Landscaping is one of the best ways to make your house look better. You can have one of the newest and best houses in town, but without some nice landscaping it might look plain – and the house next door that’s 10-20 years older might be considered more attractive simply because of the beautiful landscaping.

Landscaping isn’t just for you and your family, although it does add something beautiful to your daily life. It’s about much more than what the neighbors think. Sure, it’s nice to have something that looks nice for everyone passing by, but there are more and lasting benefits to doing some landscaping, even in Bozeman and surrounding Montana towns.

Landscaping increases the value of your home or property. A recent Wall Street journal article says that, “If you spend 5 percent of the value of your home on landscaping, and do it wisely, you can get 150 percent or more of your money back.” Landscaping can add upwards of 20% to a home’s value!

“If you plant a tree today on the west side of your home, in 5 years your energy bills should be 3% less. In 15 years the savings will be nearly 12%.” —Dr. E. Greg McPherson, Center for Urban Forest Research

And when you consider that a good landscaping job (ahem, like Granite Peak does…) can last many years, the investment is a no-brainer.

On top of that though, landscaping can even save up to 25% on your heating and cooling bills. That’s right, trees and bushes can help shade your house in the summer and protect from wind in winter. You can save even more on air conditioning – up to 50% reduction in a/c in possible when adding more shade to a property!

“The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day.” -U.S. Department of Agriculture

If you’re looking to sell your house, perhaps the single best thing you can do is have a nice landscaping job done – take it from a Realtor. A survey of Realtors found that 83% of them believe that mature trees have a strong or moderate affect on the ability for homes to sell.

Trees themselves have graet value, with some of then actually being worth $500, $1000 or even more for a mature tree. Those trees can also help reduce noise by up to 50%. If you live in a city or near a highway, this is huge!

Adding trees and shrubbery also has positive environmental effects. They’ll remove carbon dioxide while adding oxygen and filter the air of pollutants. They also affect the water table by preventing water runoff and erosion. This helps recharge the ground water supply and helps prevent the movement of chemicals and sediment into local streams and other water supplies.

Of course a beautifully designed landscape area just looks nice and is great to come home to. It can help reduce stress and give your family a nice place to entertain as well as offer privacy.

Some might think that landscaping isn’t as beneficial in Montana, but it’s not true. Towns in our area such as Helena, Butte, Bozeman, Missoula, Big Sky, Sheridan, Ennis and Dillon can all benefit from added landscaping.

Granite Peak Landscaping can help design your ideal landscaping area. Contact us today if you have any questions or you’d like a quote!