Workshop – From Stumped to Pumped: Great Garden Results GUARANTEED
Do you have any idea just how valuable high quality landscaping is?
Yes, home values are tanking but that doesn’t mean that your home’s value has to drop as deeply as everyone else’s.
- “According to research by Virginia Cooperative Extension, going from a plain lawn and a concrete driveway to a well-landscaped lot raises a home’s perceived value by 12.7%.” Houselogic.com, “Develop a Landscape Plan to Fit Your Budget”
- “A Clemson University study found landscaping can result in more than a 100% return on investment. The report concluded that “Homeowners wanting to increase the value of their property will do well to consider the cost-effective, return potential of quality landscaping, and to safeguard their investments by hiring licensed, professional landscape contractors to perform the work.”” Landscape-America.com
- “Several recent nationwide surveys show that mature trees in a well-landscaped yard can increase the value of a house by 7 percent to 19 percent.” Frontdoor.com, “Increase Your Home’s Value with Mature Trees”
- Landscaping is one of the top 20 things that can alter the value of your home.
- Does your yard detract from your home’s value? “Buyers today expect landscaping that’s easy to take care of and water-wise, and offers benefits like shade or privacy, says Bruce Butterfield, research director for the National Gardening Association. “There’s really a trend towards landscaping that is both functionally and environmentally correct,” Butterfield says. “You want to have the right plants in the right place.”” Additionally, Jack Rhoads, an agent with Murney Associates Realtors of St. Louis agrees with other real estate agents in encouraging homeowners to maintain whatever landscaping they have since poorly maintained landscapes, rightly or wrongly, lead to the impression that interior of the house is poorly maintained as well. “Maintenance is key to maintaining your value,” Rhoads says.
- Good landscaping matters. And it’s not just a case of better curb appeal to help sell homes faster. Good landscaping can increase a home’s sale price by an average of 15 percent, according to one widely circulated study by the Weyerhauser Corp. A similar study by Clemson University and the University of Michigan found that consumers are willing to pay 11 percent more for a home with good landscaping. Appraisers say it also works the other way. When buyers encounter a home they like that has lousy landscaping, they expect a discount off the home price to compensate for the cost and work involved in bringing the outside up to snuff. GardenPA, “The Value of Good Landscaping”
- The title of the article says it all: Landscaping Builds Equity.
Even if you’re not planning to sell in the near future — the Money Magazine article found that landscaping can bring a recovery value of 100 to 200 per cent at selling time. Kitchen remodeling brings a 75 to 125 per cent recovery rate, bathroom remodeling a 20 to 120 per cent recovery rate, and addition of a swimming pool a 20 to 50 per cent recovery rate. What better reason to invest in your property now and enjoy the benefits of an enhanced outdoor lifestyle?
Even more reason to invest in a well-designed landscape — a study published in the Journal of Environmental Horticulture found that poor landscape design can decrease property values by up to 10 per cent. Plantings too close to a house can reduce the appraisal value. The most common mistakes made by do-it-yourself landscapers are planting trees and shrubbery too close to each other and too close to houses, fences and other structures.
- Landscaping red flags are difficult to spot, even for real estate agents and savvy homeowners. How do you not create a red flag inadvertently with a DIY landscaping project?
- Don’t take my word for how great your returns could be for investing in your landscaping. Homegain.com has a house sale maximizer online tool to help you calculate which improvements will garner the best returns.
Want a garden that you spend less time, money, resources, and effort maintaining and more time enjoying to the fullest?
There are many things that DIY folks can do for themselves, but there comes a point when you run into the limits of your time, money, and skills. What you don’t know that you don’t know can cost you dearly in dollars and cents, not to mention personal frustration. You might be inadvertently destroying equity in your house out of ignorance rather than building equity.
How much money do you spend on plants that don’t thrive and how many times have you had to replace them? How much money have you spent on fixing your own mistakes? How much more frustration and even failure are you willing to endure on a tight budget while still not getting the garden and landscape results you want?
Do you want to know the next positive, concrete steps to take towards a successful and beautiful eco-friendly garden/landscape? Do you want help that is tailored just for you, your garden site, and your budget? Let us help you take your garden or landscape to the next level with greater success as you begin to work with nature instead of inadvertently against it. As the benefits unfold over time, you’ll discover that going “green” actually saves and generates money. Urban/Suburban Ecoliteracy is the foundation for working smarter, not harder. Now it’s time to integrate the material in a meaningful way. Knowledge is good, but the application of that knowledge is where the proverbial rubber hits the road.
We are pleased to offer From Stumped to Pumped: Great Garden Results Guaranteed. This follow up workshop, like the site analysis practicums and the Right Plants in the Right Places workshop builds on the practical real world material covered in the introductory Urban/Suburban Ecoliteracy workshop, which must be taken as a prerequisite to From Stumped to Pumped.
This workshop is geared for homeowners and anyone else who is ready to green their garden space as sustainably as possible. It’s great if you have a yard, but From Stumped to Pumped’s content will still apply whether you want a container, balcony, or even a rooftop garden.
NOTE: This workshop is not geared for landscape and gardening professionals. A separate sustainability workshop will be offered to those in the industry.
To offer the best service and maximum value to those to sign up, we have to limit the number of enrollees. We are serious about giving your garden/landscape project its due attention.
In the From Stumped to Pumped workshop, we will be teaching you the framework of sound earth-friendly design to ensure your success in your garden or landscape and providing you with a step-by-step map on how to achieve the results you want. As you may recall from the Urban/Suburban Ecoliteracy workshop, good ecological design is difficult to make obvious because good design is invisible by its nature.
Each project brought by participants will be a living, dynamic case study. By the workshop’s end, you will have an action plan in hand and specifications to start to turn your project from idea to reality. More importantly, you will have a fundamental grasp of “how” and “why” that is specifically relevant to your success.
How This Works
- After you enroll, Steve and I will be working with you to schedule a visit to your garden or landscape site prior to the workshop to identify the site’s possibilities and challenges.
- We invite you to allow us to guide and tutor you through the site analysis process. Prior to the workshop, your homework is to conduct your own site analysis and to bring the observation results with you to class.
- Make some time to speak with us about your landscape desires, goals, and any other project relevant information since listening to you is just as important as information gathered during the site analysis process.
- Attend the workshop and be fully present
You won’t want miss a thing because you’ll be receiving:
- Your step-by-step roadmap to garden/landscape success
- A project timeline sheet (i.e. when to do what, how long any one task takes is up to you)
- Project cost range with recommendations for managing your project in affordable bits
- Instructions on what to do for site preparation and equipment recommendations, if needed
- Best practices recommendations for irrigation and drainage
- Plant choice and cultivation/care recommendations
- Maintenance best practices and frequency recommendations
- List of ways that sustainability can be enhanced on your site
- List of materials and retail plant sources/vendors
Because Steve and I are confident in and stand by the use of ecological design principles, we offer what no other garden and landscape industry professionals currently dare to offer: we guarantee your garden success as long as you follow our recommendations, design strategy, specifications, and instructions in good faith as a DIY-er. You will avoid problems that would cost you (more) time, money, effort, and frustration.
Is this workshop for me?
To help you make a sound decision about whether this workshop will offer you enough value, we want to share an inside detail with you. Between the site visit, the workshop, and follow-up help, it would cost you $2,300 and up if Steve and I were charging for just a one-on-one consultation alone, depending on the size of your prospective garden or landscape. You will benefit from and have access to our collective expertise and perspectives. Since no one is as smart as all of us put together, you will also benefit from unexpected help and suggestions from fellow workshop participants.
Important registration information:
- Urban/Suburban Ecoliteracy is a prerequisite for this workshop
- Date and time: Saturday, June 26, 2010 from 9A to 6P.
- Deadline to register is Saturday, June 12, 2010 – no exceptions!
- Location: NativeScape Development Corp. headquarters at 10849 Ralston Avenue, Pacoima, CA 91331
- Enrollment is strictly limited to maximum of 10 on a first come, first served basis.
- The cost of this workshop is tiered depending upon the size of your lot ***NOTE: hardscape such as decks, pergolas, patios, & outdoor kitchens is extra***:
- 1/10 acre lot $450
- 1/8 acre lot $550
- 1/4 acre lot $1,200
- 1/3 acre lot $1,600
- 1/2 acre lot $2,600
- greater than 1/2 acre, contact us for a quote
- To register, make checks payable to Wendy Talaro and send to P.O. Box 2382; Gardena, CA 90247. Credit and debit card payments can be processed through NativeScape Development Corp. (NOTE: there is a transaction fee)
- Potluck lunch on-site to facilitate networking and community building on the day of the workshop, so please bring your business cards and a dish or snack to share
- Transfer policy: If you cannot attend a workshop for whatever reason, you will receive a credit for the next From Stumped to Pumped workshop and must use this credit within 6 months.
- Cancellation Policy: No refunds unless the instructors initiate class cancellation.
If you have further questions, please call Wendy @ 310.329.5719 or send an e-mail to fruitstonuts@yahoo.com. Steve can be reached @ 818.302.9699 or steve@gogreennsd.com.
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