Landscaping Ideas to Increase the Value of Your Sarasota Home

Does landscaping add value to your home? It absolutely does. 

But not every landscaping idea is a winner. That goose statue on your porch wearing a yellow raincoat? Not so much. 

Stick with us for value-boosting Florida landscaping ideas potential homebuyers will love.

1. Shade Trees

Has anybody else noticed it’s been hot enough around here in Sarasota to cook a roast beef out on the patio? Anybody’s rubber shoe treads melted right off?

It’s been a scorcher.

Call us weather nerds, but on a recent day we noticed that when it was 117 degrees heat index (we go by real feel temperature around here!) in the sun, it was a frosty 99 in the shade.

When you’re pondering Florida landscaping ideas, bring on the shade. Trees absolutely add value to your home, cooling both your home itself and your outdoor living areas.

Some great shade trees we love: 

Live Oak

Who wouldn’t want to lounge in the shade of this majestic Southern beauty?

Expect a crown spread of 80 feet and a mature height of 50 feet. 
If you have the space, this gem absolutely adds landscaping value to your home. 

Shady Lady Black Olive

A beautiful Florida tree for shade, it offers lush layers of leaves on zigzag stems. 

While the Shady Lady lives up to its name and offers welcome cooling shade, it doesn’t get huge, so it’s great for a medium-size yard.

Bonus: its salt tolerance makes it an ideal shade tree for coastal properties.

Gumbo Limbo

This is worth getting just so you can say the name over and over again.

Native to South Florida, the Gumbo Limbo is a semi-evergreen tree with a thick trunk and branches covered with smooth, peeling coppery-colored bark. It earned the nickname "tourist tree" because of the red and peeling bark, like the skin of a sunburned tourist. (But Gumbo Limbo is way more fun to say while you’re relaxing in its shade.)

Fun fact: its wood is soft and easily carved and was used for making carousel horses before the invention of molded plastic. (This is the sort of trivia that will impress your dinner guests and distract them from your burned chicken.)

Silver Bismarck Palm

Want shade but also want a palm? This one fits the bill, with a 15-foot frond span from tip to tip. 

And check out the striking blue-hued fronds. This sought-after palm automatically adds landscaping value to your home. 

You’ll have to be patient for your shade — it’s a slow grower, but will eventually grow to 30 feet or more, with thick, fan-shaped fronds that will happily shade you.

Montgomery Palm

With its slim trunk, this palm will fit in places that other palms won’t. Its fronds are long and hang like a canopy, making it a perfect respite for shade.

2. Usable Outdoor Spaces

This is Florida. At the risk of sounding like an irritated mother yelling at her 11-year-old, get outside! 

Don’t settle for just pretty gardens out there. Sure, you’ll see them as you pull out of the driveway in the morning and when you get home later. 

But the best Sarasota landscaping ideas involve creating beautiful living spaces outside. 

A patio. A pergola. An outdoor kitchen. A fire pit. A gurgling fountain to melt away the stress of the day. Any of these popular outdoor havens add landscaping value to your home. 

If you don’t have a great outdoor living space, potential homeowners will just see the work they need to do to add one themselves.

Also, don’t just do it to add landscaping value to your home. You’ll absolutely love the huge lifestyle boost. 

3. Pool Landscaping

Everybody here in Sarasota has a pool. You’d think it’s in the city code or something. But when the pool company packs up and drives away, they just leave you with a plain old pool, with maybe some mulch surrounding it, because they’re not allowed to leave bare soil.

That’s no fun. 

You want palm trees. Colorful tropical flowers. A vacation resort vibe. Privacy. And so does anybody interested in buying your house. 

Enter pool landscaping with majestic palms, tropical blooms and lush plants for interest and privacy. Does landscaping add value to your home? This does. 

4. Professional Landscape Maintenance 

Curb appeal, curb appeal, curb appeal.

How do you nail it? With a thriving green lawn, no weeds in sight, healthy shrubs, colorful flowers. 

That means professional landscape maintenance to stay on top of your Sarasota landscaping’s every need. A tailored lawn care program with perfectly timed fertilizer and weed control. A top-notch irrigation system that’s checked regularly. Skilled, professional pruning so everything flowers on schedule.

It’s a lot of work to add landscaping value to your home.  Leave it all to us. 

Ready for Great Florida Landscaping Ideas? Talk to Us

Does landscaping add value to your home? You bet — if it’s done right.

Our landscape design and build teams know how to boost your home’s value with cooling shade trees, knockout pool landscaping, and spectacular outdoor living spots so impressive, you’ll decide to stay and enjoy them yourself. 

Let’s get started. We’ll help you figure it all out. 

Give us a call or fill out our form today! Our team of Sarasota designers can’t wait to design the perfect outdoor haven for your backyard or vacation rental property.