| Great Gardens Sell Homes  We have begun to read more and more, in property details and interior magazines the terms Curb or Kerb appeal and 'out door rooms'.
When selling your property, these days, it is not only necessary to pay attention to what's going on within the 'Bricks & Mortar' but also without too.
 The truth is that 'Fashionable Fronts' and 'Beautiful Backs' do help to sell houses ... fast.
It may not add £$1000's to your property's prices but it could help to clinch that sale and in record time.
A good outdoor space has seduction value every bit as strong as an elegant living room or a state of the art kitchen.
So how do you get that all important Seduction Factor? Especially if you're no Allan Titchmarsh or Martha Stewart.
Here are a few ideas to get your gardens and plants blooming and grow your chances of a fast sale.
1. The Front Line
 Make sure that your front is clearly marked out! It is all too common to walk down a street and see front after front of dreary concrete path or paved parking area leading up to unwelcoming bleak front doors.
Do you have a front wall or picket fence? Does it look firm and secure or does it look like the big bad wolf could 'Huff and puff and blow the wall down'?
How about the path or drive gate? Swinging smoothly on the hinges or rusting nicely in the flower-beds?
If you have a communal area do your visitors take 'lucky dip' at guessing your front door? Or is it clearly marked?
Make the introduction to your property boundary clear, inviting and sure.
2. Soft Boarders
 As your potential buyers walk up to your front door get them in the mood to see more.
Though this isn't the first internal impression, it is certainly their first impression.
Make sure that you are setting the scene for a great internal show.
What are you greeting your potential buyers with?
- A cracked rocky path surrounded by empty crisp and sweet packets and last years leaves.
- The recycling boxes, kids buggies and toys and the bike that is gently rusting by that gate.
- A barren wasteland of concrete with just the tumbleweed for show!
If your front resembles the local municipal recycling centre then time to act!
 Give your potential buyers an eye full of colour - simple flowerbeds, planted up pots and troughs and a hanging basket or two. Think like you are entering the 'pretty front gardens competition'.
If you're not great with plants use hardy species like flowering geraniums and ivy. These need very little care and are in flower and leaf virtually the whole year.
For lots more on curb appeal take a look at my article how to get curb appeal.
Lets move to the back of your house
 My by words when Home Staging are 'Fleaxible Living Space' and in the garden this is as true as any internal room.
We live in a climate that has very varying weather from the heat in mid summer to the deep frost of winter.
My ideal outdoor space offers the owner potential use throughout the year.
Summer seating in the far end of the garden under a shaded tree or winter days wrapped up on the deck by the kitchen ... which is a little bit of a sun trap.
Show potential buyers the possibilities of use through out the year... there is a good chance that you will be selling in Autumn or Winter so show them that they could use that valuable asset.
3.Sprucing up the space.
 Clear clutter like empty pots, unused tools and seasonally used items (not in use) bar-b-ques parasols etc.
Put away the rotary washing line and don't hang out your laundry to dry during a viewing.
Sweep up this years and last years leaves and windfall... rotting apples are not at all desireable!
If you grass has become a muddy football pitch rather than a lush lawn then buy and lay some fresh turf or get a gardener in to do it.
Banish weeds, especially those poking through pavers, sets and decks. Once you have weeded your boarders consider using bark chippings to keep those weeds at bay.
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Related articles:
How to grow herbs
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How to get great curb appeal
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4.Intorduce something pretty into the view.
 Group some of your potted plants together to create a pretty focal point as you step into the garden. This can be very successfully done near to a garden bench or seating area.
 Use some fragrant herbs in pots or the boarders - great for colour, year round greenery and appealing to the silent senses... smell.
Plant some honeysuckle up a trellis ... both beautiful to look at and lovely to smell.
Remember that you are trying to appeal to the widest audience possible. Gardens crammed with high maintenance perennials can put people off! ALL THAT UPKEEP!
5. The Art of Concealment & Distraction
 Is there room for a small garden shed? Great for packing away all those garden tools and children's toys.
If you can't get rid of it ... hide it. Plant a fast growing climber up an ugly pipe or structure.
Need to screen out the neighbours ugly handiwork? Top your low fence with a trellis and plant some ivy or other climber to create a soft screen between you and the offending sight. (check who owns the fence first!).
 Noisy road, air-con fan or other distracting sounds? Use a simple water feature near to the back door to help mask the other sounds. A simple wall mounted water pipe falling gently in to a small container below will create a soothing sound screen.
6. Appeal to your potential buyers desires.
 The garden is most definitely an aspirational space for some and essential for others.
To a young family it is the place where the kids can run around and let off steam and give you a bit of piece and quiet.
To others it is where they dream of being on long summer days and bar-b-ques with friends in the evening.
I like to show at least one if not two places to sit and enjoy the garden. Ideally one near the property and the other, if the garden is big enough, at the far end.
Set out an aspirational scene -
In summer use cushions and trays with glasses and a jug of cool drinks. Suggest long lazy days under the shade of the trees.
In the winter group some evergreen plants on the tables and on crisp summer days leave out a wool blanket that suggests an opportunity to tuck up in the cool winter sun and enjoy the garden.
7. Selling is serious business - Ditch The Kitch!
 Gnomes, frogs, pink flamingos, crazy colours and silly wind chimes - they don't appeal to everyone...or even the majority.
 If you went mad with the sky blue paint and fluffy pink clouds, paint it out. Cream or white painted walls are the perfect backdrops for your 'Green Climbers'.
8. Think Vertical - Don't leave a blank space
 If you have a walled garden with some flower boxes or pots on the ground, use the walls.
Add a simple trellis and plant a climbing shrub to add vertical interest to your garden.
Use wall-pots and hanging baskets to create colour and impact at eye level.
9. Leading with light
 In the late summer and autumn what could be more inviting in the half light of the evening than some outdoor light?
Low energy lighting can be quickly installed and add animation to your garden, even if it is only seen from indoors.
The bottom line is - Any space is a valuable asset, inside or out.
Don't over look appealing to those dreams and desires of the potential buyer.
Gardens are spirational spaces, places to have fun, relax, entertain and loose yourself.
Make sure that in the property game you use this powerfull asset to the full.
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