First impressions count when trying to sell your home. We all like to get outside and enjoy a sunny summer afternoon, so it is important to ensure your garden looks appealing for a potential buyer. Johnsons Lawn Seed, the UK’s leading grass seed brand, has offered simple tips to follow to make your outdoor space add value to your property.
A survey by the National Association of Estate Agents revealed that a well-maintained garden can boost the value of a house by up to 5-10%. Kerb appeal is one of the most important elements for property value and home sales. Proper lawn care creates impact where it counts; the front garden will present the all-important first impression of the house and will be the first thing a potential buyer sees so it is vital that it is neat and tidy. One of the most impactful ways to increase the look of a lawn is to make sure it is green and well cared for. With these easy tips it couldn’t be easier to achieve a luscious lawn that will provide real kerb appeal.
Choose the right seed
Choosing the right seed for the right garden conditions is important. If your garden suffers from regular wear and tear from children and pets, then harder wearing grasses are better able to tolerate such heavy use. If you require a lawn to withstand this kind of ‘stress’, selecting a mixture that includes perennial ryegrass is advisable as this is the most tolerant species available. Johnsons Tuffgrass provides good green cover and weed control whilst withstanding substantial wear and tear.
Johnsons Shady Place is suitable for those areas in the garden that may be cast into shadow by trees or walls and fences, and is also drought tolerant and will maintain its lush green appearance and colour in dry conditions. Johnsons Quick Lawn is also a good old rounder, combining very fine leaved amenity ryegrass and high quality red fescue offering tolerance to wear, close mowing and wet or dry shaded areas. It also utilises a special seed dressing called ‘Gromax’ to encourage quicker and more hardwearing lawns and is child and pet friendly.
If stress isn’t an issue for your lawn, Johnsons Luxury Lawn will create the opulent, rich green lawn your home buyers will desire. For a quick fix or to tend to those unsightly patches, Johnsons Lawn Thickener with Seedbooster guarantees 30% more grass than uncoated grass seed, as well as faster germination thanks to the Seedbooster® pre-applied slow and fast release Nitrogen coatings.
Mowing your lawn
Think of the garden as another room of the house; mow the lawn, and keep it in shape. Any potential buyer will get an immediate negative impression when seeing an unkempt lawn. The best time to mow your lawn in spring or summer is just before your viewers arrive to see your house — the smell of fresh-cut grass was ranked as one of Britain’s favourite smells in a recent survey by Harris.
Make sure the lawn is mowed on a regular basis, approximately every seven days. Mowing with the grass blades too short can create severe stress on the lawn, meaning the individual blades cannot photosynthesize or retain moisture effectively to grow. This then results in gaps in the lawn where the grass has been scalped, meaning weeds will be able to flourish. Set your mower wheels as high as you are willing to go – one to three inches is the recommended height to maintain a healthy lawn and a great finish. Cutting at the upper height will certainly help in shaded areas as grass needs to be mown less frequently and is more susceptible to damage when cutting.
Do not try to cut more than a third of the grass height at a time. It is also important to keep your lawn mower blade sharp; a good rule of thumb is to sharpen your blades every three months. Blunt blades will dull the look of your lawn and can rip the grass blades, leaving them vulnerable to diseases which can enter the grass plant through the damaged plant tissue.
Keep on top of moss
Selling in the later months of the year in autumn or winter will means that leaves will inevitably fall on your lawn. Lawns need to breathe so make sure you rake up autumn leaves to prevent grass damage and avoid pests and diseases.
Autumn is also the ideal time of year to attack any moss in your lawn before it takes hold in the winter months. During winter, your lawn will be stop growing but moss continues to thrive due to the lack of competition in the shady, wet, moist conditions of the soil. VivaGreen MossOff, distributed by Johnsons Lawn Seed, is a concentrate that, when diluted with water, offers a new and totally unique biocide-free way of killing and preventing moss and algae on lawns. MossOff uses natural ingredients to coat the moss in a biofilm, so it effectively suffocates, rather than the use of harsh chemicals that attack the plant’s cell structure and is safe to use around children and pets.
Johnsons After Moss can be used once the moss has been raked up and collected. Coated in calcium carbonate which raises the pH of the soil, this fast-establishing dwarf perennial ryegrass mix is deep rooting and dense and will help the growth of healthy grass over these patches to avoid them being taken over by moss again.
Guy Jenkins of Johnsons Lawn Seed said: “The garden has always been one of the key aspects many buyers consider when looking for a new home and it only takes few simple steps to ensure it is looking in tip-top condition. Gardens are not considered as an extension of your living space so investing time in making them good is a wise move for any home owner. If your lawn looks past its best, it’s going reflect on the rest of the garden and the house itself. Not only does a pristine lawn provide a great return, it doesn’t cost as much to maintain as that added value. “
Find out more
To find out more about Johnsons Lawn Seed products please visit http://www.johnsonslawnseed.com/
For more information, interviews or images please contact:
Cassie King Tel: 07875337290 Email: cassie@hornbywhitefootpr.co.uk
Robbie Cumming Tel: 07765251173 Email: robbie@hornbywhitefootpr.co.uk