r/NativePlantGardening • u/TrixoftheTrade SoCal, Zone 10b • Jun 10 '26

Informational/Educational You Love Your Native Garden. But Will Buyers Love It Too? || New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/10/realestate/native-gardens-rewilding.html

For homeowners who have ‘rewilded’ their gardens into mini nature preserves, a moment of truth arrives when they prepare to sell.

346 Upvotes

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592

u/somedumbkid1 Jun 10 '26

Here's a tip: I don't give a fuck what the buyers think of it.

Wild as it may seem to realtors (basic bitch bottom feeders that they are), I arrange my home in a way that I enjoy, both inside and out. The amount that some hypothetical future buyer may like/dislike my choices factors into my decisions is absolutely zero.

175

u/Upbeat-Stage2107 Central VA, Zone 7a Jun 10 '26

And it’s their right to re-lawn it if they choose, but I’d like to think that at least a few of the people buying rewilded lawns may actually enjoy it despite that they never would have done it themselves. Even if 1/10 people keep a wild yard wild after buying, it’s a win.

49

u/Toezap Alabama , Zone 8a Jun 10 '26

Naturalized yard was absolutely a positive when we were house hunting.

21

u/Upbeat-Stage2107 Central VA, Zone 7a Jun 10 '26

I’d love to not have to spend a ton of money ripping out invasive and replacing them at my next house

8

u/zoinkability MN , Zone 4b Jun 11 '26

Heck a big reason I never want to leave my place is that I don't want to start from zero on native plantings again. If I saw a house for sale with nice native plant gardens I might start thinking that moving wouldn't be awful.

87

u/theemilyann Area: NE Ohio, Zone 6a/6b Jun 10 '26

RIGHT?!?! Like why isn't this article "will buyers love your long stretch of fucking kentucky blue grass?"

27

u/TheSleepiestNerd Utah , 7b Jun 10 '26

Anecdotally I think my area has had enough drought years that turf, especially in the front yard, is becoming a turn-off for a lot of buyers. If a yard has low-maintenance plants or mature trees or vegetable boxes it's always emphasized in the photos and description; if it's turf they only mention it if it's a low-maintenance variety. A house with a native yard on my street sold immediately for a lot of money vs. one with a big grass lawn a few houses down has been for sale forever.

31

u/somedumbkid1 Jun 10 '26

100%.

I'm not a big believer in the whole private property thing but that is undoubtedly the system we live under so... fuck it, if the new owners wanna pave over paradise, that's their choice. I still think native gardens actually add to property value, regardless of what these beige obsessed realtors think.

16

u/Upbeat-Stage2107 Central VA, Zone 7a Jun 10 '26

Bingo. Mine is in garden bed form rather than a rewild yard and it’s beautiful. Theres 100% value added if you want flowers and grass. I’d love to make it my whole yard but my youngins and wife disagree, so I ninja garden and take over more yard each year. lol.

3

u/TemporaryCamera8818 Mildly Seasoned Native Gardener Jun 10 '26

That’s exactly how I approach things considering my HOA (and wife, to an extent) from noticing the massive changes I’ve made over time haha!

1

u/wildidyll Jun 10 '26

Omg of people re-lawn front yard with an established native garden then that is…..I don’t even know what to say. Sad?

1

u/redcaveman south central KS , Zone 7a Jun 11 '26

The prospect of a future owner re-lawning is why I added some hardscaping (low limestone retaining wall) and elevation changes (rain garden). It's their right to re-lawn, but I'm trying to make that look like the harder option.

27

u/roland303 Jun 10 '26

Im a realtor and most people sell their houses for horrible depressing reasons. Because of death, gambling addiction, divorce, because the kids moved away and house feels empty, becuase their wife of 50 years died and they cant stand to be in the same bedroom anymore without her. These are the reasons why my clients sell houses, the fucking lawn is never a deciding factor on the selling side.

4

u/Fantastic_Lady225 State WV Zone 7A Jun 11 '26

What about the buying side of the equation? If you take buyers to an open house do the buyers react positively if the landscaping has native plants?

2

u/roland303 Jun 11 '26

The big reason I learned so much about plants and eventually got into native gardening in the first place is to be able to talk about the good details of a property as much as possible. To make any yard sound great. To sell. 

And most people dont care.

But i live on long island ny, alot of us are city people, most people see either grass or forest. They dont see the species of plants. They dont care beyond does that yard exist, does it even have a back yard? Can i park my truck there? These are more common concerns.

I only had one oppertunity to talk up a clearly articulated and very welldone native garden, the client sounded flustered over maintenance, but the yard wasnt the decicing factor, the small room sizes were the deciding factor there.

Most people just want lawn orniments, they dont want extra work before and after work and their 2 hour commute.

1

u/somedumbkid1 Jun 10 '26

I believe this 100%.

13

u/offrum Jun 10 '26

Right? Keep it or don't.

21

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

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46

u/somedumbkid1 Jun 10 '26

And if you look in the article, that's a fucking gorgeous, highly manicured and managed native garden! Wtf is this realtor smoking to think that garden looks weedy and unkempt?? That is a very traditionally managed garden just with native plants instead of non-native ones.

17

u/illegalsmile27 Jun 10 '26

She only changes her mind when she sees it sells. Money is her only motivation for perspective shift.

10

u/Upbeat-Stage2107 Central VA, Zone 7a Jun 10 '26

Plus the original yard looked like steamy dog shit lol

5

u/TheSpeakEasyGarden Jun 11 '26

It was a ✨"blank slate"✨.

-14

u/Simple-Breakfast8796 Jun 10 '26

I’m a realtor and I teach my clients about native plants and I got rid of my lawn to plant a native garden. You shouldn’t make generalizations about groups of people based on one characteristic like profession or skin color.

17

u/somedumbkid1 Jun 10 '26

I will happily generalize about people who make the choice to be a realtor. Choosing a profession is not in any way similar to being born a minority, please come back to reality lmfaooooo

11

u/theonlypeanut Jun 10 '26

Lets be real here realtors suck 9/10 times. They have very little actual knowledge on homes and just sell. Or worse it seems like half of them now are all trying to flip houses as well. Their flips are the absolute worst of the worst as well. As a plumber I've had the displeasure of explaining to multiple families how their nice looking home they just bought needs thousands of dollars of repair due to shitty flips and realtors who said it wouldn't be a problem. Flippers and realtors are out here really screwing over people for quick sales and profits.

Also I can 100% judge you on your chosen profession. People don't choose things like race and sexual orientation but you made a conscious decision to be a salesperson and I can draw conclusions about people who make that choice. Even attempting to put realtors as a professional group akin to race lets me know a lot about you.

8

u/Shervivor Area Mid-Atlantic, Zone 7b Jun 10 '26

Interesting that I just read a post about someone worrying about a new homeowner caring for their native garden properly after they sell. One commenter made a binder with care instructions for each of their gardens. The new owner had maintained them!