Selling a house in the winter - what about the garden

[PogoBaby]

Garden is a mess - one lawn of 12" high grass, other lawn is a mass of grass, weeds, bindweed etc., bed is overgrown with not many actual plants in it and gravel area full of weeds.

Were going to rip it all out and terrace (slight slope) but have now decided to move. What can we do with the garden to get it ready to market in late Octover.

Going to strim and mow the overgrown lawn and weed kill the gravel area ( - I know chemicals are bad but needs must).

Not sure what to do with the bed, could dig it over plant a couple of shrubs (can steal some from mums overcrowded garden) and put bark down - but will that just look horrible and bare. Also the weed filled lawn will never look decent - if I hand weed it, keep strimming it and then mow it regularly once short will I be able to get it looking okay.

It's a 2 bed started home if that makes any difference so not a family garden as such.

Any advice on how to 'stage' a garden in winter gratefully received

Can post pictures tonight if anyone wants a laugh

The good thing is that your weeds won't grow back quite so vigourously as in summer.

Pots with cyclamen would be nice, also we have a couple of lenten roses (hellabores?) that are good too. Plant some stuff like that and you're halfway there.

Thanks pootles - will look into those ideas.

Just have to pray for the bloody rain to stop for more than 2 hours so I can get on with it - why didn't we have this great idea in June!!

well i'd say this.

i'm a keen gardener. The garden was a big consideration for me when looking at houses.
The one we ended up buying has several quite overgrown beds (which we're dealing with), some lawn (full of dandelion and clover) and several fruit trees (neglected). A keen gardener will probably be looking for somewhere with potential. So the fact you haven't got loads of established plants in would (for me at least) be a plus. It's practically a blank canvas for a keen gardener to do their own thing with.

If someone isn't a keen gardner then they'll be looking for low maintenance. Most people are happy to mow a bit of lawn. I'd go with the idea of slinging a couple of established shrubs in, if you have these to hand from your mum. make sure they are pruned and tidy looking. If you're going to put bark down then think about putting membrane under it. It'll suppress any weeds that might want to make an appearance, it'll also make it easier for future tenants to remove the bark if they want to underplant the shrubs.
There is some autumn/winter colour available, and you could sit a few planters on the bark with these in to add a bit of winter colour.

Thank you queenrollo, really helpful comments there.

Pogobaby, if you have any cash to invest into upgrading the garden you will increase the value of the property a great deal. I have no statistics on this, but nowadays the 'outdoor room' is as important as the kitchen in many ways. If you have any money to invest in it I think it will make a big difference, particularly if you have a specific type of buyer in mind.

What type of buyer are you thinking of and what would be your asking price?

sing - thanks for responding As it is we are likely to be staying now as we won't be able to get a 3 bed with the perks of this house (location, garden size, parking, school etc.) in our price range!

Oooh you've got a big garden - you are wise to stay.