Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - Should i Parge my foundation?

i have a rental house that i am slowly renevating to get a nice curb appeal for a future sell. Anyways, this year i am doing landscaping around the perimeter of the house with river rock for a mulch. The house foundation is old and dingy looking. I think someone parged it many years ago with an ugly rough texture. Before i do my landscaping, i want to do something with this foundation. I was thinking about painting it, but have read that it will be a maintanence issue down the road. I came acrossed parging it and it sounds like its the way to go. Im pretty confident that i can do it, but im not sure of the cost. I beleive it is going to be about 250 SF to parge and with the rough texture, i will have to apply it about 1/2" thick. How many bags will i be looking at? How long will this take? Are there any other options or suggestions to covering this uglyness up?

You might consider cleaning it, before going to the trouble to parge it again.

What do you recomend to clean it with? Power wash it?

My favorite solution for cleaning outdoor items is a mixture of household bleach 25% in water with a dash of clothes washing detergent, such as: Tide. Wet the surface to be washed, spray on the solution, let it sit about 5 minutes, hose off with a stiff jet from a nozzle, and let dry. Surrounding objects should be wet before and after this process to protect them from the caustic solution. This mixture will kill mildew and loosen dirt and grime so that the spray from the nozzle will remove it easily. Stubborn dirt can be removed by brushing in addition.

Hope this helps.