COUNTRY GARDEN

Housekeeping: Good housekeeping applies to a large garden as much as a small one, and all the tips here still apply. If you feel the garden's not up to scratch, polish up the parts nearest the house and let the fringes be wilder. It is worth having substantial dead trees taken down professionally and carted away. Any trees that are unquestionably hazardous to the house are worth removing too, having checked that there are no protection orders on them. Unfortunately, big trees terrify many homebuyers, when they should be one of the great perks of owning a large garden. Screen off the working area with small trees or a climber-clad fence; don't let it be the destination of your main garden path. Important, yes; accessible, yes; destination, no.

Attractive additions: Large gardens often waffle and need a focus or two. It works wonders to close a long path with a huge pot or a gate stood open, and the cost is not great. Open lawns are often surrounded only by a circle of beds, so set up a gazebo over a seat at the far end and get some large architectural shrubs to flank it. You might tuck it in a bed, half-hidden by existing plants to arouse curiosity, to make it somewhere people want to go.

Think about when you intend to sell; big developments won't be attractive until the mess of installation has healed. A good summerhouse, for instance, gives a different life to a garden - somewhere for the kids to sleep out - but it needs the planting around it to gel before it looks comfortable.

Plenty of seats make large gardens seem even bigger, but vary the kind you choose - a hammock under trees, maybe, or a seat at the base of a big tree on a lawn.

People love garden produce, so make a herb bed and a modest vegetable patch if you can look after one. If there is space, plant two or three fruit trees in grass and add a scattering of daffodils below. Good plants, which are available already large, include magnolia grandi flora and variegated holly. If you can plant five or six substantial fruit trees, your agent might call it an orchard area. Allow the grass around them to grow long and it will press the wildlife habitat button too. As will bird boxes.

Swimming pools are tricky. They are messy and expensive to install, need fencing off, and may cost you as much to put in as you gain on the house price. For a more sympathetic look, although just as messy to make, you might consider a chlorine-free swimming pond, filtered by water plants and reeds.

A garden pond, on the other hand, is easy to install, sympathetic to the rest of the garden and again presses the wildlife button. People adore water in a garden. Naturalistic ponds set into the ground are an excuse to add colourful marginal planting but, if the garden is too formal, consider a formal pool, or raised tank.

The joy of large gardens is to have privacy and a sense of getting away from it all, so do not let the garden seem unnecessarily overlooked. Get a contractor to install extra-heavy standard trees to block unwanted views in and out, but don't plant too many. Traffic, on the other hand, is definitely worth blocking out.

Top tips for large gardens
Secure visual privacy.
Create one garden building or shelter away from the house.
Ensure there are enough places to stop and sit.
Demonstrate eco-friendly gardening - install fruit trees/bushes or vegetable patch.
Remove dead or dangerous trees.

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