7 Landscaping Projects That Will Boost The Value Of Your Property
These will make a big impact in how much curb appeal your property has.
There are many ways to increase the value of your Greater Victoria property but the improvements that make the biggest difference are the improvements you make outside your home. Beautiful landscaping can make a great first impression and some Real Estate experts state a well designed landscape can contribute up to 20% of the properties market value.
Below are some of the most common landscaping upgrades for residential properties in Greater Victoria. These landscaping projects have been chosen for their affordability, aesthetics and because they all help improve property value.
#1. Brick, Block and Rock Retaining Walls
Retaining walls are an excellent way to add definition to your property while they also work to prevent erosion if you have a sloped property or yard. There are many ways to incorporate retaining walls into your landscaping plan. Available in a wide variety of materials, from traditional landscaping brick and concrete blocks to composite products and more.
Smaller retaining walls to separate some gardens from your lawn or adding a nook into a sloped property for example can be completed quite easily. If you have a large sloped yard, or want to have multi-tiered retaining walls that will be holding back a lot of soil then the project might require quite a bit of planning and man hours to pull off.
#2. Rock Gardens and Rock Landscaping
Using rock in landscaping features is a big part of our west coast style of landscape design and architecture. You’ll find rock and stone in almost all well designed residential and commercial landscapes. From large boulders, moved into place with excavators to sprawling river rock gardens, pea gravel pathways and water features, rock is a great way to naturally enhance the look of any property.
Rock is surprisingly inexpensive to buy (usually sold by the ton) but it’s very expensive to move and handle! This is why it’s best to find a supplier that is close to the location of your project (if possible). Importing rock from an exotic location doesn’t make much sense with the abundance of rock product available right here anyways and we can point you to the right local suppliers.
The final cost of rock and boulder landscaping projects will depend on many factors such as the size of the rocks or boulders, the type of rock, the slope and grade of your property and any features you’d like to integrate into your landscaping such as water features, plants and more.
#3. Pressure Treated Wood Decks
Pressure treated wood decks are a common addition to many Greater Victoria homes, especially during the spring and summer months. Wood decks made with pressure treated lumber are so common because they are affordable, they look very nice, and they seem to hold out well in our cold, wet weather which is otherwise disastrous to other types of wood without treatment.
If you’re just looking for a simple deck for your averaged size Victoria home then a budget of $3000 – $10,000 is a good ball-park estimate. Decks get more expensive when you begin to raise the deck off the ground (requiring an engineered structure, railings and stairs), or want to have a custom shape or if you have a very un-level property.
Your new deck doesn’t necessarily need to be made from pressure treated lumber either. Decks can also be built out of Cedar, and a variety of composite materials. These materials are more luxurious materials and therefore will always command a higher price.
#4. Outdoor Patios and Cooking Areas
We’ve all probably enjoyed a good BBQ on an outdoor patio somewhere in Victoria during the summer. Experiences like that continually remind us what a beautiful place we live in. We’re certainly blessed with great weather during the spring and summer which makes outdoor patios a definite mention on this list.
Outdoor patios can be constructed with concrete, decorative concrete, paving stones, flagstone and more. Proper planning and preparation, the materials you choose and any extras you’d like such as a cooking area, firepit or arbor will all contribute to the final cost.
A budget of $5000 – $10,000 is pretty reasonable to build a nice outdoor patio on most averaged size Greater Victoria homes. If you have a larger home or property and you have a grandiose vision for your patio then it could easily exceed this budget in materials alone, let alone the labour required to construct it.
Another major contributing factor to the cost of an outdoor patio is the slope and grade of your property. Patios need to be built on level ground and many lots in Greater Victoria are on rocky, uneven ground. A thorough inspection of your property during the estimate will help you give you a better idea.
#5. Lawn Restoration or Replacement
Does your lawn look patchy and neglected? Beautiful, lush, green lawns leave a great first impression and give a very uniform look to your property. When a lawn is too far gone (more than 50% of it) that it can’t really be brought back to a healthy, lush, green state then the best course of action is usually to replace it. The old grass can be stripped off, the ground properly prepared, new top soil spread and then new grass can either be planted or an even more popular option is to install turf or sod.
The beauty of a turf lawn is that you can have a beautiful new lawn in just a matter of days compared to the several weeks and months of waiting for healthy grass to grow from seed. Another benefit to turf is that it’s completely weed free, healthy grass.
#6. Privacy Fencing
Good fences make good neighbours and there are many home and property owners in the Greater Victoria area who opt to have privacy fences built every year. Privacy is an important selling feature that many home buyers are looking for when purchasing a home in Victoria too. With many smaller city lots, and houses being built right next to each other privacy fencing offers a great, affordable solution if you can’t afford to buy that big acreage in the country just yet.
Decorative privacy fences made with wood (often cedar) can be a beautiful enhancement to any property while offering a level of privacy that you simply can’t find with metal and wire fencing systems. The length, height and materials your fence are constructed with will affect the cost.
Wood fences will also need to be painted or stained, which can add another additional expense to your new privacy fence. $4000 – $10,000 is a realistic budget to build a privacy fence in an average sized backyard on a Victoria property. The exact cost will vary from property to property.
#7. Planting Trees, Shrubs or Hedges
Did you know that healthy, mature and well placed trees on your property can increase a homes value by $1000 – $10,000 per tree? Trees benefit your property in many ways including providing shelter, privacy, aesthetic appeal and even fruit! When planting trees it’s important to think about irrigation if you want them to be healthy and grow into mature trees.
Trees can be expensive to buy, depending on species and size and they require special attention when planting. You want to make sure you’ve chosen the best location on your property so the trees will offer the most benefit when they are mature. Spacing is critically important too, you want to make sure you envision the trees in 10-20 years time, as they will look drastically different.
From flanking either side of your driveway with trees (a tradition dating back to roman times) to strategically placing trees around your property to get that “park like” setting there are many different ways to integrates trees and shrubs into your landscaping.
It’s best to have a landscaping contractor come and take a look at your property so they can offer suggestions that will work for your particular lot.
#7. Gazebos and Pergolas
What good is a beautifully landscaped backyard if you don’t have somewhere to sit and enjoy it? Gazebos and pergolas offer a relaxing outdoor space and can easily be integrated into any landscape plan. You can buy Gazebos and Pergolas as kits from building supply stores and then build it yourself (a nightmare) or you can have them custom built to suit your style and the dimensions of your chosen space.
For a one-of-a-kind hand crafted Gazebo the costs can run easily over the $5000 mark depending on how intricate and how large the Gazebo is but you’ll have something that is solid, and well built by a local craftsman.
Receive an Estimate For These Landscaping Services
Would you like to receive an estimate to complete one of the above landscaping projects on your Greater Victoria property?
Island Pro Mowing and Landscaping Inc. is a full service lawn care and landscaping contractor based on the Saanich Peninsula. We specialize in the design and construction of beautiful landscapes for both commercial and residential properties.
Give us a call or fill out one of our online forms and someone will get back to you right away to schedule a date and time for your initial consultation and estimate.
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