Expensive architectural plants = money saving?

Joly_Roger

Does anyone else here agree with me that architectural plants, specifically palms, offer good value, long term?

I've bought lots of expensive plants over the last year:
2 x £40 Trachycarpus Fortunei
1 x £100 Dicksonia Antarctica
2 x £20 Washingtonia Robusta
£2 x £30 Cordyline
2 x £70 Trachycarpus Fortunei
£2 x £20 Olea Europa
1 x £10 Musa Basjoo

Now, some of the plants might seem like a waste of money, but my reasoning is that these plant actually appreciate in value. If I keep them in large pots I'm sure I could sell all these plants for double what I paid for them in 5 years time, with the exception of the Dicksonia as it's very slow growing.

Also, these plants should last for a lifetime, they're not shrubs which will end up woody and need replacing, nor are they like annual bedding plants that have to be replaced every year. These plants grow bigger and bigger and become more impressive as time goes by.


The large initial outlay is just a 1 off, I won't really need to buy any plants ever again until we move home. I have spent £500, but divide that over 10 years and that's probably less than I would have spent on plants in a garden center over a year.

£50 a year to be surrounded by exotic & majestic plants such as bananas, palm trees, mature cordylines, olive trees etc is a bargain, imo.


The other great thing is that they're very low maintenance. Once they're planted in the ground and established, there's very little you need to do. No pruning (well, except the olive trees), no dead heading. Maybe removal of old leaves, but that's not a big task. So I will save a lot of gardening time in the future & time = money!

I think there are only 2 issues:

1. Positioning. Many people plant Cordylines far too close to their houses and when they get to 20 foot tall with multiple branches they have a problem.

2. Hardiness. Some architectural plants are of borderline hardiness and require winter protection, otherwise that's a lot of money down the drain.


I realise that these plants are not to everyone's taste, but I reckon that when we move home they will be a selling point. It's often the largest and most expensive houses which seem to have palm tress planted in their oversized gardens.


What do other green-fingered money savers think?

Davesnave

I think anyone would be bonkers to pay more for a house because it has certain types of plant in the garden. Try your question on the 'Debate House Prices...' forum, if you dare. (P.S. You must be logged-in to to see that 'top-shelf' forum! It has been made invisible to non members. )

I also think the type of plant you've listed is only suitable for certain locations. Like vernacular building styles, certain plant associations can't sit comfortably in an alien environment.

If you like them, that's a good enough reason for growing them. If others like them, that's a bonus.

stumpycat

http://www.easier.com/view/Home_and_Garden/Garden/article-117313.html
Is all about which plants add/subtract to the value of your house.

If you're happy with your plants, then that's good enough reason to have them. Personally I wouldn't spend a lot on any 1 plant as its chances of surviving a NE Scottish winter wouldn't be great. As for architectural plants, I think my 10 foot silver thistles take a lot of beating, and they were 50p each from a plant sale. OK, they'll snuff it after this year, but I'll have the seed and I like changing my garden around a bit each year.

covgirl

I think there are definite fashions in gardening, and right now the trend is for 'bold statements' such as cordylines. If you're going to invest, bear in mind that this year's sexy garden will one day end up regarded the same way that we regard a seventies pampas nightmare now... and we all know how flaming difficult it is to get rid of pampas!

Not for everyone, and maybe not the point of your post, I've found that many of these 'architectural' plants such as palms are planted by the council for one display before being ripped out again once the Britain in Bloom brigade have left for the year. If you can get your hands on them, they're a moneysaving way of getting the same effect - just try not to even think about the waste of taxes these plants represent! I have got palms and cordylines from local councils, though ended up passing them on as they're not really my gardening style.

Our council (Cov) lets you have them for free, they have a free plant day where they literally dump them in the city centre and let you help yourself, though you need to be there about five in the morning for anything other than annual bedding plants. The other council near me, Nuneaton and Bedworth, are BIG on BiB and have some great specimens every year. They hold an annual plant sale on one Saturday each year. A few years back we got some palms for a few quid each.

Davesnave

stumpycat wrote: »

As for architectural plants, I think my 10 foot silver thistles take a lot of beating, and they were 50p each from a plant sale. OK, they'll snuff it after this year, but I'll have the seed and I like changing my garden around a bit each year.

You'll have them for a long time. Grew one in 1982 in a previous garden. The seeds were still germinating a couple of years ago!:rotfl:

Joly_Roger

Thanks for the replies. :beer:

Although I mentioned it at the end, I wasn't really thinking of regards to resale value and adding value to the house. I did have 2 cordylines (acquired very cheaply) at our old home and the garden helped to sell the house quickly (first people who saw it).

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee19/Adadinsane/garden1s.jpg

But, we're not planning to move for a long time & spending £500 now just to possibly recoup more back in 10 years time would be crazy. :doh:



I was thinking of just pure money saving by investing now in permanent plants and not having to buy plants again.

Over 10 years these plants will have cost me about £1 a week , which I'm sure is less than I would have spent in garden centers / Homebase / B&Q over that period.


Perhaps I'm talking nonsense & just trying to convince myself that I'm saving money!
:rotfl:
Thanks again.

alanobrien

Generally i would agree with what you are saying with the exception of the washy's which are not at all hardy. Mine spear pulled this year even with over winter protection. In fact calling them Robusta should be outlawed under the trades descriptions act !

point3

No, their value doesn't grow.

When we bought our house it was newly planted with mature laurel (about 1/2 dozen @ £80 each for similar specimens from our local nursery), privet, viburnum tinus, skimmia, pittosporum tenuifolium, ceanothus, hebes, hibiscus, solanum jasminoides, lavender, pyracantha, lonicera nitida, phormium and ornamental grasses plus a load of flowering annuals. They rapidly outgrew their space and most have already been dug out and disposed of - I'd estimate the value at close to £1000 worth of plants. These plants may be worth the value at the nursery or garden centre, but who in reality is going to come to your garden to buy your unwanted plants?

amcluesent

My B&Q has a huge, unshifting stock of palms, I think Trachycarpus Fortunei. I think their buyer must have expected that it's use on Gardeners World would trigger demand like Delia for cranberrys. It would seem not...

I have some 'fashion' plants which I like - Stipa Gigantea, Dicksonia Antarctica, Agave Americana “Variegata”, Eucalyptus, Cannas, Zantedeschia etc.

But I've ripped out other plants like mahonia, Ceanothus and New Zealand flax as they've got way too big. At least the flax set-seed and I've now got 5 small plants dotted about.

You can get a bit bored with a plant in the same position; I like to grow 'statement' plants like Verbascum thapsus, teasels and Eryngium from seed so they can be moved each year.

Money_maker

Trachycarpus are a lovely palm (I have 3) but will not be looking significantly bigger in 5 years!

I think the cordylines are the only sure fire bet to look much fuller. Both the trachycarpus and cordylines will survive quite bleak winters.

I have lost a Dicksonia, Washingtonia and musja in the last couple of years left outside (i'm in the south east). Currently nurturing an ailing olive (left out by mistake).

Your plants seem to have been quite pricey.

Joly_Roger

Point3, thanks for your post, but with the exception of the phormium, I wouldn't consider any of the plants you listed as architectural, especially not the flowering annuals.

A lot of those plants get woody and undesirable with age. Coincidentally, in the last year I freecycled away Skimmia, Lavender, Hibiscus, ornamental grasses & a large potted Laurel myself.

Maybe you could have gotten someone to have dug up your phormium and paid you for the privilege?:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220436785984



However, you're half right, the value of mature architectural plants doesn't (or shouldn't) grow if the plants are planted, because transplanting mature plants is a nightmare. But if left in pots, architectural plants appreciate in value as they grow, definitely.

I've also seen planted palms sell for over a hundred each (advertised as buyer must dig out) which is madness and a rip-off as their chances of survival upon transplantation are very slim. But people seem to be naive enough to bid.

Most of my plants I don't intend to sell on, but 4 of them, Phoenix Canariensis & Olea Europa, I'm keeping in pots and may sell in the future. I've also got about 8 small Cordylines in pots specifically to sell on. I picked them up cheaply & they appreciate in value at incredible rate. A small £5 Cordyline can easilly sell for over £50 in less than 5 years growth if left in a large pot as they are valued on their height and they grow very quickly.


Prices have taken a massive hit in the last year, they are well down on what they were, but still selling:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230350416340
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