America spends nearly $40 billion a year growing a "crop" it can't eat, wear, export, or, well, smoke.

That's because more than 8 in 10 Americans say this vegetation offers a different kind of yield.

It's grass. The other green money.

Watching it grow is a bore, helping it grow is a chore, but grass -- as a well-manicured lawn -- is the crown jewel of curb appeal.

A survey of 1,000 adults conducted for outdoor power equipment engine manufacturer Briggs & Stratton Corp. of Wauwatosa, WI, by Market Facts found that 82 percent of Americans believe a lawn's appearance plays an important role in a home purchase decision.

In a Gallup survey indicating the value people place on landscaping, 44.1 percent of U.S. homeowners surveyed said an increased real estate market value was the most important benefit of well-maintained landscaping.

While cost-vs-value statistics aren't tracked for landscaping, the National Gardening Association says if your home's landscaping is on par with your neighbors, you could be looking at as much as a 15 percent increase in the value of your home.

It's no wonder consumers last year spent $39.6 billion lawns and gardens last year, according to the the association.

"While the increase has been fueled by a maturing baby boomer population and a spike in home buying, people are also clueing in to the fact that it can add dollars to their home's value," said Rose Getch, the association's spokeswoman who has an unforgettable email address -- "rose@garden.org".

Experts say well-manicured lawns and landscaping helps frame other elements of curb appeal involved with renewing and upgrading the exterior of your home, provided the landscaping is tidy, simple, healthy and installed in proportion with your home.

The Briggs & Stratton survey also revealed that prospective home buyers' are turned off by yard trash, bare patches, overgrown grass, weeds and lawn ornaments -- gnomes and pink flamingos.

Well-manicured landscaping is a value-added feature to homes because it helps create a positive first impression and when home buyers have limited time to look at a home, first impressions can be the basis for a decision to go inside to see what else is in store. Once inside, there's a greater chance a buyer will make the home his or her own.

"Improving curb appeal allows you to leverage each dollar into an increased multiple of the amount spent," said Stephen Richard Levine, of Franzel Mortgage Consultants in Westlake Village, CA.

From a practical view, the plants and trees also provide shade and passive cooling as they control erosion, cut down on pollution and emit oxygen.

The original "green" approach to home improvements, landscaping provides the best return for your money when you practice sound gardening techniques. Briggs & Stratton's Yard Doctor, Trey Rogers, Ph.D., is a turfgrass expert who offers the following advice to keep you lawn in the green.

Published: April 9, 2003

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.