Garden expert Holly Kerr Forsyth’s former home in Randwick, Sydney, which sold in ‘no time at all’. Source: Supplied

The backyard wisteria helped Holly Kerr Forsyth’s Randwick home sell above its $4m guide price. Source: Supplied

Weekend A Plus gardening columnist Holly Kerr Forsyth says she waited to sell her home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs until October, so the blooming garden would attract the eye of prospective buyers.

Her home, at 69 Darley Road, Randwick, sold above its $4 million guide price in no time at all, on Melbourne Cup day.

“Then, in the rear garden, our wisteria is just wonderful, the star jasmine fills the garden with fragrance and the ‘Marie van Houtte’ and ‘New Dawn’ roses are winding through the white blossom of the jasmine,” Kerr Forsyth says.

“In the front garden, special varieties of agapanthus are blooming, along with scented auratum lilies and many orchids.” Forsyth says many prospective buyers also commented on her vegetable patch. While agents say landscaped gardens bolster a home’s appeal there is also evidence that trees can increase the price of a home.

A 2010 study by the US Forest Service conducted in Portland, Oregon, found that the presence of a single “street tree” in front of the home added more than $US7000 ($8400) to its sale price, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported that the street tree also increased the prices of neighbouring houses and helped them sell faster.

“If you have a valuable house with a large tree, it’s going to have value in tens of thousands of dollars, which suggests it would be worth considerable expense to work around it,” Geoffrey Donovan, the Forest Service research economist who conducted the study, told the Journal.

In the US, majestic old-growth trees have become a treasured feature of luxury real estate.

John Klopp, an executive at investment bank Morgan Stanley, shows off a Camperdown elm as the centrepiece of his $4 million farm in New York.

So loved is the elm that his wife Karen, founder of fashion blog What2WearWhere, has put a tough line in the sand on its future. “I always say if the tree goes, I go. It’s such a symbol of the house,” she tells the Journal.

Back in Australia, trees and gardens are near the top of the list for house hunters in affluent Brighton in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Cricket legend Shane Warne sold his Brighton mansion for a hefty $15m last year. The entry to the house was overshadowed by large, imposing trees.

Kay & Burton director Gowan Stubbings says prominent Melbourne gardeners Paul Bangay and Jack Merlo are in hot demand.

“They are a pretty important selling component that people love about these homes,” Stubbings says.

“In many homes we have sold in the past, if it wasn't for the surrounding beautiful gardens then the interest just wouldn’t have been there.”

Gold Coast selling agent Katrina Walsh says gardens are most popular with professional couples who have kids.

“They want to have a bit more space and room for the kids to run around,” Walsh says. “Gold Coast acreage is 10 minutes from the beach so a lot of those properties are used for weddings and functions.”