34 www.lep.co.uk Saturday, May 9, 2015LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

8

GARDENING

First impressions countHanna Stephenson talks to Phil Spencer about making an impact with potential buyers

So, you want to sell your house? Then there’s two things you should know: summer is the best

time to do it, and the deciding factor may be your garden.

Some 66% of prospective buyers in Britain say the gar-den is vital to their decision on whether or not to buy a house, according to a survey of 2,000 people by online trade recom-mendation service Rated Peo-ple, while estate agents advise that a garden can increase a property’s price tag by up to 20%.

So it’s time to hide the dustbins, ditch the rubbish, dig out the weeds and make some colourful additions to your front garden to make it a welcoming haven.

If you park your car in the front garden, don’t try to en-hance the area with fiddly little plants which may flop over the

much use for leading the way up a path, you can achieve a hap-py medium by fixing attractive lights of a higher wattage on to low walls.

Spencer adds: “Don’t forget personality - people can always tell the difference between a house and a home and it works the same way with a garden. Don’t be afraid to add a bit of personality to your deco-rations and outdoor accessories. Why not try deploying some inventive plant pots or wall decorations to make your garden a bit more interest-ing and welcoming?”

With increasing worries about front gardens b e i n g o v e r -paved, leading to drainage and o t h e r p r o b -lems, it’s worth

considering the design of your front space.

Use paving materials that al-low water to seep through such as brick pavers, gravel, matrix pavers or grass reinforcement. Utilise walls and fences with climbers such as clematis, jas-mine or ivy. Include shrubs and small trees, such as lavender or camellia, in ‘dead space’.

W i t h t h e f r o n t g a r d e n

creating a great first impression, your home may

soon have the ‘Sold’ sign outside it.

sensible plan to create a gar-den that looks fantastic, but re-quires minimum effort from its current owner or future owner.

“Shrubs and conifers add stature and texture, but can vir-tually be left to their own devic-es once you’ve prepared the soil.

“Plants like chrysanthe-mum, gardenia or jasmine can retain moisture longer and therefore require less watering.”

No-fuss planting for those with little time to maintain their front garden might in-clude euphorbias and phormi-ums for strong structure in a sunny garden, while variegat-ed ivy and hostas in pots are ideal plantings for a shady area around a front door.

Lighting also plays a part. If you have one tree in your front garden, place some stra-tegic uplighters underneath it to make it more attractive at night. While solar lights are not

parking space and end up being squashed. Instead, group a few plants strategically - taking ac-count of the movement of cars - to create a bold and practical effect.

Standard potted trees are often a way to make a front en-trance look grander, so if you’re after a really quick fix, look in your local garden centre for standard bay or olive trees in pots, to frame your front door. Alternatively, go for box topiary.

Hide eyesores with quick-growing evergreen climbers such as the cultivars of the honeysuckle Lonicera japonica, and plant other climbers such as clematis or roses to adorn bare walls.

Obviously, if you’re in a rush to sell, you’re not going to have time to plant a hedge to block out pollution and road noise, but you can make smaller effec-tive improvements with some quick planting.

C o n s i d e r p utt i n g u p a framework of trellis to screen your dustbins and plant fast-growing climbers around it, even if it’s just some variegated ivy.

If you have harsh concrete steps in the front garden, soften it by lining the path with ever-green plants in pots, and place container plants around the front door to make the entrance look welcoming and cared for. Bear in mind that you may not sell your house immediately, so permanent plantings which will provide interest in the cool-er months may be a better bet.

Location Location Loca-tion’s Phil Spencer, who’s a Rated People ambassador, ad-vises home-owners to stay low-maintenance.

“Of course, everybody loves the idea of having a house with a fantastic garden, but all too often, don’t relish the reality behind maintaining it. It’s a

This walk starts in what must be the saddest corner in Lan-cashire.In August 1944 two USAAF Lib-erators took off on a morning test flight from Warton Aero-drome. Flight control realised that the weather conditions had suddenly changed and a violent storm was approach-ing, so recalled the aircraft. As one of the planes “Classy

Chassis” attempted to battle with the wind its wing clipped the top of trees and it crashed into the centre of Freckleton Village causing extensive dam-age and huge loss of life. Tragi-cally, the infants’ wing of Holy Trinity CofE primary school was engulfed in flames when fuel from the ruptured tanks caught fire. 38 children and six adults died in the school out of

a death toll of 61. It is difficult to conceive of anything worse – in a blink a generation had been erased. Village, school and aerodrome are still there and the tragic events of 70 years ago have left no visible mark apart from the memorial in the churchyard.This walk starts in the village centre and takes you past the end of the runway of the aer-odrome used to test modern combat aircraft built at nearby BAE Systems. Finally it joins the Lancashire Coastal Way before returning to the village.Directions: The memorial is to the rear of Holy Trinity Church on Lytham Road. The cruciform plot with a tall pil-lar cross covers the site of the mass grave of 38 children, two teachers and seven civilians who were buried there.It is a place to ponder on the meaning of life and other mat-ters. Leaving the churchyard at the side gate leading into Trinity Close turn right on to Preston Old Road and keep ahead to a mini roundabout.Here turn right on to Naze Lane East. There now follows a road walk that takes you alongside Warton’s main run-way and then as Stoney Lane the road turns south.Now on Bush Lane pass the end of Cherry Lane and follow the bend to the right signalling

the start of Pool Lane. As this approaches the aerodrome buildings turn left at the next junction. The lane now down-graded to a track comes to an end at a stile leading on to the Lancashire Coastal Path. Before you are the banks of the River Ribble.Cross the stile and turn left on to a path which can be mud-dy after prolonged spells of rain and follow it close to an embankment for a little over half a mile. After a stile a sign post points inland. Climb up the embankment to reach a large field. To the right there is a trig point perched above the confluence of the Ribble and Freckleton Pool. This is Naze Point and it provides a fine view despite the fact it is just a few feet above the river level. Across the river is an-other confluence where the River Douglas enters the Rib-ble. To the right of the Doug-las lies Hesketh Out Marsh the RSPB’s newly created reserve; to the left of the Douglas lies Longton Marsh.The way back to Freckleton is easy. With your back to the river aim for the far left corner of the field. Cross a stile into an enclosed path. After Naze Cot-tage on the right turn right and then left to follow the hedge-row on the right. After tall metal railings on the left bear right on to a drive that passes

between buildings to take you through the boatyard. 300yds after the boatyard turn left to join Preston Old Road and the village centre.POI Freckleton Half Mara-thon: This is the oldest half marathon in the UK and this year celebrates its Golden Ju-bilee on June 21. Inspired by Ron Hill’s marathon perform-ance in the 1964 Olympics, the village Sports Committee decided it would stage a race on June 19, 1965. Ron Hill was invited to enter which he did winning the race. Having set the course record he broke it in 1969 with a time of 64m44s which has not be bested since. The Ribble Vehicle Preser-vation Trust: This charity which aims to preserve the

heritage of Ribble Motor Serv-ices which was at one time one of Britain’s largest bus compa-nies has a depot on the Naze Lane East Industrial Estate. See www.rvpt.co.uk for fur-ther information.

l Described by Bob Clare of www.lancashirewalks.com

l Bob’s book “100 Walks in Lancashire” Published by Crowood Press is now availa-ble from many local booksell-ers and outdoor stores.

__________________________Start: Freckleton Village car park PR4 1PB close to the library.Distance: 4 miles 6kTime: 2 hours Grade: Easy.Map: OS Explorer 286 Blackpool & Preston

Weekend Walk: Freckleton

A sad walk into wartime tragedy