Not all gardens are create equal
The purpose of a house survey is to give you as a buyer some peace of mind and certainty over the condition of the property you're moving into. Yet it's a fact of house surveys that the garden does not feature, only the condition of the property boundaries i.e. fences or permanent buildings like garages. This seems an oversight for a few reasons. First, a garden is worth around 10% of the value of a property, so if it costs £300k total about £30k of the value will be in the garden. It follows then that a house with a garden in good shape will be worth more than a similar property with a neglected garden. Food for thought. Then one can wonder, how many homeowners are confident gardeners? I don't have the answer to this and neither does AI, despite its protestations. In my experience I think less than 10% is not too ungenerous. Which gives us the intolerable situation of 90% of homeowners left scratching their heads when looking out at their patch of green and thinking how to put it to good use. Enter the garden survey.
A garden survey gives you a blueprint and a map, a solid foundation on which to build. Are you a bit chefy? Then make sure your herbs go in the right place (hint: in some sun and not too far from the garden door). Want to keep the food bill down? Then rip out the cherry laurel but for the love of all things lovely make sure you prepare the soil before planting. Kids? You'll want a lawn then, but where do you plant your beloved apple tree you've been nurturing in a pot for 4 years, best not in front of the kitchen window because it'll block the light when it grows, and they do. And on it goes, permutations and vegetative bewilderment.
Short term considerations
Cup of tea in hand staring out at the garden is a good place to ponder a suitable order of events for bringing some calm to the whirlwind of moving. Happily, there are some low cost quick wins to cheer a space up. Pots of course, whether brought from a previous home or stuffed with something smelly or tasty from the garden centre. If you're lucky enough to have a sunny garden then a set of table and chairs will beckon you outside whenever you fancy a brew. With the basics in hand your mind can then turn to important questions like where you can sunbathe for longest...
Long term planning
The objectives here vary between households, stages of life and greenness of fingers. There are a few things that should not be ignored, in approximate order of importance they are:
Aspect: how the sun moves across your garden. We are beholden (for now) to celestial rhythms which means if you have a north facing garden dahlias will sulk. Shade and sun rule what will grow well, without exception.
Plants: what you've inherited and what to do with it. They need to be identified and then accounted for what they bring: scent, colour, taste? As above if the light levels are incorrect then tough love may be needed
WYUF (What You're Up For): there are more and less time intensive ways to have a garden, be honest with your bandwith and interest and plan accordingly.
