The road to selling a home can be a long one. To increase the value of your home you can have it repainted, have it constantly clean, maximize usage of space by using a large mirror, avoid too much clutter, add energy-efficient fixtures and more.

One of the easiest and environmental-friendly ways to increase a home’s value is by maintaining a garden or installing indoor plants. Plants add appeal to any home,  gives shade and natural cooling effects in any area.

If you have ‘black’ thumb like I do maintaining a garden on your own will seem like a big hurdle. Thankfully, there are easy ways to go about this problem with simple gardening tips.

1. Mulch

Mulching is the best time-saving measure a gardener can do. There are 2 types of mulching: organic and inorganic. Both serve the same purpose of providing nutrients to your plants as it decomposes and improves aesthetic value of your home. Mulching also helps to save water as it reduces evaporation from soil surface. Mulching also stabilizes soil compaction, controls erosion and weeds.

2. Give your plants a bath

Funny as it sounds you can kill pests by cleaning plants with a watery solution of soap. Rinse after. This is best done for edible food bearing plants.

3. Avoid non-organic fertilizers

Organic fertilizers does not leave chemical residues that can harm garden soil and plants or cause toxin to your water supply.

4. Get "survivor" flowers

Asters: An Every Season FlowerCredit:

Get flowers that are resistant to many elements. Examples of these are asters, chrysanthemums and carnations. These can withstand warm summer months and winter colds. With such “strong” flowers in your backyard, you don’t need to do special procedures to get them to bloom. 

5. Don't dig too deep to put fertilizers

Most garden plants have roots going about 6 inches deep. So to dig deeper than that to put fertilizer is a waste of time and money because the roots wouldn’t be able to reach it. Instead, put the fertilizer on shallower level since fertilizer seeps down when plants are watered.

6. Learn to love earthworms

Icky as they look, earthworms are plants’ best friend. They till the soil so the plant’s roots could breath. 

7. Spray with vinegar

Instead of using commercial weed-killers, use household vinegar. Vinegar has 5% acetic acid[1], which makes vinegar the natural, fast weed killer. Take note there is a wide-range of formulas of vinegar, soap, water and other solutions created for the perfect natural weed killer. It is to one’s discretion as to which formula to create depending  on the type of soil and plants you are working with.

8. Water plants in the morning

Mornings are cool and without strong winds. The amount of evaporation is less compared when watering in the middle of the day. Typically you can do the same thing in the evenings but without the sun, overnight damp plants may be damaged by fungal and bacterial diseases.

In conclusion:

Just because plants don’t talk does not mean they are not living entities. They need to be taken care of. Think of them as pets that remain in one place and gives you air to breath, food to eat and add beauty in your surroundings. If you do decide to sell your home one day, having a beautiful, well maintained garden will boost up your house cost.

You will also be able to prove to yourself your worth in being a steward in God’s creation.