THE RIGHT LANDSCAPING ADDS VALUE

Experts we talked to believe that the right landscaping can add as much as 20% to your home's value. "For higher-end homes, it's a big feature," says landscape architect Bill Hewick of Acme Environmentals in Toronto. "It's what sets a house apart, since most people are planning to renovate when they move in anyway." An eye-catching front, in particular, can help sell your house more quickly.

What do you know — money does grow on trees. And whether you have a postage-stamp-sized city yard to work with, or a sprawling half-acre lot, there are many ways for you to harvest riches in your own back yard. Here's how:

Plant a tree

If you do nothing else, invest a few hundred dollars on a tree for your front yard. According to the Laval University study, a tree can boost your home's resale value by up to 9%. And there are other payoffs as well. A shade tree helps to cool your house in summer as well as enhancing your privacy and buffering you from street noise all year round.

For maximum impact, choose a fairly large tree and place it strategically. "Never plant a tree in the middle of your yard," advises Mark Cullen, the author of several books on gardening, including A Greener Thumb. "As soon as you do that, you've got your lovely, expansive 50-foot lot cut into two 25-foot lots. Visually, you've sawed it in half." Cullen recommends you plant your tree off-centre, in a corner of your lot or to the side of your house. Best bets are an evergreen, such as a blue spruce, or a deciduous tree with brilliant fall foliage, like a crimson maple. Expect to pay $300 to $1,500, depending on size, for a seven- to eight-year-old tree.

Keep up with the Joneses

The biggest and surest paybacks come when you're upgrading your home to the level of its neighbours. So take a few minutes to assess how your yard compares to others on the street. Do your neighbours' well manicured lawns and flower beds make yours seem bedraggled? Has everybody else upgraded their fences to cedar or wrought iron? Then make it your mission "to bring your property up to par with its neighbours," says Jerry Kirkland, a St. John's, Nfld.-based certified appraiser and a past president for the Appraisal Institute of Canada. "Concentrate first on things that have been neglected. Take care of the driveway if it's chipped. Make sure the landscaping is well kept."

For maximum payback, put your money up front — a front yard is the first thing that potential buyers see and it leaves a lasting impression. Suzanne MacDonald, the owner of Mac's Garden Landscaping in Charlottetown, PEI, says even a little attention to your home's curb appeal can go an awfully long way at resale time. "I tell customers to do a nice front walk, door and doorstep," MacDonald says. "All you really need are some basic shrubs, a few perennial plants and one nice tree to spruce everything up." Pressed for time? It takes only a few minutes to place a couple of containers filled with colourful annuals by your front door.