Step out into garden living

Continuing his series of property articles, estate agent Trevor Cooper considers the attraction a garden can have when prospective buyers seek more than bricks and mortar.

THE 16 May issue of Country Life has a colourful section on Guernsey and features some of the island's finest properties currently on the market.

Browsing further through the magazine and the property news page measures the importance of gardens for buyers of country houses, no doubt to coincide with last week's Chelsea Flower Show. A headline quote summarises that, 'A beautiful garden can increase a property's price by 10% or more'.

That's fair comment, but then the main photograph is of an exquisite formal garden of just over half an acre (one and a quarter vergees, to us) describing it as 'manageable' and 'small but beautiful'.

So are the 'small' and 'manageable' gardens attached to most of the houses in Guernsey just as valuable? Emphatically yes, of course they are.

Not everyone is a keen gardener – and it is difficult to keep a garden nice if it doubles as a football pitch, a dog run or a car park. Nevertheless, the value of a garden is principally in its use and usefulness and it is the recent concept of the garden as an 'extra room' that has rapidly developed.

Guernsey families were once content with sandwiches, cake and ice creams on the beach. Content? We loved it. Now alfresco dining at home is all the rage as we shiver in the garden trying to evoke our Mediterranean holidays, although occasional perfect evenings make the effort worthwhile.

Barbecues are now commonplace and even the smallest back yard will suffice for this culinary escape outside. Reason enough why so many people make the most of their outdoor space.

And flats are not excluded from this. Apart from the lucky few with a balcony or terrace, some flats actually have gardens to call their own. A refurbished one-bedroom flat with its own garden, Flat 2, Plaisance, is currently under offer with one local agent.

It also has 'La Fontaine' in Havelet for sale, with its imaginatively-terraced garden, and is one of the agents instructed with La Belle Vallette. This was the home for more than 35 years of former States horticultural adviser Peter Danks and his wife Mary before they returned to England. As one would expect, the large, well-nurtured garden has plenty to offer including mature allotments, fruit trees and vegetable and flower beds. These are now cared for by the current owners, who have also extended and stylishly remodelled the bungalow that, as La Belle Vallette suggests, sits within the delightful Steam Mill Lanes.

The raised deck with gazebo at 2, Summerland, Collings Road, currently on the market, is a feature in itself and an attractive sitting area to admire the well-stocked garden.

A house called Daffodils would be expected to have a colourful garden, but fruit trees and raised vegetable boxes also thrive behind this semi-detached chalet bungalow for sale in Rue des Marettes, St Martin's.

No. 9, Candie takes an easy option, being a contemporary pied-a-terre with a balcony overlooking glorious Candie Gardens. The harbour view is another bonus, when one or the other would be plenty.

The gardens at Oak Cottage, Albecq, are as pretty as a picture – when one isn't gazing across to Cobo Bay from its terrace.

A beautifully-presented Victorian house on the way to Saints has a large and delightful garden. No surprise, then, that the property is actually called Le Jardin.

This small selection of properties currently for sale with feature gardens are not necessarily the only, the largest or the best on the market, but they certainly offer something extra for buyers looking for more than bricks and mortar.

Local market properties in excess of £1m. typically feature impressive gardens, such as the magnificent Les Raies Farmhouse close to St Saviour's Church.

But this need not limit more modest properties revelling in the great outdoors. Just the opposite. A gem of a garden found where one least expects it is creative and incredibly engaging.

The beauty is that gardens, yards and terraces can be embellished as extravagantly or as cheaply as desired.

The staggering variety of hard landscaping includes wood, slate, brick and stone in their many forms and colours, with metal, clay, water and glass added to the list for ornamental effect, combined with lighting, heating and showrooms full of garden furniture to make a strong – and expensive – statement, without a flower or plant in sight.

Easier diversions from the norm can also be effective. Add a pastel shade to an otherwise dreary wall, fence or shed, or angle a mirror to reflect shapes and light. Group a circle of beach stones on a patch of gravel to add interest, or plant ivy tumbling out of a watering can. Stand an empty plant pot next to smaller ones on their side, but use an odd number rather than even. Nothing about myth or legend, it just looks better and no one can explain why.

The casual, laissez-faire impression is a favourite. Odd chairs at an old kitchen table with serviettes matching the different scraps of colourful bunting will give shabby-chic elegance.

The style you choose should best suit you and your property. Thankfully, it does not require the extremes of Lancelot Brown – better known as 'Capability' Brown due to his habit of saying 'this garden has capability for improvement' when he viewed a project for the first time. Nevertheless, it's a good maxim to have.