If you are selling your home, you will want to make sure prospective buyers can see themselves living there. So you will want to avoid turning them off with questionable decor decisions. From the wrong trees and shrubbery to poor patio lighting and pools, here are some more outdoor trends you should avoid in order to sell your home faster.

Overly Perfect Landscaping

This is the type of landscaping that makes you scared to step on the lawn because you might mess something up. Neat lines used to be the trend for planting flower beds but nowadays the look is much more natural. By adding some curved lines to your planted beds and yard design for a softer, more realistic appearance.

Cookie Cutter Trees

The standard landscaping plants normally include yews, rhodopsins, and dwarf Alberta spruces. They are cheap, easy to install, grow in most climates, and give a year round green look. The problem is everyone has them.

Choose your trees wisely, including eastern red cedar, sugar maple, Colorado blue spruce, and myrtle. Steer clear of trees that rain leaves and needles like pecan, oak, sweet gum, and eastern white pine. At the end of the day, it is your decision but we suggest going with trees that are native to your area, and not the standard cookie cutter trees.

You also need to be strategic when it comes to placement. The last thing you want to do is plant your tree too close to your fence and have a neighbor complain. Another good tip is: don’t plant large trees near the foundation of your home. As your tree grows the branches will hang over the roof and the roots can cause major foundation problems.

Too Much Light

Lighting design has become increasingly popular over the years but be careful to not overdo it. Simply highlighting trees is one thing but another to resemble the house in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. You will quickly receive complaints from your neighbors if your motion sensitive stadium lights shine right in the window of one of your neighbors.

Vibrant Mulch

Some green thumbs out there will tell you that red or black mulch are better for certain plants, but in reality, they look horrible. Your best bet is to use natural bark. The colored bark is more susceptible to fungus that can end up attaching to nearby trees. Also, they have been found to slow the growth rate of established plants and starve newly planted ones.

Water Features

If you like the sound of constant running water a fancy water feature may be right for you but in the grand scheme of things they probably won’t increase or decrease the value of your home significantly. The one thing yu do have to be careful of is the maintenance and the fact that your pond/water feature may attract larger wild animals.

Over The Top Landscaping

Going overboard with anything is normally not a good thing. Elaborate plantings, sculpted trees, and deep flower beds filled with annuals may seem lush and inviting, but a future homeowner will probably wonder how hard the past homeowners worked to maintain that yard. Over the top gardening is a thing of the past, today’s homeowners are happier with simple designs and low maintenance gardens.

Massive Lawns

Rolling hills of nothing but grass looks great on a golf course but not so great in your backyard. All potential buyers see is a lot of mowing in their future. For a better look, plant less grass and more native plants. A smaller lawn means less mowing and less work. The plants can be arranged in a way that complements your home’s distinctive features.