Plant power: use botanicals to impress buyers

It’s true – the wonder of nature can be harnessed to help you sell your home. Homes & Gardens even claimed in a recent article that ‘houseplant staging’ was the secret to property sales success.

Botanical elements can definitely add appeal before you open your door to buyers. With everything you need freely available from garden centres, DIY stores and even your humble supermarket, what’s stopping you?

Fill a vase with flowers & foliage

Yes, it’s a cliché but cut flowers will always make a home for sale feel fresher and better dressed. If you’re heading out to buy a ready-made bunch, opt for UK-grown blooms to support local growers. If your garden is in good shape, you may be able to pull together your own display using what’s in season – and reduce the bouquet’s air miles to zero at the same time. Pad out your vase with foliage and twigs or opt for single-stem vases if you’re short of flowers.

Try a houseplant take-over

Achingly in fashion, houseplants are guaranteed to impress and you don’t have to wait for the right season for the best results. Their evergreen nature and adaptability is ideal if you have an empty shelf or a bare corner. Some houseplants prefer bright light, while others can tolerate shade. Some even thrive in steamy environments, such as bathrooms. If the thought of keeping a houseplant alive is daunting, choose almost-indestructible varieties such as pothos, money tree, lucky bamboo, spider plant or snake plant.

Prioritise pots of joy

The plus points of pots are numerous and they really are a seller’s friend when it comes to making a shrewd investment. Unlike shrubs and trees, which ideally need planting into beds, pots can move with you (even with plants and bulbs still in them) and provide years of joy.

Pots can go almost anywhere too – on your doorstep filled with bright bedding plants, by your back door crammed full of culinary herbs, grouped together on the patio or added to a balcony. Opt for vibrantly-coloured, unusually-shaped and interestingly-textured pots and they’ll become statement items on their own, or when paired with foliage-only plants.

To ensure the health of any pot plants, always add crocks to the bottom of the pots to improve drainage, use peat-free container and basket compost, ensure the soil doesn’t dry out and feed in the growing/flowering seasons.

Notes for the not-so-green fingered

Plants are a little like children – they need a certain degree of feeding and nurturing. If your past growing track record leans more towards neglect, never fear. There are low and no-risk ways to flood your home with flora and fauna.

• Keeping it real

There are many houseplants that need little or no moisture. Ponytail palms, tillandsia, burro’s tail, sedums, sago palms and zebra plants (haworthia) are ideal for busy households who may overlook strict watering schedules.

• If you can’t make it, fake it

Faux plants have evolved to become ultra-realistic but while they can fool even the most observant of property visitors, faux plants haven’t always had a good reputation in the sustainability stakes. Thankfully a number of companies are addressing the issue, one of which is Bloomist, who’s EcoFaux™ uses upcycled and recycled plastics.

• The compromise

Preserved plants are an interior designer’s favourite as they keep the characteristics of living plants and fuse them with the zero-maintenance of faux plants. A more advanced art of flower drying has allowed gypsophila, hydrangeas, heathers, linum, bunny tails and craspedia to be preserved for natural beauty with none of the plastic.

• Opt for flora and fauna on fabrics & wallpaper

Buds, petals, leaves and trees have long been fashionable motifs in the interior design world, with a style to suit all tastes. All manner of items can be boosted by botanicals, and examples include Cath Kidson’s ditsy design cushions and Orla Kiely’s retro stem pattern bedlinen, to Colefax & Fowler’s embroidered crewel fabric and Graham & Brown’s jungle wall mural.

We would be happy to provide a free, no obligation appraisal for a property you are looking to sell. You never know – a stunning garden or balcony display may just add a few pounds to your home’s value. Get in touch to make an appointment.