Good gardens will increase property value

The UKs gardeners may find themselves quids-in when it comes to selling their home, it has been suggested.

Garden designer Jill Fenwick believes that people are currently looking to improve their existing property rather than move and that an attractive garden will increase its value.

"If you do have a really nice garden then it will increase the value if you do sell the house eventually," she said.

Ms Fenwick added that aside from boosting the worth of the property, an attractive garden can ignite buyer interest.

She suggested that if two houses are similar and cost the same, the one with the beautiful garden is more likely to be sold first.

The annual Halifax Home Improvement Survey from 2008 found that more than a quarter (28 per cent) of Brits were planning to improve their home in the next year in a bid to increase the value of their house.

Of these, 35 per cent had intentions to improve their outdoor space.