As I walked the realtor out the door, to the gate, he looked at the front yard, which is something of a mess, and he said “buyers likely will want grass here”.
Ain’t gonna happen!
This was just minutes after we had looked down into the front garden from an upstairs bedroom window, and he’d asked me what my garden scheme was. I’d explained that I’m trying for a Mediterranean look, but using native plants. And as gardening with native plants is new for me, the project is coming along slowly. I’ve been experimenting with different plants, liking some but not others, as I try to develop the structure of the garden. We’re entering the 3rd growing season and I think it’s starting to resolve.
The idea that this intended area of native ground covers, wild strawberries on one side and field chickweed on the other, both of which are quite beautiful, should be replaced with grass was ludicrous. For starters, there is a growing awareness of the need to use native plants in our gardens, rather than the pretty but ecological zombies used in so much of conventional gardening. We’re already seeing birds like juncos, sparrows, and wrens, using the front yard. They like a garden with native plants, and the insects they support, and they don’t care if it’s not pretty yet. And then there is the fact that the front yard is like a courtyard with a trellis all around, accessed only by stairs, and how would you get a lawn mower in there regularly? This realtor was offering reflexive “advice” without thinking.
We aren’t actually looking to sell, at least not any time soon. We’d been shocked, scandalized really, by the property valuation we’d just received, and as it probably means a painful increase in our property taxes we talked about challenging the valuation.
And what do you know, the day after we had received this news and talked about appealing, there was a knock on the door. A realtor was standing there, asking if we’d like to have our house valued. Well sure, we said. After arranging to come back the next day he left to call on our neighbors.
And he did come back, and walk around and take notes. I told him before he could say anything about the beautiful colors we’ve used throughout the house that we would not be repainting everything beige. Having given him that warning, I was surprised by the lawn comment.
The front yard will be properly vegetated before we actually list the house, whether in a year or two, or ten. And people will see that you don’t have to have lawn everywhere. And you can have a beautiful courtyard of native plants that is alive with insects and birds, and you can sit on your lovely patio and revel in it, immersed in the life of it.
The realtor couldn’t see it. But I do. Everyday.