Gardening in Spain
Preparing your garden for sale
By Clodagh and Dick Handscombe Practical holistic gardeners authors and broadcasters living in Spain for 25 years.
Introduction
With the Spanish housing market likely to remain in the doldrums anyone buying has plenty to consider at bargain prices. But many people dropping prices by even fifty percent don’t get a sniff and when sales are achieved it is often the garden that tips the scales. But is that surprising?
Not when one recognises that the possibility of living outside for most of the year is one of the main reasons people buy in Spain for holidays, permanent residency or letting to others who wish to live for a few weeks or months in Spain on a once off or annual basis. A well thought garden can result in the exquisitely designed decorated and furnished house only being used for a few hours a day from Spring to Autumn and for entire days only on the colder wetter days of winter.
We highlight some tidying tasks, likely attractions and improvement needs.
Basic tidying needs
As with the interior of the house potential buyers will be attracted by a tidy uncluttered garden that suggests that maintenance will be manageable with or without the help of a gardener.
So as a minimum ensure that the following are done and maintained so that a good image is presented at all times to unexpected potential buyers.
1. If you have a lawn ensure it is regularly cut even in the winter months if sunny weather stimulates grow, and treat it to a combined weed killer fertilizer mix.
2. Ensure that the swimming pool and jacuzzi are kept pristine even if you normally give it little winter attention.
3. Keep all paths and terraces swept and edging plants trimmed neatly back. If the surfaces look a little dirty and mossy clean them with a pressure hose.
4. Re-point damaged surfaces and the facing of garden walls, and repaint garden walls.
5. Prune back straggly plants and deadhead plants that continue to flower.
6. Complete the major winter cutback as soon as possible explaining to potential buyers that you are doing it to improve the shape sizes and spring/summer flowering potential of plants. What to do is explained in Chapter 6.9 of ‘Your Garden in Spain’.
7. Tidy the garden shed, clean tools and remove smelly out of date and or leaking chemical products.
8. Check that the watering system is working effectively. Turn of unnecessary tubes and drip jets and stop leaks
9. Clean up potted plants and their pots/containers.
10. Prepare a tidy hidden area for the compost heap, leaves rotting down in bags, logs etc.
Likely attractions
Beyond a tidy garden what sort of things might be attractive to potential buyers recognising that some will look for simplicity and minimalism and others a more complex holistic style of garden. In many cases the former being non gardeners and the latter gardening enthusiasts.
1. All year round colour.
2. All year round perfume.
3. Well framed vistas beyond the garden and strategically placed seats.
4. Sheltered winter sunny spots and shade for hot sunny days.
5. Large terraces for entertaining and an outside kitchen.
6. An interesting network of paths and internal vistas.
7. As well as flowering plants shrubs and trees a collection of fruit trees and the facilities for a comprehensive herb collection and the growing of some vegetables especially if the potential buyers did this previously in the UK or other European countries.
8. Try and have as many plants and shrubs that don’t require lots of watering.
9. Colourful window boxes and containers. Change tired plants.
10. Have evidence of generally reasonable water bills
Immediate changes to consider
The following are among the most common important issues.
1. Is your current gardener really up to maintaining your garden? If not would it be wise to change the gardener now to ensure that the garden is as at it’s best and you can recommend that a buyer retains your gardener with confidence. If you are unsure of the quality of your current gardener use the ‘Gardeners Audit Questionaire’ found by clicking ‘Evaluate the Gardener’ on the home page of www.gardeninginspain.com .
2. If you have no water feature establish a fountain or pond with natural looking spring fountains or waterfalls. The sound of water, sight of fish, frogs, dragon flies and drinking birds can be both relaxing and stimulating and add a touch of nature in an urban as well as rural situation.
3. If space, plant some more fruit trees and bushes. There are over seventy to choose from in our book ‘Growing Healthy Fruit in Spain’.
4. Recognise that growing ones own vegetables is a very popular activity in the UK so establish a raised bed or vegetable plot planted up with over wintering vegetables.
It is not too late to sow some last carrots broad beans peas and garlic cloves and buy and plant lettuce, Swiss chard, onion and broccoli plantlets. ‘Growing Healthy Vegetables in Spain’ will tell you all you know if you have yet to grow vegetables in Spain.
A friendly handover kit
As a final touch in the negotiations indicate that you plan a special moving in kit to smooth the take over. We suggest you include the following.
1. A month by month resume of the essential maintenance that you have been carrying out.
2. If you employ a gardener a resume of their month by month duties and your basis of payment.
3. A new set of the most important ergonomic tools that you have been using and a years supply of the eco insecticides fungicides and fertilizers that you have been using and a list of addresses where they can replenish their supplies. For us this would include a bottle of neem oil insecticide propolis fungicide and Neudorf snail killer.
4. A set of the most useful trilogy of books published in Spain ‘Your Garden in Spain – From planning to planting and maintenance’, ‘Growing Healthy Fruit in Spain’ and ‘ Growing Healthy Vegetables in Spain’. As many know these can be obtained from Bookworld and Carrefour bookshops among others plus by mail order in Spain from www.santanabooks.com or 952-485838 or if living in the UK from Amazon or the freephone 0845-2604505 of the Royal Horticultural Society Bookshop at Wisley Gardens.
We hope the above ideas speed your property sales.
© Clodagh and Dick Handscombe www.gardeninginspain.com January 2010.
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