Beyond curb appeal

I’ve got to tip my hat to green industry consultant Sid Raisch for sharing a real estate listing on his Facebook page. But it wasn’t your run-of-the-mill description. The listing agent highlighted the property’s fig trees, peach trees and grapes. And it wasn’t buried in the description — it was the second sentence after the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.

The wood floors, the spacious kitchen and the bonus room were second fiddle to the plants. She even used two exclamation points after describing the trees and grapes. How nifty is that? It was an unexpected surprise. And it wasn’t because the agent was grasping for something positive to say about the house. This was a lovely place with neat features.

Sid wrote, “A positive sign of the times. Used to be realtors advertised the number of bedrooms and bathrooms or the distance to a Starbucks. Now it’s plants and flowers. Wow. Let’s not take this lightly.”

What a boon to the green industry if this becomes the norm in real estate listings. Sure, landscapes are often mentioned in generic terms, but I’m grateful for this agent’s enthusiasm and appreciation of edible plants — something she thought was one of the top-selling characteristics of this property.

Imagine seeing real estate descriptions that mention spicy-scented dianthus, drought-tolerant dianthus, ground-hugging veronica or hummingbird-heavy fuchsia.

So why not help make that happen? It’s another vehicle to market your product and help the consumer understand how valuable plants really are. You could offer a service to local real estate agents that not only identifies plants but explains why buyers should care about them. Or brainstorm with your IGC customers on how to make these connections.

It’s a partnership that could sell more properties and more plants.