The Ultimate Garden Checklist Before Buying a New Home

Not all plants and flowers are built equal. While some are beautiful species that will bring colour and life to your garden each year, some can cause long-term damage to your home if they aren’t nipped in the bud.

Japanese Knotweed

The most well-known invasive species, Japanese knotweed can force its way through any cracks in tarmac, bricks, and pipes, causing a huge amount of destruction to the foundations of your home. 

It’s illegal to plant Japanese knotweed in the UK, and you can even be sued if it spreads over to your neighbours’ garden. 

Due to the headaches the plant causes and how hard it is remove, it can even devalue a property and in fact, depending on the category of growth you’re seeing, you could struggle to be approved for a mortgage until you’ve gotten rid of the plant.

If you’re needing to remove Japanese knotweed you should use a specialist company that can remove the plant for you and provide a treatment certificate for mortgage lenders. 

What does Japanese knotweed look like? Japanese knotweed stems grow quickly and upright, similar to bamboo, with purple speckles on the stems. They feature spade shaped leaves that grow in a zig-zag pattern, and in summer they will have small, white flowers that grow in clusters. 

Luckily, any sellers are required to declare Japanese knotweed via a TA6 form so buyers are aware of what they could be getting into. This gives home-buyers a chance to negotiate price, or ask it be removed before completing on the home. 

Bamboo

Bamboo is another plant to be wary of if you spot it during your house-hunting. 

Although not technically classified as an invasive species, bamboo spreads very quickly and can cause structural damage to bricks and tarmac, meaning neighbours can even take legal action if it makes its way over to their garden. 

Bamboo can add great privacy features to your garden. However, depending on the type, you could be looking at a hefty bill to try and contain it. Clumping bamboo is fine for garden screening, with the roots growing in tight, manageable balls. 

However, running bamboo has a rhizome system, meaning that instead of the traditional ball of roots, the roots spread horizontally below the surface, potentially into cracks of your, and any neighboring, foundations. 

If you spot it, it’s best to ask the sellers when any bamboo was planted to gauge if this could be a bigger problem as bamboo removal prices can quickly add up if the plant has been established for a long time. 

English Ivy

Ivy can be a very charming addition in a garden, creating a more whimsical appearance in a landscape and even on the outside of your home.

But when house-hunting, it’s worth keeping an eye out for any ivy growing. This plant can also worm its way into any cracks in your walls, fences, and guttering, causing structural weaknesses and damage. You may even risk invalidating home insurance if unexpected damage is found. 

You can get a surveyor’s opinion on if damage is likely, and use this as an opportunity to negotiate with any sellers. 

Ivy can be pulled down by hand, but it’s worth being cautious. If the plant has made its way into any structures, you could risk pulling your bricks down too! Wild birds also use ivy as a nest, so make sure you aren’t destroying these when removing the plant. 

You will also need to use a weed killer on the roots, to avoid the plant coming back. 

Giant Hogweed

Giant hogweed can be confused with its relative cow parsley, but giant hogweed causes a real threat if you spot it in your garden. 

While it doesn’t damage property, giant hogweed is a non-native invasive plant, and its sap is very harmful, causing burns, blisters and scars. If it comes into contact with your eyes, it can even cause blindness. 

Legally you aren’t allowed to plant or grow hogweed and once removed any waste needs to be taken to a licensed landfill to be disposed of properly. 

Giant hogweed loves water, so if you are looking at any homes near riverbanks or waterways, you should keep an eye out for the plant. 

When telling giant hogweed apart from cow parsley, the clue is in the name. Giant hogweed is bigger, growing up to 5m tall, and its white flowers are bigger than cow parsley’s. Their stems are thick and green with dark reddish-purple spots and white hairs. 

Because of the danger when it comes to this plant, it’s best to steer clear of it yourself and call in professionals to deal with removal and disposal. 

Himalayan Balsam

Another invasive plant, himalayan balsam won’t damage your buildings but it can be a very annoying weed to spot in your potential garden. 

Growing up to 3m tall, the plant features pink and purple flowers that wildlife will love. However, these will quickly take over a garden and compete with your other plants for nutrients, space and light, eventually killing off your garden’s biodiversity. 

If you spot it in your garden you aren’t legally obligated to remove it, but you shouldn’t encourage the growth of the plant at all. Because a single plant can produce hundreds of seeds, which can remain viable for two years, it can spread quickly and take a while to fully eradicate from a garden. 

If himalayan balsam has taken over the garden you’re looking to purchase, it can be worth asking the sellers to have the plant removed, or even negotiating on price due to their invasive nature. 

While trees can be a beautiful addition to a garden, they can sometimes cause problems for our properties. When house-hunting, be aware of any large trees such as oak, poplar, and willow, that are near the home. 

The reason you may need to be wary of these large trees is that they can draw water from the soil, shrinking it and causing subsidence (the shrinking of ground beneath a building’s foundation) which can lead to structural damage. 

Tree roots can also spread and break through concrete and tarmac, affecting not only you but also your neighbours. 

Can I cut down a tree in my garden? The answer isn’t always that simple. You will need to check for a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) if you want to remove it. 

It’s worth asking the sellers if there is a TPO in place if you’re very keen on removing a tree from a garden you’re viewing, this can save you time down the line. 

If there isn’t a TPO, you can go ahead and remove it from your garden when moving in. Otherwise, you will have to apply for permission from your local council to chop this down.

Of course, when it comes to your new garden, something you’ll want to know is what the best plants for your garden will be. 

On your viewing, evaluate the level of drainage the garden has. Look for signs of waterlogging, and any moss on lawns which are signs of poor drainage. If you visit on a rainy day try to spot any areas where water pools as this can cause problems for your plants such as root rot. 

You’ll also want to find out if your soil is clay-heavy, sanding, or loam, to know what you’ll be able to grow when you move in. Usually, you can perform a squeeze test on damp soil to determine its type, or you can use the UK Soil Observatory (UKSO) map viewer to avoid getting any muddy hands during your viewing. 

Garden orientation can be very important when it comes to what you plant in your garden, and where you plant it. 

While west-facing gardens will get more sun in the evening, east-facing will have sunlight during the morning. South-facing gardens will get the most sunlight in general, while north-facing will need shade-loving plants.

When on your viewing, simply use a compass app on your phone and face the bottom of the garden, this will help you know what direction your garden is facing. 

After moving in, you can then track the sunlight across your garden to see which spots have the most sun and shade throughout the day. You can then plant accordingly. 

Of course, another thing to consider if you’re wanting to spend plenty of time in your garden is, ‘how overlooked is it’?

Terraced and sem-detached homes can be particularly overlooked by neighbours, impeding on your sense of privacy when on your lawn. 

While it’s something to be aware of on your viewing, this doesn’t necessarily have to be a deal breaker when it comes to house-hunting! Planting trees, using trellises or screening, and building pergolas can help bring more privacy to an overlooked garden.

Keen gardeners will know that there’s nothing more frustrating than doing work on your garden and having to go through a house to get outside.

When viewing a home, you’ll want to check that you can access the garden directly via a back or side gate, and that access hasn’t been cut off by any extensions or garages. 

Another key thing to consider is how secure this access is, and whether you’ll need to add security onto your gates when you’ve moved in.