A garden can be a real selling point for tenants who look forward to a summer weekend eating al fresco, or seeing their children playing outside.
However, all the seasons can create a great deal of garden maintenance issues that few tenants will have the time or skills to deal with.
Here are a few ideas to keep the garden, and hopefully your tenant, as low-maintenance as possible!
1. Do away with the grass! It looks lovely when it’s neatly mowed – but lawn-maintenance is a big problem for most tenants who may never have used a mower before!
The best bet is concrete and paving stones of various types – or stone chippings with a mesh to stop the weeds.
Decking too can look stylish, but be careful as it may become slippery and therefore dangerous when it’s wet.
2. Raise the borders! Very few tenants will have the time to regularly tend to the borders and the edges, and may want to avoid bending down to pull out the weeds, etc. Raised beds will be more likely to get a bit more care – and can be used for additional seating if built at a comfortable seat height.
3. Throw on the bark-chippings. These will let through the rain and keep the roots of plants watered, but should also keep the weeds down.
4. Choose plants carefully. Many plants will look after themselves and dense planting of easy-care plants will prevent any weeds becoming established.
5. Employ a gardener! Perhaps just a few times a year this will be money very well spent. Use to cut back any trees and hedges, clear up fallen leaves, pull out or treat any stubborn weeds, and to check any trees or plants that might affect garden walls, drains and guttering.
Are you interested in what you have just read? The Letting People employ several local garden contractors who can assist you with all the above jobs, and maybe some other gardening works we haven’t covered here. Please Contact your local branch for more details.
