10 Landscaping Projects That Are Worth Every Penny, According to Experts

Creating an Outdoor Kitchen

Entertaining outdoors has become a lasting trend, and investing in an outdoor kitchen space can make it easier to host a backyard barbecue now—and it pays off down the line when you’re looking to sell, Pendleton says. An outdoor kitchen tops the list of things people will pay a premium for, adding 2.2% to the purchase price of a house.

“The pandemic forced all our socializing to happen outside, and people really started to enjoy this more casual, laid-back kind of entertaining that replaced more formal dinner parties or dining out,” Pendleton says. “Outdoor space has become increasingly valuable to homebuyers, specifically functional outdoor space that extends their home’s square footage and becomes a useable area where they can entertain friends or relax with family.”

Planting More Trees

Trees do a lot more than enhance your home’s curb appeal—they can also help shade your home on hot summer days, reducing your cooling costs, and they buffer your house from cold winter winds to reduce your heating bills. In fact, the Arbor Day Foundation says that well-placed trees can reduce your air conditioning costs by up to 35%.

When trees are planted between your house and the street, they can also help dampen noise—or give you plenty of privacy to let you enjoy your backyard without worrying about your nosy neighbors.

Adding a Pizza Oven

Don’t have the space or the need for a full-on outdoor kitchen? Just adding a pizza oven can add 2% to your home’s value, Pendleton says. “Homebuyers who can afford a home in today’s market are willing to spend even more for little backyard luxuries. They’re willing to splurge on features that are just plain fun and have that ‘wow’ factor.”

Switching Over to Native Plants

Choosing plants that aren’t from your area means that you’ll have to do a lot more work to help keep your garden healthy and thriving, whether that’s changing up the soil composition or managing the water and sun exposure. For a garden that can thrive—even if you’re not always on top of your gardening duties—make sure you pick plants that are native to your area and work well in the sun levels your garden receives.

“Some people add other elements to their yards like herb gardens or edible landscapes, pollinator plants, or native plantings; but whatever you want to include in your yard, the most important thing is to choose plants, trees, and grass that are well-adapted to your local environment,” Stryker says.

Upgrading to a Bluestone Patio

Decks and patios are a key upgrade if you’re looking to entertain outdoors. Bluestone is noted for its beauty and longevity—and can be used for a more rustic, natural vibe or a sleeker, more modern touch. And if you’re planning to sell your home in the not-so-distant future, a bluestone patio tends to add 2.2% to the final selling price, according to Zillow data.

Giving Your Front Yard a Makeover

Curb appeal is essential to the value of your home—and helps welcome you and your guests in every time you step up to the front door. Investing in attractive, yet easy-to-care-for landscaping will pay off now with something beautiful to enjoy—and down the road if you sell your home.

Adding Outdoor Lighting

Whether you opt for simple solar lights to highlight your pathways, or choose classic strings of Edison bulbs or a more audacious upgrade, outdoor lighting helps you enjoy your landscaping day and night, and makes it easier to entertain outdoors after hours. And outdoor lighting can add a 1.2% premium to the value of your home.

Mulching

It’s not the most glamorous update to your garden—nor the most expensive—but adding a nice layer of mulch will give you a ton of bang for your buck. It will reduce the time you spend on garden care by helping the soil hold its moisture (very important if you’re in a drought-prone area!) and making your garden beds less hospitable to weeds. (Plus, if you’re looking to sell, it makes your landscaping look cleaner and more attractive!)

Look to add about two inches of mulch to your garden beds, but you’ll want to go a little thicker if you’re using a larger mulch that leaves more gaps for evaporation and for weeds to take root.

Investing in Lawn Care and Maintenance

Chalk this up as another not-so-spectacular—but very lucrative—way to spend your landscaping budget, Stryker says. Research from the National Association of Landscaping Professionals and the National Association of Realtors found that lawn and landscape maintenance provided one of the biggest returns on investment. “Those improvements had 100%+ return on investment. When you want to sell your house, nothing boosts curb appeal more than a well-cared-for lawn and landscape.”

Building a Fire Pit

If you’re looking for an easy DIY project that’ll bring the fun to your backyard, a fire pit is it. “A fire pit is something most homeowners can tackle themselves, and homes that have one can sell for 1.1% more and nearly a day faster than expected,” Pendleton says. “That’s a higher sale premium than what’s associated with an outdoor fireplace, which is a much larger project that’s often left to a professional.”