Landscaped Properties Across Metro Vancouver

Check What Landscaped Grounds Cost to Keep

Landscaped grounds add real value and real upkeep, so check the irrigation, the drainage and who maintains what before you treat the garden as a free bonus.

A mature garden photographed in June tells you very little about February. Ask what the irrigation system is, whether it runs on a timer, where the shut-off sits and when it was last serviced, because a buried line with a leak is expensive and invisible. Ask the same questions about outdoor lighting and any pond or water feature.

Then price the labour. Hedging, lawn care, seasonal pruning, leaf clearing and bed replanting either cost your weekends or cost a contractor's invoice, and the annual sum on a large lot surprises most first-time owners. Ask what the current owner spends each year and who does the work.

Confirm Drainage, Trees and Strata Rules Before You Offer

Planting sits directly on top of the things that keep a house dry. Raised beds against the wall, soil built up above the foundation line, and a patio sloping back toward the building are all common and all cause trouble. Have your inspector look specifically at the grade around the perimeter and at where the downspouts discharge.

Trees deserve their own questions. Municipal bylaws protect trees above a set trunk diameter, so the maple you planned to remove for light may need a permit and a replacement planting. Roots also find clay drain tile and lift patios and driveways, so ask for any arborist report on file and check for heaving on your tour.

In a strata, read the bylaws before you plan anything. A patio or yard is often limited common property, which means the strata decides what may be planted, built or removed, and an owner who altered it without approval can be ordered to restore it. Request the bylaws and recent minutes, and confirm in writing what the strata maintains and what falls to you.