fall color because trees don’t stay green forever. Check out some of these:

• Cypress
• Japanese maple
• Sassafras
• Scarlet oak
• Sugar maple
• Sweet gum

Provide fruit or nuts

Fruit and nut trees come in a wide variety of sizes. Most give you wonderful color in the spring with their fragrant blossoms and look beautiful when the fruit is hanging on their branches waiting to be picked. And can you think of anything better than strolling outside and returning minutes later with a basket full of delicious and healthy fruit? Which of these varieties are good for your area:

• Apple
• Cherry
• Grapefruit
• Lemon
• Orange
• Pear
• Peach

And don’t overlook the nut trees that are available. Not only will you love them, but the wildlife in your area will as well:

• Almond 
• Butternut
• Hazelnut
• Hickory
• Pecan
• Walnut

Keep your shrubs healthy & trimmed

Once you have the trees and shrubs planted, you are not finished. You will need to care for them like you would for your house. But if you have chosen the right trees and shrubs, it should not be much of a chore.

When you put your plants in, you will need to know how to fertilize them. Just write down the instructions for fertilizing when you purchase them and store these instructions where you will be able to find them when needed.

Mulch is easy and can add beauty to your yard. You can mulch with grass clippings that you collect when you mow. Just spread them around the base of your trees–this will help to retain moisture and keep the weeds under control, giving you less trimming to do later. Beware though, some trees don’t like to have the mulch right up next to the trunk.

If you prefer, there are a variety of mulches that you can buy by the bag that will add color and contrast to your yard.

Pruning isn’t fun or exciting, but neither is getting a haircut. Most trees like to be pruned in the fall or before growth really starts in the spring. Just follow the instructions for each variety and you will have happy and healthy trees.

You can also use pruning to limit the size of your trees and to shape them to enhance your yard’s curb appeal. Be creative and have some fun with this chore when the time comes.

You need to sweep and vacuum your home, and you also need to do the same with your yard. Leaves fall, blossoms flutter down, so you will need to periodically rake beneath your trees and shrubs to keep the yard neat in appearance. Don’t overlook the fact that whatever you rake up, you can compost and use as mulch in the future.

Create an indoor/outdoor area

“Care to step outside and take a seat on the patio, while I brew coffee?” Who wouldn’t want a patio surrounded by beautiful blooms and lovely foliage to enjoy their morning coffee or an evening glass of wine? 

Many trees, especially fruit trees, have dwarf varieties that you can grow in a pot on your patio. You can even grow many citrus trees in pots in temperate climates–just remember to bring them in when the weather gets frosty.

Think about adding a gazebo surrounded by shrubs, small fruit trees, and climbing plants for a little privacy in your back or side yard.

Lighten up your landscape

Isn’t technology wonderful? With the new LED lights and solar panels, it is easy to add light to draw attention to high points of your landscaping. If you want to highlight something close to your home, it is easy to run power to it, but if you have a focal point you want to show off at night, 100 feet from your house, what do you do?

LED lights draw much less current, and it is easy to find systems that include the lights, battery, and solar panel so you don’t have to bury any wires. These come in a variety of styles and colors, so shop until you find the one that works best for you.

Look around your yard for things that you would like to accentuate:

• Along your sidewalk
• On the borders of your flower beds
• Light posts on each side of your walk or driveway
• Beneath trees that you want to be the yard’s focal point

A little time and money will have them lighted and attractive, adding beauty to your yard at night.

Highlight architectural details

You can also use light to highlight features of your home that you want visitors to notice. It is easy to place lights in the plants and flowers near your front and rear entrances. People will notice them at night when they are on, and they will blend into your landscaping during the day when they are off.

You can use lights also to accent stairs and handrails that lead to your house. The same goes for your pool, patio, and gazebo. Soft lighting only enhances their beauty in the evening after the sun goes down.

There are a lot of things that you can do with your landscaping that are easy to do and inexpensive. They will enhance the value of your home and improve the curb appeal. So take a look around your yard and see what projects you want to embark upon as summer nears. If you aren’t planning on selling your house, you will be able to enjoy all the improvements that you make for years to come.