Fluffing planting

Using plants, small specimens of trees, shrubs and plugs, cunningly dress up a driveway or entry door over one weekend. Stick to containers and you can heave off this handsome investment dressing when you move. Hanging baskets are a bit of a Marmite — at the very least don’t block a line of sight with a frothing Hyacinth Bucket special. 

Ensure anything with a dangle to it is not physically in the way. Ask your garden centre to make you up something with repeat flowering varieties in tender perennials. 

Trimmed into topiary shapes, box or olive trees in pairs can add a stately symmetry to even a bog-standard front door. Again — yours to whip out of there unless it’s asked for and specified at sale. Before viewings, check flowering varieties and nip out any dead growth.

Containers can be quickly coiffured with seasonal favourites or tray-bought annuals on the brink of bloom swiped from the shopping centre as others die back. However dreary, don’t tear down established climbing plants that may have wound themselves into the exterior fabric of the house— you could end up with a meter square of pebble dash on the roof of the car. 

Take expert advice. Around the back, arrange some really hefty terracotta pots around the patio area, again frothing with blossoms and fragrant herbs to soften hard landscaping. For jaded beds — mulching material such as bark or environmentally friendly compost can blanket uneven, parched ground and will reduce the need for regular watering.

Parkland perfect

If the lawn is close by the front facade and in dire shape, consider buying in some sods of grass and stitching in some repairs. 

Lawn burn by animals can be addressed with specific feed/seed/seeding soil products including Westland Aftercut Patch Fix, €15.49. Just shake ‘n’ bake for a verdant return to velvety good health. If you have a month or so before the house hits the market, scarifying can be done with a wire rake to tear up any loose moss, followed by aeration (basically spiking the ground viciously with a garden fork) — brilliant and economical to wake up a jaded lawn. For a scatter of lawn seed, the ubiquitous Number 2 mix will suit most situations and includes rugged dwarf-perennial ryegrass and fescues, to grow densely at a moderate speed.

Go beyond the problem area in a larger scatter to blend the fix, and give the whole area a good watering with the trigger spray. Be prepared for the birds to take some of your crop before it even germinates. Miracle-Gro Patch Magic has a distinct formula containing coir which absorbs up to X6 its own weight in water surrounding the seed in a protective layer. €19.99 for 13 patch areas, suppliers include B&Q. Keep the edge of any grass in neat condition. A cheap electric strimmer can be whipped out before viewing — ideal for putting a gloss on that regular mow. Re-lay any paving that is “lipping” and tripping. Rake out soft joints and replace voids with a little sharp sand.

Looking good

Stroll up to the house from the public approach and look at it, just as a paranoid buyer might do. Any failings from chipped slates to drunken ridge tiles will be easily noticed on the naked planes of the roof. Ask your agent if it’s worth employing a VAT-registered, fully insured roofer before any surveyor visits. 

The rainwater system comprises your tiles, gutters, down-pipes and shores, so trace that over from roof to the grate. In poor shape, this will be the first of several signals to the viewer of your attention to detail in maintaining the house. Ensure any shores, drainage grilles and soak-aways at ground level are swept out and clear of accrued algae that would signal to the buyer’s surveyor that they are backing up.

White PVCu gutters, fascias and soffits should be cleaned back to white. Gates, where you do have them, should be structurally sound, level, nicely finished and should swing cleanly (do I have to say WD40?). The power washer is fantastic for a range of jobs here, but be wary of brickwork and render on the house or surrounding walling, which may rudely detach with enough bars of force. 

A structural engineer should investigate cracks in render or brickwork larger than 3mm, otherwise, fill or patch with something easy like Bostik Cementone (€15.35 at B&Q). Rake over gravel driveways and paths and top up if necessary. There’s nothing like that nice deep scrunch underfoot. What looks well kept, appears as easy to keep.

Windows, doors, andfencing

An integral part of the facade, how is the paintwork on the facades, window frames, sills and entry doors? With wood, solvent-based products invariably lift, flake and bubble given enough time. 

Sanding, staining and repainting is a tedious but highly effective fix for even old timber elements. Investigate any integrity issues with the framing and seals of windows and doors — the air tightness around these punctures in the house envelope will always interest a surveyor and will influence any obligatory BER. Choose a determined colour for the front door —strong, comforting, classic.

All boundary and partition fencing should be level, straight, and largely undamaged. If you have an ASHP set away from the house, it’s a good idea to surround it with a couple of fence panels in wood or composite — they are energy-efficient wonders of heating co-efficient, but not pretty. 

A spray of colour to timber using something like the Ronseal Precision Fence (product and sprayer) takes as little as four minutes per 1800mm x 1200mm section (€46.50) — one pump can handle four panels, five times faster than mucking around with a brush. Looking back into the house, your windowsills are best mainly left empty, with sheers, blinds, windows and frames sparkling.

Put some logic on the garage — possibly the only outbuilding on offer. Just power-washing the door gently to remove slime and cobwebs can add an instant lift. All windows should be clean, but any glazed French door/slider or bi-fold inviting us in and out of the house should be absolutely glistening (go for the no-glass diamond finish).

Selling the lifestyle

You can conjure an entertainment area that’s just about every garden, and set one out on a modest balcony. Garden furniture of some kind is an absolute must during the warmer months. This could be a full set of chairs and table, an inexpensive bistro set (€60-€80 from Argos for example), or a classic wooden bench set against a sunny wall. Ensure plastic furniture is clean and dry (power washing or a wipe down with a cream kitchen cleaner will lift most green gunk). 

Sand and then stain timber furniture well in advance with a water-based micro-porous product like Cuprinol Garden Shades (around €12 per litre). Ronseal also offers an excellent Decking Reviver, that brightens the wood, while removing moss, mould and algae with a swift brush down. €22.99 for 5l.

Put out dry rain-resistant garden cushions and a perfectly clean garden umbrella right before viewing, and set up away from your ASHP which can be breezy when working.

If you have a shed, celebrate its focus, horticultural usefulness, and promise of domestic escape with a quick de-clutter, sand and stain.

A few crisp, clean, level pavers in front of the door — ideal. Take up animal feeding bowls, leery bins, damaged play equipment, rusting bikes, and anything that interferes with the sweeping views of the gardens front and back — we want an inviting but rather depersonalise area — think of what you would want in a summer rental.