4 Landscaping Tips And Tricks For Adding Curb Appeal

Curb appeal. Everyone wants it (or should), yet it often seems to be lacking. Don’t get us wrong, most homes look fine with natural greenery around them. These homes have landscaping and exteriors that are simple, clean and cute, but not necessarily show stopping, eye-catching, or jaw dropping. Solid landscaping and eye-catching curb appeal can really take a house from zero to hero! If you’re looking to take the first steps towards being THAT HOUSE, then this post is for you. Keep reading to find out our tips and tricks for landscaping and adding curb appeal!

1. Points of Interest

Every house has features that make it unique. Typically, those points of interest are on your homes curb facing or front elevation. The quickest way to add curb appeal is to find ways to highlight your homes points of interest. Not sure what those are? Start with the front door. The front door is typically a focal point on many homes. Find ways to use plants and other landscaping to highlight the door. For example, if you have a prominent front door, consider placing Emerald Greens on either side of your door. Or, if your door is a bit less prominent, consider adding a River Birch surrounded by smaller boxwoods! Maybe your point of interest isn’t the front door, but the same ideas still apply. Find a way to highlight those big windows or that porch/balcony!

2. Ground Cover

 There is a lot we could say about ground cover, but we will keep it to these points – amount of exposure, type, and colors. The most common ground cover is mulch. It’s relatively cheap, easy to pick up, and easy to install. However, massive mulch beds can detract from curb appeal if not properly filled with plants (we will talk about this later). The whole point of ground cover is to highlight the plants in the beds and make them pop. This typically means using darker tones like brown or honey color mulch, or a darker hardscape. It’s important to fill in the gaps and draw your focus to accented plants and greenery rather than the ground cover itself.

3. Properly Fill Your Flowerbeds

 Filling flowerbeds doesn’t mean packing them full to the brim! We also don't encourage having large spacing between plants. Simply put, know what plants you’re working with and what type of spacing will look best. For example, a bed with a mix of perennials and annuals needs a different type of spacing than one with just annuals or just perennials. Typically, annuals are smaller flowers that are planted en masse, which means that they require less spacing because it has a carpeted effect. Contrarily, most perennials, especially those that are more similar to a bush in look and size, require more spacing. A good rule of thumb is thatsmaller annuals should be treated more as a “large batch” and require less spacing and typically go toward the front of the beds. Perennials tend to be larger and require more spacing. Things like bushes also require more spacing. It’s also important to note that some perennials (like ferns) function as more of a ground cover than a flower. These can get planted and spaced closer together and en masse.

 A final note on properly filling beds: Leave enough space on the edges where they meet your lawn and leave space between where the bed meets the house. Doing this will give it a less overgrown look and feel, while also making it easier for you to properly trim and blow when you or your lawn care crew cuts the lawn.

4. Problematic Spots

Problematic spots in the yard can be defined as a low spot with poor drainage, a spot where the grass constantly dies, or even an area that’s steep and tough to mow. If you have anything like this, consider landscaping. A suggestion for a low spot would be to put in a drain surrounded by hardscape and then consider putting a River Birch in with some boxwoods. It will add some interest to the yard while also solving your drainage issue. A similar process could work for a spot that you’re having issues with grass dying. Additionally, if you have a spot that is too steep to mow or is difficult to mow, consider putting in some type of feature. We’ve seen everything from small terraces with blueberry bushes to rose bushes and boxwoods put in to hold a hill in place. Whatever your problem spot is, get creative! Your creativity could end up as a great selling point!

 We hope these landscaping tips and tricks help you as you get creative with your home’s curb appeal!

 Interested in learning more or have something you want us to cover in an upcoming newsletter? Send us an email at marketing@geenenhomes. 

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