Would a garden that was too nice put you off?

[BigDahliaFan]

Our garden is my pride and joy, but I think it would look hard work to some - it's not particularly big but there are trees, shrubs, perennials etc. Would that put you off buying it? Or would you just think 'I can always pave it over'.

Well planned and established gardens aren’t actually that much work. We have lots of plants, grass and a couple of trees but apart from a bit of pottering it really looks after itself. We have a tiny strip in the front that is way more work in terms of planting, cutting back and watering.

It would depend on the type of buyer, I suppose. Maybe people with a young family would want a large flat patch of grass so that they can put up a trampoline or swing. I would say that an established garden usually goes with the territory especially if your house has been there for a long while so in a general sense I can’t see why that would put people off. I can’t see why anyone would pave over a back garden. Maybe a front garden if they wanted the parking space.

No, I’d like it.

A garden that was very big has put me off in the past but never a garden that was too nice!

Edited to say a garden pond would also put me off as I would think that looks a lot of work to maintain ( rightly or wrongly it would concern me).

It might make me consider the amount of work involved but if I loved the house I’d probably be enthusiastic to learn about plants etc

We bought a house with a huge and beautiful garden a few years back. It also had a koi pond. DS was only 5 and we had a newborn too, so we fenced off most of the garden to keep them safe. In the end we rehomed the fish and filled in the pond 😢. Their pride and joy became a huge football pitch for our boys! But it worked for us, so had to be done.

Mowing a lawn is more work than I'm willing to do, so if I was viewing a house that had fussy flower beds and trimmed shrubs and hedges etc. I'd be factoring in the cost to get it removed or just not bother viewing the house.

I see some houses listed for sale round here where the photos are heavily featuring how massive and hard work the garden is, which is not something that's going to appeal to anyone in full time employment or anyone who doesn't love outdoor manual labour.

We are avid gardeners,you either enjoy it or not
.i always wonder why people who don't like gardening,buy property with them, and let them go to rack and ruin. I think it's amusing a big well done garden looks after it's self. We have 200 ft.. fruit trees,lawns, different areas with arches, seating,50ft veg plot,4 greenhouses, now. DH has just done the spring pruning. Conservatory and kitchen window sills are full of seedlings, one greenhouse has citrus, one bananas and dahlias. One small plants for hanging baskets done at Easter, and tender perennials, a pond. Realistically,there's probably one month, December with nothing to do, garden related.

We are quite keen gardeners. We have 2 large trees, 2 small trees and many shrubs. I do tend to avoid fussy flowerbeds as I’m not keen on weeding between teeny flowers. We also have stuff like bamboo in tubs and other medium size shrubs in tubs and my 2 acers, Japanese maple trees that are my pride and joy. I have a friend who has an amazing garden, put together over 30 years it’s like a Kew Garden in minature. She has around 10 very large acers in giant pots, they are so beautiful. To buy them at that size would be 1k a tree. She also has two huge cordalines.

It wouldn't. I'd be thinking at least I don't have to design a garden and it it is too much work then I can get rid of it.

I would be overjoyed. I'd never buy a house with a paved over garden. Please don't pave it over.
My garden in my last house was the best selling point, everyone who viewed loved it and it sold really quickly.
I think easy maintain paving and fake grass is an absolute crime and terrible for wildlife.

A garden that’s too big or small would put me off, anything else wouldn’t bother me at all.

Well, I agree entirely, but we’re not talking about environmental ethics, but things that might put someone off buying a house. And from this thread alone, it’s clear that some people would be put off.

Personally (as a novice gardener currently trying to make a garden out of a wild, jungly, sloping building site), I’d be delighted with a mature garden with lots of trees and shrubs and sympathetic hard landscaping, but would probably look askance at a garden like our neighbours, which is quite ‘finicky’ and high-maintenance.

No, because as PP said, an established well planned garden just needs a bit of maintenance. It would encourage me to buy tbh. I love having a gorgeous garden, but my god, it’s been hard work getting there. It’s enormous and was just a huge expanse of grass surrounded by some trees when I moved here. Now it’s mostly done, with beds of perennials, more trees, landscaping etc it’s less work to potter round and maintain with each passing year. Yes it’s still a bit of work but not much and plenty of time to enjoy it rather than work on it. So I’d love a house where someone had already done the hard work if I was moving.

We sold our flat and the garden was the selling point (inner London with a 100ft garden being unusual for a flat). It took so much effort to getting it to look as it did and maintaining it was a full time job. But everyone who came said that it looked like an easy garden to maintain 🤷🏻‍♀️

I would imagine the person who bought it is now realising that the assumption was wrong.

I’d be okay with a big garden because I’ve had a big garden but it also isn’t me who would do the maintaining (it would be DP)!

when we first bought our flat and when we sold it. It took about 8 years to get it looking like the second picture. We are in a conservation area and there are so many huge trees surrounding it so we were constantly picking up leaves. (For the purposes of selling)!

I did once view a house where the owner kept pointing out rare and precious plants in their garden and talked about what special care they needed. We did not make an offer!

When we bought our house 4 years ago, it had many hedges and shrubs etc.

Now it has flowerbes, a vegetable patch, and a garden office.

Removing all the hedges really increased the size of the garden (and made all the other plants healthier with more light and not competing for nutrients.

I was really intimidated by the garden that came with my house.
These last two weeks I have started to tend it, and my gods am I enjoying it! Out in the sun, seeing new shoots and flowers everyday!

I didn't think I was a gardener, I can't keep indoor plants alive, but I love it! We'll see how long it lasts 😆

Which one is the second picture? Are you saying you took out all the trees and replaced them with lawn or the other way round?

Not a gardener at all so a large lawn, big trees or a hedge would put me off. Flowers less so as they will either die off or keep growing. I wouldn’t want a pond either.

I have absolutely no intention of paving over my garden! Don't worry. But I was musing as a friend sold her house - the garden was beautiful (not huge but beautiful and featured heavily in the Estate Agent's photos) and was bought by someone who loved it. That buyer has unfortunately moved into a home - and I the new owners are gradually stripping out the garden.

Not at all. I’ve bought a few houses with gardens designed by very keen gardeners and very high maintenance. The first year or so I’ve left it to see what I can cope with, after that tweaks can be made to suit my requirements. Sometimes that’s meant removing things that others would love, but everyone’s garden ends up being adapted to their own personal needs. It was the size of a couple of our previous gardens that were in hindsight a mistake (one just under an acre), I avoided anything too large when we bought this house as I’m a bit older now and did find it hard work, or you have to pay for a gardener which isn’t cheap.

You fall in love with someone else's garden but at the back of your mind is the feeling of possibility ...can this be adapted over time...is there space or even too much space to manage
Over time some aspects niggle - patio in wrong place, rotten fences that need doing etc, a tree blocking light to the room you want to use differently from previous owner. But it's okay because when you bought the house you fell in love with the picture in your mind of how the house was going to work for you, and mostly people like nature and plants. Is there anyone who really wants to stare at a brick wall or a bare fence?

Congested over shady gardens with very little open space would put me off. Too many pots too. A bit like too many ornaments.

A mature and well tended garden would be a massive selling point to me!