Woke up to a nice brisk Fall morning. Leaves were lightly scattered on the ground and the cool breeze was making those still on the branch a lil nervous. While I was waiting for the dog to do her business I took a sip of my coffee and looked at my big backyard. I love the Fall, not only for the crisp mornings, but also for one other significant reason – no more mowing.
When we were in the market for our house one of the key factors was a large yard. The consistent approach to housing construction in the DC area is to build houses right next to each other, trying to fit as many as you can onto the given parcel of land. In fact, when we asked a realtor at a new development they stated the standard distance between houses was 6 feet! We didn’t want to look out of our window and see our neighbor’s siding so we had two options; buy an older house or move wayyyy out in the boonies and have a ridiculous commute. So, we opted for an older home that had some land but was still close to the city. With the extra land comes the added responsibility to take care of it.
Don’t get me wrong, I love mowing the grass. There’s simply something enjoyable about the fresh smell of grass and the look of a nicely manicured lawn once you’re done. But, it does get old after awhile. When Spring hits, the grass goes crazy and you are mowing every 3-4 days. As the lazy hot and humid days of Summer roll in, you find a weekly mowing gets you through. Welcoming Fall means I can now relax a little and let the yard go softly into Winter dormancy.
So, while I love having a big yard, I do get tired of it by the time Winter rolls around. The timing of my landscaping apathy is usually impeccable. Just as I’m getting sick of mowing, a nice Fall morning welcomes me to a new reality.
Do you have a big yard? Do you find yourself feeling happy that the mowing season is coming to an end and you can finally take a break? What if you are in the market for a new house. Are you wondering if you should go for the property with a big yard?
Here are some pros and cons to consider…
Pros
- Play Area – A big yard means a big area for kids to play. This is probably THE reason to get a big yard. If you have kids, you’ll want to send them out to play once in awhile. Unfortunately, this strategy hasn’t panned out for me. My daughters see one spider and they are back in the house. Another benefit of the large play area is if you have a dog, particularly a big dog, you can let them run crazy. We have a big dog and having the room to run her every day is a tremendous asset. Especially since I don’t like to walk a dog.
- Buffer Between Neighbors – Having a big yard also means you have some space between you and your neighbors. I’ve heard from quite a few people that once you have that buffer between you and your neighbors, you’ll never be able to go back to the traditional tight housing layout. I tend to agree with this notion.
- Growth Opportunity – Having a big yard allows you the opportunity for growth. If you want to add an addition to the house, you have the space to do it. If you want to add a shed to the backyard, you have the space to do it. If you want to build a separate garage, you have the space to do it. If you want to spend countless hours constructing a playset, which might have one spider crawl across it, which makes your kids run inside never to use it again, and then have it become a mere obstacle to mow around, you have the space to do it (just sayin’).
- Curb Appeal – If you keep up with your yard and it looks lush and green, then having a big yard adds curb appeal to your house. I pay someone when it comes to fertilizing and taking care of my yard. I have no problem admitting that. It doesn’t make me less of a man. I also pay someone to change my oil. I couldn’t take care of a small 5’x5′ area of grass at my townhouse without burning it so when we moved to the house, I bit the bullet and hired someone. It’s been well worth it as my yard continues to look full and healthy throughout the year.
Cons
- Upkeep – Of course a bigger yard means more upkeep. More area to mow, more materials to buy, and more time to invest. Expect spending a few hours a week working various aspects of your yard. In the Spring, you’ll double that time.
- Cost – With the bigger yard, if you want to do landscaping or any other project, your costs will naturally be higher. The scale of projects increases when you have more space to address. If you are going to pay someone to take care of it, everything becomes more expensive. If you like to water your grass, you might want to forget about it with a big yard. I rarely water my grass. One, it would take forever to move the sprinkler around. And two, it would cost a king’s ransom in regards to the water bill.
- Curb Appeal – Yes, curb appeal was a Pro, but it can also be a Con. If you don’t keep up with a big yard, it can amplify the unattractiveness of your house. If your yard is full of weeds, spotty, and brown then the appeal of your house takes a hit. As mentioned earlier, a big yard requires big responsibility.
One other consideration to take into account when discussing the merits of having a big yard is the impact on resell value. This could be a Pro or a Con. Some buyers may want a big yard and others may shy away from it. In order to alleviate concerns of potential homebuyers that may be on the fence, you should avoid going overboard with landscaping. People want simple and functional spaces. If you go to a house and they have elaborate flower beds, built in ponds, and excessive landscaping you might be a little taken aback. Do you really want to inherit all of that work? If you keep it simple, allow sufficient space for the yard to be functionally used, yet still have enough landscaping to make it appealing, you’ll provide the best option for potential buyers.
What has been your experience with big or small yards? Which do you prefer and why? If you could offer one bit of advice for those thinking of going big, what would it be?
We used to live in a condo with two boys and no yard. Now we live in a big house with a big yard. Kids are still underfoot – just like the condo, but when I mow the lawn I feel like I am all alone. No one can bother you when the mower is purring.
We looked at several houses with small backyards and felt that we were always looking at our neighbors. Advice for new home buyers: if you can touch your neighbors house while touching your house, its too close and you will hate it.
LOL…very true. If you can touch both houses at the same time, it’s NOT good. And I agree with you about mowing and the isolation of it. Sometimes it is rather therapeutic to zone out on the mower and get away from it all (mine is a riding mower).
I enjoyed reading this as we’re currently thinking about moving house and would like to move to somewhere with a perhaps bigger, or at least flatter, garden. We’ve got a reasonable sized garden at the moment, but it’s on a bit of a slope and on three different levels. With there being some quite steep steps, it isn’t really all that kid friendly. We’d love to move to a place where our son (who’s currently five months old) will be able to run around a bit more easily.
You bring up a good point. It’s not always about the size but also about the slope. Our yard has a slope and sometimes I wish it was flatter. But, it is good to have all that rain water drain off without having to worry about water damage in the basement. AND, in the winter, you have kick-ass sledding hills!
Our family has moved 12 times in 29 years of marriage so we’ve experienced a wide variety of settings. From an apartment to living with both sets of parents for a short time to 12 acres of rolling hills with a pond. While I was happiest at our 12 acre retreat it was tons of work. Family gatherings were the best, though. I loved having everyone over and we’d all gather at the pond with fishing poles. Running from line to line, baiting empty hooks and doing fish-lip surgery was all great fun. But, alas, there is the other down side to a big place – the price tag. When the economy turned down so did my wife’s self employment income. After trying to sell the place for 18 months to no avail we lost the place. After a long financial battle we have purchased a small house with less than 1/2 acre so grass cutting is really simple. We’re part of a neighborhood but it feels secluded the way the place is situated. It’s enough room for my two youngest kids to run around and I can spend more time on the trampoline than I do performing yard maintenance. I’m content.
Wow. Great comment! You seem to have experienced it all over the years. Sorry to hear about losing your place, but sounds like you are all settled again with a nice house, a nice yard, and room for the kids to burn off some energy. Enjoy! And be careful on that trampoline!
My wife and I purchased our first home in 2000, with a big backyard when our two daughters were younger. We had the playground set and it served it purpose for entertaining family and guest but the upkeep was tiresome at times. 16 years later we are in the process of building a new home and a big backyard was not a show stopper. We have a bigger home with a little backyard and I am content. What I like about the location on our new home is that we don’t have any homes behind our future home and it’s a big open area in which we can use to entertain and clean up who we are done and I don’t have mowe it🤓
I have a large yard now and I’m moving to a new build in 2 months with a little yard and have mixed feeling about it.
I love my current yard, it looks great and always get compliaments on it. Working in the yard is my zen. But what most don’t understand is it is hard work and expensive. I spend many of weekends prepping yard in early spring. Maintaining through peak season. Cleanup in the fall and prepping for winter.
I have 2 young kids and my time with family is priceless. Living Colorado, 6-9 months of the year my yard isn’t used due to weather and season. So we accepted the smaller yard so I could spend more time with family. And our backyard is the Rocky Mountains.
what about buying a home for 50 years old couple, no kits, but I am still looking for a house with nice view to trees or garden, if you buy a townhouse, you have the neighbors next to you super close side by side, and you pay monthly fee, no right to do barbeque in summer, you cannot touch garden because is common area if they have, some just have concrete patio common area, and you going older age you have 3 floors stairs to move, bottom floor garage and family room, then next floor social area and kitchen, then next bedrooms, I think is to much going up and down.
In a old home, I think is better bec you pay a contractor for some cosmetic or renovations, still have your privacy. I think everything has a price in life, if I want nice long yard 50 x 100 is good enough I hav to pay someone who take care grass, but its nice and healthy to wake up in the morning take some fresh air by garden and be in contact w the nature. having a nice view is very important for me, I rather see nice big tree or grass than see some of my neighbor right next to me each morning with crazy hair or rules walking around, sometimes they donot take care their gardens or yards, they just accumulate toys staff bikes shoes chairs upside down doesn’t look nice and clean.