It’s great your home is on the market, or about to be! You picked the ideal season; as we know Spring brings out the best in home buyers. Our Chicagoland plants, trees and soil take a beating during the long, albeit mild winter. A lovely drive-up can do wonders for making the best impression to potential buyers.

Here are a few Spring landscaping tips to help you present your home at its best.

Rake and herbicide: Perform a good raking. “Snow mold” can cause matted sections of grass and a light raking can take care of this. The grass should be 3-4 inches before your first mow. Speaking of mowing; have your mower serviced and blades sharpened. If needed, herbicide and seed.

Aerate your lawn: After being under the snow and ice for months, the lawn needs to breathe. Try renting an aerator, or hire a pro so your soil can have some air and soak up moisture. If you do tackle this yourself, be sure to wet the grass slightly so it’s damp.

Refill gravel and aggregate: sweep or rake gravel back where it goes and fill in with additional aggregate. Using low pressure on a pressure washer works well to remove algae or leaf stains from patios and walkways.  You can also try a liquid moss, mold, mildew and algae remover.  It Available at most hardware stores, you simply spray it on with a lawn sprayer. 

Encourage new growth: Remove burlap from your trees/shrubs and prune dead branches to encourage new growth. Pull up last year’s annuals, along with the spent perennials. Thin the crowded beds but leave at least three stems per clump when dividing. Remove mulch once the threat of frost is past and think about fertilizing.

Add color: Plant or place a few containers of colorful pansies out now, but be sure to cover them if temp dip close to freezing. 

I offer useful advice for making your home a stand-out during the Spring season.  Contact me to hear more about my customized strategy for getting the best price and terms for your home.