11 minute read
JUDGE A HOUSE BY ITS GARDEN
Making an entrance
A front garden can make all the difference to your home. Elly West explains why a well-designed, well-kept front garden increases a property’s saleability, and creates important wildlife corridors
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This morning I visited a client whose front garden I designed last year. It’s starting to come into its own now, with areas of meadow, gravel, plenty of plants, a few trees and space for a car, plus a beautiful round pond just outside the front door. It’s not a huge space, but works effectively and while it’s unusual to have a pond in a front garden, chatting to my client made me rethink the importance of front gardens.
Our front gardens provide the first impression of our home. They welcome visitors and are seen and walked through every time we arrive and leave. They also provide a view from the ground-floor windows.
As my client commented, if the pond had been in the back garden, they probably wouldn’t look at it half as often as they do – it’s visible each time they go anywhere and with young children in the house, it’s somewhere to stop and investigate every day after school, to spot dragonflies and (in early June when I was there) a multitude of wriggling, fat tadpoles in the shallows.
A well-designed and well-kept front garden can increase a property’s saleability, with buyers judging a house by its frontage before they’ve stepped inside. First impressions definitely count. “A nice front garden makes a massive difference,” explains assistant manager Scott Higgins, at Debbie Fortune Estate Agents. “People often do drive-bys before they book a viewing and if the garden looks welcoming and looked after, it indicates a happy, friendly home.” Although reluctant to put a percentage figure on the difference to property value, he adds, “The difference between a messy front garden and a nice one could add £10,000 or more, depending on the property. I’m always very honest and will tell clients to sort out the front garden if necessary, and add some colour. Palms are very popular, and acers as they make a statement.”
While there’s no doubt that off-street parking is highly desirable in estate agents’ and buyers’ eyes, ramping up the asking price, it doesn’t have to take over the whole space, or be installed to the detriment of wildlife. Front gardens make important habitats and wildlife corridors for bees, butterflies and other small beneficial creatures, so if you don’t have much room, include some large planted container displays or just a window box or two. Mori polls commissioned by the Royal Horticultural Society in 2005 and 2015 revealed that three times as many front gardens had been paved over during that 10-year interval, causing problems with flash-flooding and water run-off, as well as loss of wildlife habitats. So if you are introducing somewhere to park your car, then consider gravel or permeable bricks, and keep hard surfaces to a minimum.
As well as benefitting wildlife, a container brimming with colourful plants is an instant way to create a warm welcome and smarten up your entrance, and it’s easy to ring the changes through the seasons. While
it’s good to include plants for seasonal interest in any garden, it’s perhaps more important at the front, seen all year round. It’s also very achievable in interchangeable pots. Winter pansies, skimmia, ivy and cyclamen are good options for winter containers, while in summer you’re spoilt for choice with the trays of bedding plants on offer in garden centres, market stalls and supermarkets, suitable for creating a vibrant potted display.
Alternatively you might want something more formal and permanent, such as some evergreen structural shrubs. A couple of topiary bay trees or box balls either side of a doorway, or a neatly clipped box hedge never seems to fall out of fashion. Likewise, you can’t go too wrong with a lavender-lined path leading to the front door if you have a south- or west-facing plot. Climbing plants on a wall are a good option, particularly if you don’t have much room as they’ll maximise your vertical space. A wisteria, climbing rose, honeysuckle or star jasmine will all provide a gorgeous waft of sweet fragrance as you enter and leave your house.
If you’re considering redesigning your front garden, think about the materials you want and their colours. It’s perhaps more important at the front that it ties in with the materials and colours of the house exterior, as it’s so close and will be seen as a whole package. A path should take the most direct route to the front door if you don’t want visitors and delivery people cutting across a lawn or border to make their journey shorter.
Think, too, about storage. Do you need space for bins and recycling, or bikes? Some options will improve the space more than others – a wooden store with a green roof is going to create an attractive feature in a way that a metal lock-up, or a haphazard clutter of bins won’t. If there’s room, it’s also nice to include seating. When my children were younger they played on the communal space at the front of my house, and a bench provided the perfect spot to keep an eye on their antics while soaking up the evening sun and watching the world go by. It also makes the garden feel more sociable. Lighting is also a way to spruce up the front of your house both for practicality and security, but also to add to the welcoming ambience. I noticed last year that lots of people left their Christmas lights out for longer than they usually might, perhaps because we all needed a bit of frivolity and a boost at that time, and I’m all for a few fairy lights twisted in a tree whatever the time of year. n
Plant of the month: Mexican daisies
Mexican daisies (Erigeron karvinskianus) are spilling over walls in front gardens everywhere at the moment, and will carry on doing so well into autumn, which is one of the reasons that I love them. They start in May and produce their pink and white daisy flowers in abundance with no need for deadheading or any kind of maintenance, save for chopping them back when their work is done and they retire for winter. They’re perennials, so will rev into gear again with the first signs of summer. Erigeron self-seeds prolifically, but is easy to pull out if it starts to take over. As mentioned, these lowgrowing plants are ideal for trailing over the edges of walls and containers, or at the front of a border where they’ll spill on to the path. They also suit gravel gardens. I love the way the white flowers fade through different shades of pink as they age, giving that cheerful, multi-tone effect.
• ellyswellies.co.uk; Instagram: @ellyswellies1
A Grade II listed 5 bedroom detached barn converted to a very high specification with the benefit of a good sized front and rear garden, ample garaging and parking, within approximately a 15 minute drive from the city centre of Bath.
Porch Barn is set within a select gated development of period properties converted by Ashford Homes approximately 4 years ago. It was formally the main barn. It is detached with wonderful well-proportioned accommodation throughout and is beautifully appointed and maintained.
It features high apex ceilings in certain areas with exposed beams, in particular a wonderful entrance hall with a oak staircase climbing to a galleried landing. In addition to the main sitting room and open dining room there is a further separate TV room and a particular wellappointed kitchen/breakfast room with high quality fitments.
All the bathrooms and shower rooms are fitted to a high standard, with Villeroy & Bosch sanitary ware together with Hansgrohe fitments throughout. All of the bedrooms are of a generous size, the 5th bedroom on the ground floor could be utilized as a study or additional reception room.
Externally the property has good sized front and rear gardens which are true sun traps and in particular the rear garden which is west/south facing and benefits from not only sun most of the day but also from the most stunning sunsets as the property occupies an elevated position.
This is a very special property and to fully appreciate it a viewing is recommended by the sole agents Cobb Farr.
Uplands Farm, Burnett
• Converted barn with superb period features • Detached 5 bedrooms • Well-proportioned accommodation • High Specification • 5 miles from Bath • Large garage and ample parking • Good sized front and rear gardens • Underfloor heating throughout
OIEO £1,150,000
Barton Orchard, Bradford on Avon
£675,000
An attractive 4 bedroom Edwardian semi-detached house situated in a quiet residential area with views across open countryside and easy access to the town and Barton Farm Country Park.
• Edwardian townhouse over 3 floors • 4 bedrooms and 2 reception rooms • First floor access to private roof terrace • Wonderful views towards Barton Farm Country Park
Batheaston, Bath
OIEO £500,000
A charming 3 bedroom Grade II listed Georgian artisan cottage retaining a wealth of period detail and enjoying stunning panoramic elevated views to the rear over Bathampton Meadows.
• 4 storey Grade II listed building • Natural slate flooring • South facing garden • Decked sun terrace
Andrewsonline.co.uk
Pulteney Avenue, Bath, BA2 Offers in excess of £500,000
This end of terrace, period home is situated in the Widcombe area of central Bath. The property offers an entrance porch and hall with period arch. Bay fronted lounge, dining room, breakfast room and kitchen. There is an impressive 15’9 x 15’4 bay fronted master bedroom, two further double bedrooms and shower on the first floor. Offered with vacant possession. Energy Efficiency Rating: TBC
Camden
Andrewsonline.co.uk
Brooklyn Road, Bath, BA1 £375,000
A beautifully refurbished, period home in Larkhall. The property is presented to a high standard with period fireplaces in the principle rooms and bi-folding doors to the kitchen / dining room, which opens out onto a long, lawned garden. Two double bedrooms on the first floor with the master having views to Solsbury Hill and an en-suite wc. The property also benefits from two off street parking spaces. Offered with vacant possession. Energy Efficiency Rating: D
Andrewsonline.co.uk
SOLD STC
Upper Bristol Road, Bath, BA1 £295,000
This apartment is in a private, gated develpoment and ideal for first time buyers or investors. Featuring an open-plan kitchen, dining room and sitting room - with private balcony overlooking the river - it has two double bedrooms, with the master en-suite, and there’s an additional bathroom. Plus the added benefit of a secure garage. Energy Efficiency Rating: C
Bear Flat
Andrewsonline.co.uk
Wells Road, Bath, BA2 Guide price £650,000
This is a 5 bedroom, two bathroom, period gem situated close to the city centre. Featuring versatile accomodation arranged over three floors, it has a living room, study, dining room, kitchen, utility and bathroom on the lower ground floor and four bedrooms on the ground found floor and a fifth bedroom on the first floor. Energy Efficiency Rating: TBC
