When you’re thinking about building a new home in New Jersey, it’s easy to limit your focus to the interior and exterior design of the house. And while that’s critically important, you don’t want to overlook the property that your home rests on.

Winter may seem like an odd time to be talking about landscaping in New Jersey, but it’s important to plan for that ahead of time, instead of tackling that part of the homebuilding equation once construction is done.

You need to budget for your landscaping ahead of time for a couple of reasons.  How you finish your yard has a big impact on how your family will enjoy your new home.  Beyond that, it affects your curb appeal now, and if you should ever want to sell your home in the future.

So how much should you plan on spending to landscape your new home?  Most builders and landscapers would put this figure at somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of the value of your home. Why such a range?

How much you spend can depend on the size of your lot. It can also depend on how intricate you want to be with the landscaping and hardscaping you put in.  If you plan to use most of the yard as a grass playground for your kids, it might be less.  If you want fountains and walls and pathways, you’ll pay more.  Your investment will also depend on the amount of personal “sweat equity” you plan to invest.  If you love working in your yard you may enjoy the process of planning and planting yourself.  That can reduce your cost.

If you do plan to take care of your own planting, you’ll want to make sure you choose vegetation that does well in New Jersey’s climate. Here’s a helpful post that lists (and shows) some of the plants that thrive in New Jersey gardens.  You don’t want to waste your money on vegetation that doesn’t do well in the Garden State!

Making sure you plan (and budget) adequately for your landscaping, as it is one of the keys to creating the New Jersey home that you want!