I also finally signed up to reply to this thread.
We just went through this exact same thing. The stars lined up for us to finally make the move from a large metropolitan area to our slice of heaven on 10 acres last fall. Likewise we had been working to make our little suburban lot a productive little oasis. The tipping point for us in that regard came a few years ago when our teenage boys were arguing for the umpteenth time about whose turn it was to mow the back yard that neither of them played in any more. My wife and I decided that we didn't need all that grass any more and began the change over to garden space.
I knew we wouldn't be there forever, so I left all the hardscape in place, and changed the turf heads over to drippers. We had fruit trees, and a huge garden space. We marketed it as an "urban oasis" with lots of pictures of inside and outside taken when the corn was tall, and the flowers blooming. I walked our realtor through the yard and explained what I had done, and showed her how easy it would be to put grass back in if that was what a potential buyer wanted to do. I was back and forth between places for a couple months, so I just planted a flower mix in the beds that weren't occupied by return crops like chard that had reseeded.
To a person, all the lookers that came through said they loved the yard. That was the biggest item we got on feedback. There are plenty of people out there looking for what you have. I would just say probably concentrate on what you have already done, and not put more money in to "go all the way." If buyers who are gardeners can find something to be excited about and non-gardeners don't see something that will totally scare them off, you've found the right balance.
Last but not least, and this is the hardest part, is you will have to let go of that property from an emotional standpoint. We hoped someone would buy our place that would love and appreciate what we had done, but the reality is selling the property is the priority. Hopefully what you have done will attract someone of like mind, but you can't guarantee it.
We have been out a few months, and I've heard from friends that the new owners are talking about making some drastic changes that make me sad. (like cutting down a beautiful shade tree because they don't like the birds pooping on their cars) But it's not our house any more, and I think our energy is better spent working on where we live now than worrying about where we left. (hard as that is...)
