Calling all gardeners with evergreen experience. I am 30 days away from putting a very expensive home on the market and the neighbor 150 ft behind me put huge black solar panels on his light gray/green roof. I need the tallest, fastest growing evergreen for zone 6A (St. Louis, MO)
And then as a secondary request, I'll take suggestions for a large deciduous tree that drops nuts, seeds, attracts bugs, smells...anything offensive LOL
Hysterical Gardener
for the first request, I'd say see what the larges Thuja 'Green Giant' you can find in the state or if someone can order some in and create a large hedge. Don't know about the second one.
personally, i don't find the flat black panels on a grey background offensive at all....hopefully perspective buyers will feel the same.
If you're on the south side of the new panels, he'll not thank you for shading them and stopping his energy supply ;-)
Resin
If you're on the south side of the new panels, he'll not thank you for shading them and stopping his energy supply ;-)
Resin
I don't think potential buyers will find the solar panels offensive either--and unless you want to spend a fortune to install full grown trees, nothing you plant now is going to help you when you put your house on the market. Of course I live in California so maybe you can't trust my opinion on solar panels since lots of people are more green out here, nobody would think twice about buying a house if the neighbors had solar panels on their roof. Lots of bigger things to worry about when buying a house! I could see the value in not being able to see rear neighbors at all, but if they're going to be visible anyway I don't see how solar panels on the roof are going to detract from your property value at all.
Don't sweat the solar panels. If your buyer finds them troublesome I'd let her find a solution. Besides--it's going to become very fashionable to be highlighting green energy solutions--and absolutely necessary. Be cool about the neighbors--your buyer will think they've finally found the right neighborhood - one where the smart people are living.
Ditto to what everyone else has said. I kind of like to see the solar panels there.
Count me in with liking the solar panels. I live in Missouri too and I would love to see more conservation like that. I would love to see the day when fossil fuels aren't used, solar and wind make all the electricity and all nukes are abolished (all forms), that's just the beginning!
But, unless there's something nasty not in that photo, I think that house increases property values around there.
having lived in st. louis most of my life, i have to say that it definitely needs a "green" nudge.........
Cryptimeria would be attractive, and a fast grower, too. Mike
cryptomeria is supposedly just borderline hardy here, though growing fine for me.
But in my opinion, the most remarkable fast-growing tree is the dawn redwood.
Only problem is it's deciduous...
I just sold my house in a terrible market in a suburb of Illinois in Lake County. The Lake County mentioned in a Forbes article as having homes with one of the ten highest real estate bills in the country. And our bill was 33% above average for Lake County. May I add my thoughts?
Quite seriously, if your buyer wants to use the solar panels as an excuse to lower the value of your house (and in this market they will try anything), try to pretend that you too think it is attractive. Don't bring it up, but if they do, talk it up. Big smile. Isn't this great? What fabulous, responsible neighbors you will have! Why, I was thinking of doing it too!
I know how panicky you can feel when you are trying to sell your house. We put it on the market with an ineffective broker late last year, took it away and gave it to a great broker in April, and it closed in September. If you are utilizing the services of a broker, or at least consulting with one or more, ask for input about this.
Our original broker wanted us to take all of the color out of out highly personalized (read slightly eccentric) house, take out all the wallpaper, and paint it white. We declined. The second broker told us to leave it alone, and it worked. Trust me, there is a buyer for every house - it's true. And you may in fact find a buyer who thinks the solar panels are cool. But it is important that, when dealing with potential buyers, you act as though it is the greatest thing in the world. In the meantime, don't spend money that you will need later in a way that indicated that YOU think it is a problem.
I hope you don't mind my adding my thoughts.
Why not put some up of your own? Let them have a similar view, I say. And, will increase your responsibility toward the environment.
Addictedtoplants stated that he or she is putting the house on the market in about 30 days. It is not a good time to add to the cost of his house by putting on solar panels. There is no way he or she couldn't possibly recoup the cost (which is substantial), and a potential buyer might not like the panels.
The buyer could choose to put on solar panels if he or she wishes.
I think DonnaMack is absolutely correct, and anyway, that 30 days has just about passed.
I was kinda kidding around...nope, you don't want ME as your neighbor! LOL!
It wouldn't work anyway - solar panels are always on the south side of a house . . . so you'd just p off the next house to the south ;-)
Just a thought, a very sneaky, mischievous thought...and that is what I do on this Earth - observe, kick up my heels, and laugh!
LOL. I think I detect a little un-neighborly love there. There is absolutely nothing wrong with black solar panels on a roof. We see them all the time. God bless them for trying to save our planet. Now YOU want to plant a tree but for all the wrong reasons.
I think your neighbor is awesome for installing the solar panels. I hope you've calmed down and reassessed the situation and realized your neighbor is doing nothing wrong.
Man, I STILL SAY that you ought to throw up some of yer own... And have you seen that cool composting toilet in the Mother Earth News website?
florida254 - A LITTLE you say? Ha! That's a good one!
Oh Spring, come one now! I need to get out and play!
Those solar panels will increase the value of your neighbor's home which could reflect an increase on yours. Embrace them & talk them up to your potential buyer, should the subject come up. We have solar panels on our barn and haven't paid a cent for electricity in 2yrs. They have been a great investment and I'd highly recommend them to anyone with a good southern exposure.
Tam
Wish I had huge black solar panels on my roof.
Ditto that Steadycam3. :)
It's February here in Chicago, our season of gray. But those glorious sunny mornings, blinding as you turn the corner at Jackson onto Michigan Avenue, are worth it.
