A sophisticated landscape design significantly raises perception of home value
24 Oct, 2005 LM Week in ReviewHERNDON, VA — A sophisticated landscape design with trees and colorful bedding plants can raise the perceived value of a home between 5% and 11%.
This is the main result of a research project conducted under the auspices o fthe American Nursery & Landscape Association's (ANLA) Horticultural Research Institute (HRI). The survey results were published in the September issue of the Journal of Environmental Horticulture. ANLA is making the the full-text article available as a free download from its home page.
Researchers in Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas set up booths at home and garden shows between April and July of 1999. They invited consumers to respond to a survey comparing the value of 16 different images of the same home. Each computer-generated image showed the home surrounded by different kinds of landscape materials.
A sophisticated landscape design was the factor that all consumers said increased the home's value the most. The highest rated design included large deciduous, evergreen and annual color plants and colored hard scape. It consisted of a foundation planting with adjoining beds and two or three large island plantings. The islands all incorporated curved bedlines. This picture increased home value by an average of 1.8% or between $2,375 and $3,648, depending on the initial base home value.
The minimalist landscapes with small plant size and low sophistication actually decreased the perception of home value.
The researchers concluded that landscape professionals can use their research to show consumers that investment in good landscape design can be recovered by the rise in the perceived value of a home.
Details:
"Landscape Plant Material, Size, and Design Sophistication Increase Percevied Home Value," by B. Behe et al., Journal of Environmental Horticulture, September 2005. (PDF, 796k)
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