You are such an appraiser! 

I love "Accept an offer...move forward with your life.  There's a lot of value right there.  Let your neighbors with the shabby lawns continue to pay the holding costs for their homes.  Let them suffer through price reductions because buyers can't get past the front yard.  Sell your home faster, stop paying that home's carrying costs, and move into your new home. That's the end goal...and that's the value." I am going to quote you on it.... 

What is a yard appraisal?  The magazine article says "Still, home owners are shelling out hundreds of dollars for yard appraisals as part of their marketing strategies, and builders are expanding their landscaping budgets."

Did you see ActiveRainer Cindy Lin's entry about the value staging adds to a house according to NAEBA?  The first thing that came to my mind when I started reading this was NAEBA decrying nice landscaping tricking buyers into thinking homes are nice and over paying for them.

I think landscaping and overall curb appeal really helps sell the property. Remodeling Interiors is much harder to do but the landscaping if it is done well seems to seal the deal.

Maureen - Yes, I read Cindy's post, which was very good.

I've never heard of a yard appraisal.  As best as I could determine, it must involve hiring a professional to come and place a value on your trees, your plants, your hedges, etc.  Such a "yard appraisal" would give you a good idea of what it would cost to replace the existing landscaping, but it's not going to make a difference in a real estate appraisal.

William - Nice landscaping will help get buyers and agents to enter your front door.  That's half the battle right there.

Don, I wondered if a yard appraisal was something used for insurance maybe.  I wondered if in areas that have hurricane's, or some other natural disaster would you insure your landscaping if you had gone to a lot of expense above and beyond the norm?  Would that be a reason to have someone place a value on it.

Maureen - I don't know that a "landscaping appraisal" would do much good for insurance purposes, as homeowner insurance policies usually limit payments per plant - I think mine will pay up to $250 per plant.  Really not enough to file a claim over, though I guess maybe enough to cover your deductible if you have a larger claim due to a severe storm...

I think the purpose, per the article, was to try to show to buyers how much the landscaping alone is worth.  Just a marketing tactic.