Your landscape budget is important. That probably seems like an obvious statement, but what you invest into your landscape really does matter a lot more than you think. There are several things to take into consideration when planning out how much you are going to spend on your new landscape installation, such as how long you plan to stay in your current home, the value of your home, and your outdoor habits. Let’s consider each of these factors individually.

The Value of Your Home

Believe it or not, the value of your home dictates the amount of money you should spend on your landscape if you want to see a return on your investment. The average rule of thumb is that your total landscape budget should between 7-10% of your current property value if you want to get a return on your investment. This doesn’t mean that you can’t spend less or more than that, it is just a good percentage to keep in mind when creating your landscape budget.

How Long Do You Plan to Stay in Your current Home?

How much you should spend on your landscape installation is greatly affected by how long you plan to stay in your home. If you are planning on growing your family and moving into a larger home in less than five years, your recommended budget is going to be on the smaller side. If you are in your forever home and don’t plan on moving for the foreseeable future, your recommended budget might be on the larger side. If you plan on moving soon, it is not worth the investment to create you dream backyard at this house. It is much better to create a pretty landscape for 4-8% of your home’s value so you get your investment back. Creating a landscape that is easy to maintain for yourself and for future buyers is the right play here. It will be an attractive element for buyers while creating a nice return on investment for you.  If you plan on staying forever (or at least the next 20 years), it is okay to spend over the recommended 10% of your home value because you will be there to enjoy it. Go ahead a create that dream backyard with the raised garden beds and gazebo you’ve always dreamed of. Put in that firepit surrounded by a patio with stone pathway leading to a new deck with a custom, lighted pergola. Create the space of your dreams and spend more than the 10% if you need to.

Your Outdoor Habits

It is important to consider your outdoor habits when planning out your landscape and why those are your current habits. For instance, do you like spending most of your time outdoors when it isn’t too cold or raining? Do you like gardening? Do you hate mowing? Would you spend more time outside if you liked your landscape? Do you have horrible allergies? Are you an A/C lover? Do you enjoy spending time indoors more than outdoors? Do you like eating outside? Do you like cooking outside?

Consider you answers and if they line up with a large or small landscape installation and a low maintenance or a high maintenance installation. Once you have figured that out, then determin if spending a little or a lot is better for you.

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