Professional landscaping helps your home make a fantastic first impression.
Upgrading your home’s outdoor spaces boosts its appeal – and value!
The American Society of Landscape Architects estimates that professional landscaping can boost the value of a home anywhere from 15% to 20%. During the pandemic many homeowners invested in more comfortable and inviting outdoor living spaces with features such as dining areas, outdoor kitchens, firepits and fireplaces, conversation pits, and patio expansions to incorporate such features such as built-in “seatwalls” that increase on-demand backyard seating capacity.
Those improvements not only improved consumer satisfaction with backyard spaces, according to the recent survey, but their investments have also paid off in terms of increased home value. It’s clear that making exterior spaces more functional, convenient, and beautiful is a sound investment aesthetically and financially.
Heinen’s Free Online Plant Catalog is a great place to start exploring different varieties of plantings!
Low-Maintenance Beauty
If you plan to sell your home in the near future and increased near-term value is your objective, keep in mind that not everyone shares the same taste in outdoor living. So, when determining which landscape improvements will have the best return on a near-term investment, it’s best to take a conservative approach. New landscape installations often require frequent watering and other maintenance and upkeep. Only a fraction of home buyers will be willing to spend the time required to maintain more elaborate landscaping installations.
When it comes to landscape, the first thing potential buyers often notice about a home are the more mature, established trees, plants, and shrubs on the property. Larger, more mature plants are more costly to install than young plantings, but they require much less maintenance. If your property is light on natural landscape features, it’s important to know that adding even a few carefully selected trees and shrubs can create a more attractive and appealing natural framework for your home.
Other low-maintenance additions might include installing native plants and grasses, which not only improve a home’s immediate visual appeal, they can be a great way to reduce water usage. Native plants have adapted to survive our region’s higher summer heat – and are often more drought and pest-resistant.
Heinen has been installing, maintaining, and upgrading KC sprinkler systems for over 30 years!
Irrigation
Installing an automated underground irrigation system before making major landscape upgrades ensures that your investment in new plantings is protected for years to come. All sprinkler systems designed and installed by the irrigation specialists at Heinen are built with the industry’s most durable high-efficiency components and can even be operated with Wi-Fi-enabled controllers – making it as easy as pulling out a phone to make on-the-spot watering adjustments, monitor water usage, or check maintenance alerts. Automated sprinkler systems are also a highly appealing feature to future home buyers.
Mixing and matching hardscape elements and materials can lend more visual interest – even to smaller spaces.
Functional Outdoor Living Areas
Installing new backyard living areas that are both attractive and practical has been a rising trend for several years now. More and more families are adding resort-like outdoor spaces – complete with cozy conversation pits, fire or water features, outdoor kitchens or grilling stations, and spacious dining areas. Planning designated areas for specific outdoor living activities, such as dining, entertaining, and private relaxation can make a space feel more luxurious and more functional.
The hardscape professionals at Heinen have decades of experience designing custom outdoor entertainment spaces. With hundreds of manufactured stone options from Techo-Bloc and Unilock, Heinen’s designers can work with you to match the exact look and feel you desire.
Your custom fire feature can be designed to fit whatever outdoor space you have.
Seasonal and Day-to-Night Transitions
Planning outdoor living spaces that may be enjoyed nearly year-round is a rising trend. One hardscape element that immediately extends the outdoor living season is the addition of a fire feature. Depending on lifestyle and budget, fire features can range from in-ground or raised firepits, to complete outdoor fireplaces and stainless steel encased fire features. Options also include choosing between wood or gas-burning installations. Gas-powered fire features can be fueled by standard propane tanks – or may be made even more convenient via a natural gas line extension from the home, allowing the fire feature to magically blaze to life – with nothing more than the flip of a switch.
With the addition of outdoor lighting, backyard entertainment spaces can be used well into the evening – which is especially appealing during the shorter days of autumn. There are dozens of lighting options available from Heinen’s preferred lighting partner, FX Luminaire. Beyond illuminating outdoor entertainment areas, lighting can highlight key features of your property, such as plantings or sculptures, as well as architectural features of your home and even pathways and entry areas. No matter your home lighting needs, Heinen’s outdoor lighting pros are here to help!
Planning to make outdoor improvements at your home? Now is the time to set those ideas into motion! Call Debbie at (913) 432-5011 or send an online message for a no-obligation consultation with one of Heinen’s outdoor living professionals!
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