Landscaping on Long Island: How much does it cost for curb appeal?

Drawn to those lush lawns and the burst of color from rows of perennials and flowering trees at the home you're interested in buying? Relying on that elaborate landscaping you've maintained for years to sell your house for you?

No matter which stage of homeownership you're in, curb appeal is almost always the first attraction to a house.

"And if there's a backyard as well, most people buy into the whole emotional aspect that it's beautiful in the front and tranquil and serene in the back," said Noreen Graham, a salesperson at Paul Gold Real Estate in Long Beach.

But appearances can be deceiving, because all that beauty is an investment of time and money. Just as buyers need to ask about the cost of a home's monthly utility bills, experts said they should also learn the costs of lawn care, pruning, fertilizing and other aspects of property upkeep.

Graham said sellers can increase their asking price by up to 10% with carefully maintained lawns and gardens. Meanwhile, sellers should be mindful that if they haven't kept up on their grounds, it can cost them.

Whether you're buying or selling, or you own a home and could use some landscaping tips, here are the seeds of advice that should help cultivate even the most challenging garden situations.

Buying a house? Add landscaping to your budget.

This time of year, it's easier for buyers to see what the grounds look like, with everything in bloom and outdoor furniture and umbrellas set up, said Nikki Sturges, an associate real estate broker at Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty in Huntington.

But while buyers may fall in love with the color, aroma and appearance of a property, they have to see the bigger picture, said Graham.

"Someone who is buying a house where they think the landscaping looks fantastic should consider that you could spend eight to 10 hours on a weekend maintaining a 40-by-100 property," she said. "So, you have to factor in either your time or the landscaper."

Graham, 57, who lives in Lido Beach, advises buyers to ask the neighbors if they're maintaining their own properties or if they recommend their lawn care professionals.

Particularly if you have limited experience with this kind of property ownership, you could contact a reputable professional who is licensed and insured to get an estimate, said Carol Isles, a representative of Long Island Nursery & Landscape Association in Sayville, which represents more than 100 member companies and other professionals working in the horticultural field. She added that some professionals can get aerial photos of the house online and give you an estimate based on that.

"Every home transaction requires a home inspection, so consider this like a property inspection," Isles said. "Contact a licensed professional who's going to look at the property and give you an idea of what it might cost to keep it well maintained. Even if you're doing the mowing yourself and you just need somebody to come in and do the fertilizing and the spring and winter cleanups, they can estimate those expenses."

Average landscaping costs on Long Island

Costs for lawn care services are typically based on the size of the property and the scope of work, like mowing lawns, trimming hedges and bushes, weeding, mulching beds, aerating and thatching, and plant health care, like applying fertilizer, pesticides or herbicides. Other services can include a fall and spring cleanup, like raking leaves and removing debris, which can run up to several hundred dollars.

Lawn care costs vary throughout the Island, but most companies charge $150 to $200 per acre — or $0.01 to $0.06 per square foot — per visit to mow a lawn, according to Angi. With the average property being 40-by-100 feet, that can mean starting at around $40 a week.

Isles said other costs to consider are the irrigation and outdoor lighting systems and arboriculture services. Irrigation lines need to be turned on in the spring and blown out in the fall so the pipes don't freeze, for a total cost of about $200 to $300, depending on how many zones the system has. Outdoor lighting systems might need occasional maintenance. And trees might need to be trimmed, especially if there are potentially hazardous dead branches.

All of this should be part of your household budgeting, Sturges said. "It's an important consideration just like how much do you have to put down? How much can you spend on taxes? How much can you spend on utilities? And how much can you spend on landscaping?"

How much time will it take to landscape your own property?

Maybe you can do the lawn care and gardening yourself, but it's time consuming. Will you set aside time every Saturday? Do you have kids activities that will pull you away from the house on the weekend?

"And do you know how?" said Graham. "I've done a lot of landscaping myself and I've done a lot of things that were not 100% right and homeowners have to work through that. Do you know how to weed and split the hosta and move plants around when a bed is too overgrown? You may need some help even if you do try it yourself."

But don't necessarily be put off by a home's landscaping; if the outlines are there, with a little work, you can get it where you want it to be.

"If there's a home that has older landscaping, view it as a blank slate," Sturges said. "Plan for that and do it in sections and try plantings that come up every year so you don't have to knock yourself out every season. Hit the nurseries when things go on sale and plan a section at a time. You don't have to do the entire property at once."

Another important consideration is asking the home sellers which of their plants are high maintenance, said Mina Vescera, extension educator and nursery/landscape specialist at the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center in Riverhead. Is there a specimen tree on which they spend $5,000 a year to maintain its vigor, like an American elm that's being treated for Dutch elm disease?

"Sometimes there are trees that will sell a property because they're gorgeous, but you want to make sure if there are any disease or pest issues that you're inheriting with that property because that could mean deciding to continue treating it or removing it," said Vescera, 47.

Selling a house? Do cleanups and plantings

When preparing to list their homes, Graham said, most sellers tend to forget that the outside needs attention as much as the floors indoors might need sanding. For the seller who hasn't been taking care of their landscaping, now is the time to look around.

She suggests making sure that all your plants are spaced properly. "You don't want things to look congested because then it looks chaotic," she said, adding that it can be done yourself or with the help of a landscaper.

Sturges added that overgrown plantings in front of the home need to be tended to before it goes on the market. "You don't have to change everything, but anything that's up too high and too big and too bulky should be taken care of, as that cleanup makes a house look younger and fresher."

Graham said that when clients contact her to say they're thinking of selling their house after the winter, she recommends a yard cleanup in the fall. Follow that by planting bulbs that will lay dormant through the winter — these include tulips, alliums, which look like purple snowballs — and climbing rosebushes, all of which appear in early spring.

Whether you invest in a cleanup and fall plantings — together, they usually cost under $1,000, she said — or do it yourself, it all has to take place six to eight months ahead of a listing. "It's money well spent," she added.

If you're thinking of putting your home on the market at any point, and you're satisfied with your current landscaping, Sturges recommends taking photos this summer. But keep people out of them so buyers can imagine their own family in your yard next year.

No matter what condition your landscaping is in, a quick fix is to make sure there's a riot of colors in the front of the house, said Graham. That can include hanging pots from the porch or placing flowering pots near the front door. Consider something aromatic near the main door, like spearmint or lavender. A birdbath and a bird feeder will attract nature that can add to the curb appeal.

Balancing gardening, managing budgets

Wherever your garden grows, it's a managed landscape that requires labor, said Vescera.

"For example, if it has perennials, for the most part, they will need to be maintained. Eventually they'll need to be divided in order for them to maintain their vigor. A lawn usually is cut, but a lot of people are going the natural route by letting some of their lawn become meadow."

Find your own balance. "I'm a gardener and I absolutely love it. And it's a great workout as well. It's about how you can value your time. Some people consider that a meditation time," said Vescera. "If they just want to observe the garden as an artistic feature within their landscape and don't want to put their hands in the soil or touch a plant, that's where the landscapers come in."

For Carl Ramirez, 68, designing and maintaining his 40-by-80 waterfront Lido Beach property is a labor of love. Now that he's retired after 50 years as an accountant, he'd rather invest in weekly lawn maintenance for $250 a month so he can devote his spare time to puttering in the dirt with his flowers. He and his wife, Joan, 67, an accountant for the Long Beach School District, are empty nesters. Joan gets her hands dirty too by gardening with him, and they maintain a small greenhouse on their property.

But it was trial and error to get to this point. The Ramirezes have owned three homes, all of which needed landscape work. Ramirez said creating and maintaining the grounds for all three was a hobby, but he's learned to analyze the elements to determine what will do well.

"Are there some shady areas that certain flowers do well in? You have to make an assessment as to where and what kind of plants you can plant,'' he said.

Ramirez spends at least an hour a day maintaining his gardens and more on weekends, especially this time of year. "I could spend $3,000 a season asking a landscaper to make my property beautiful, but that wouldn't be satisfying to me."

He added: "I've been doing this since 1987 when I got my first home. It's not that I want to save money; I want to be in touch with nature."

Low-maintenance, manageable landscaping

When it comes to landscaping costs, it can be more manageable if your plant choices aren't based solely on what you see in your neighbor's yard, but rather on sustainability, according to Rusty Schmidt, 52. A landscape ecologist at Nelson, Pope & Voorhis, LLC, an environmental, land use, planning and economic firm in Melville, he recommends buying plants native to Long Island.

"They don't need extra water and they grow to a certain height so don't need to be trimmed. If you want a plant that is 5 feet, get a plant that's 5 feet. Don't get one that's 7 or 8 that has to be trimmed all the time," he said, adding there are 1,500 local species from which to choose. "And most importantly, stop getting things that are invasive species like bamboo, English ivy and forsythia, because they're not only problematic at your house, but will spread to your neighbors' and beyond."

Sometimes homeowners just have to live and learn. When Sue McGovern and Shel Lipsky moved into and renovated their Centerport home 15 years ago, they thought planting low-maintenance perennials and dwarf shrubs on their sloped property would save them time and money. They figured without a lawn — their quarter-acre property has few flat areas for grass — they'd save $35 a week on mowing.

But their beds need constant weeding and attention. McGovern, 78, said she can't do it because of back issues, and Lipsky, 87, has other things he'd rather do. So now they spend between $100 and $150 a week during the summer on maintenance to enjoy their gardens.

McGovern, a retired librarian, said the house came with some gardens, but some didn't work well and had to be ripped out. They have invested about $50,000 over the years, including on an irrigation system and repairing a rock retaining wall. McGovern said that they couldn't have done it differently because the maintenance is overwhelming for them. Besides, they enjoy the way their property looks.

Still, Lipsky, a retired engineer, advised homebuyers to "really think about it and be aware that there's going to be expenses. But if you're in a situation like us where you don't have a choice or if you really want that kind of a look, then buy low-maintenance plants."