With house prices in freefall, every little helps when putting your own property on the market. Gardens - especially front ones - are an important part of the first impression. The good news is you won't need to splash out too much: it can be more a question of spending some time on your knees with a hand fork, than of spending cash.

Elbow grease only

Use a proprietary cleaning agent to create an immaculate impression in the approach to the house. Sweep and clean everything from the entrance up to the front door. Remove moss, algae and weeks from paving, tarmac and gravel - by hand, or with a weedkiller such as Roundup - and give paving stones a once-over with a pressure washer. If you never got round to covering up a visible manhole, then try hiding it with a group of strategically placed pots.

If you can't see out of your windows for shrubs and climbers, which are now at their most lush, get brutal with the shears. One man's poetic abundance is another's unkempt wilderness.

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If your lawn is in reasonable condition, keep it neatly mown and the edges cut. It will also respond quickly to weeding and feeding. It goes without saying that the garden should be weed free. At the very least, make sure the front 18in of the borders look tidy - this has a remarkable effect for minimal effort.

Under £200

A pair of specimen or standard plants in a couple of classy pots on either side of the front door should set the scene. These need not be included in the sale, but will lend enormous presence. Standard plants - those with their leaves on top of a single stem - flaunt their flowers and foliage at eye level, so are bound to be noticed. Most garden centres have a selection: box, lavender, rosemary, laurel, ligustrum and olive trees, for instance, for £15-£25.

Ideally, make sure the paint on the windows is fresh and clean. Failing that, distract the eye with well-kept window boxes. Garden cetnres have supplies fo annuals for instant colour - keep them watered and deadheaded, otherwise you are defeating the object.

Fresh gravel is cheap and quick to put down on bald paths and driveways - a ton of golden gravel from Travis Perkins costs about £45 plus delivery, for example. The positive impact is as stonrg as laying a new carpet.

If the lawn is loooking really tired and mossy, consider returfing. Think of it as your star plant and treat if accordingly. Rolawn sells 10 one-square-metre rolls for about £90, including delivery, or ask at your local garden centre.

You don't have to go for a total makeover: think fine-tuning instead. A couple of hours' consultation with a designer should start at about £90. The Society of Garden Designers will have lists of names in your area.

The grand gesture

Andrew Duff, director of the Inchbald School of Garden Design in London, has a number of private clients to whom he rents out plants in containers, appropriate to the season - these can be changed when they are past their best. Prices range from about £250 for a couple of white Hydrangea 'annabelle' in big, smart planters to more than £10,000 for a scheme that includes mature trees (these can be sunk into a border in their pot) annd shrubs. He does advise clients to "come clean" and tell buyers the plants are only temporary - otherwise they might get a bit of a surprise when they move in.

To contact Andrew Duff, call 020 8972 1020

Suppliers:

Architectural Plants (01403 891772)

Crocus (0844 557 2233)

Langley Boxwood (12730 894467)

Travis Perkins

Rolawn (0845 604 6060)

Society of Garden Designers (01989 566695)

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