Landscaping to Sell a Home in Lakeland: What Is Worth Doing

We do a steady amount of pre-listing work for homeowners and agents around Lakeland, and the pattern is consistent: the work that helps a sale is mostly cleanup, definition and repair, done in the right order, a couple of weeks before the photos. New installation rarely pays back. Here is how we prioritize it.

What buyers actually see

The listing photos, then the view from the car, then the walk to the front door. Everything in those three views matters; the back corner of the lot barely does. A buyer reads a tidy, defined front yard as a house that has been looked after, and that impression carries into the interior showing.

Do first: cleanup and definition

• Mow at the right height, edge cleanly and blow every hard surface. A crisp edge along the driveway and walks does more for a photo than any plant. Our post on edging and bed definition explains why.
• Redefine the beds and refresh the mulch. Two to three inches of fresh mulch on a cleanly edged bed is the single highest-return item on this list.
• Trim shrubs off the house and windows. Overgrown foundation plants hiding the front of the house make it look smaller and darker. Cut them back to show the walls and windows, and remove anything dead.
• Remove what is dead or failing. A dead shrub, a half-dead palm, a bare patch of turf. Take it out or fix it. Buyers see the problem, not the potential.
• Raise low tree limbs over walks and the driveway so the house is visible and the approach is open.
• Pressure-wash the driveway, walks and front entry. Stained concrete reads as neglect.

Do second: repair

• Bare and thin turf. Plugs or sod in the visible spots, put in far enough ahead of the photos to take. In the growing season, three to four weeks is enough for fresh sod to look established. Our new sod guide covers what it needs.
• Irrigation. A broken head spraying the driveway during a showing is a small thing that buyers remember. Fix the obvious ones.
• Weeds. Treat the lawn and hand-pull the beds. Nothing undermines fresh mulch like weeds through it.

Do last, and only if the budget allows: color

A few flats of seasonal color at the entry and in the most visible bed is inexpensive and photographs well. It is the only new planting we usually recommend for a listing. Our guide to seasonal annuals covers what works in each season here.

What is usually not worth it

Major new landscape installation, new trees, hardscape projects and irrigation overhauls almost never return their cost in a sale price, and they can delay the listing. A buyer who wants a paver patio would rather choose their own. Put that money into the cleanup and the interior.

Timing

Cleanup and mulch two weeks before photos, so it has settled but is still fresh. Sod three to four weeks before. Then a maintenance visit the day or two before photos and before any open house, because a Florida lawn in summer grows a week's worth of untidiness in a week. If the house sits on the market through the wet season, keep the service running; an unkempt yard on a listed home is the first thing the next showing notices.

What we do

We do pre-listing cleanups and the ongoing maintenance while a home is on the market across Lakeland and Polk County. Request an estimate, or see our Lakeland service area page.