7 Landscaping Tips for Maximizing Curb Appeal on any Budget

Are we keeping up with the Joneses? What if I told you the Joneses had a back yard full of knee-high dog poop and they were horrible people who ate baby birds rolled in pita bread? Would you still want your front yard to look just like theirs, or would you value your own uniqueness and create an inviting landscape that is all your own?

Beautifully landscaped properties don't have to be a botanical garden oasis and they don't have to cost thousands of dollars. Creating curb appeal can be as simple as a tidy front yard with a few pops of vibrant colors and a handful of low maintenance plants or even a cottage garden with an informal design and beds packed with inexpensive perennials. Whatever your personal style and budget may be, these are a few simple tips that can boost your curb appeal in any landscape whether it be for potential buyers or for your own enjoyment.

Add Vibrant Color

Your home's exterior is the backdrop to your landscape. Small changes to the front of your home can greatly enhance the look of your outdoor space. A fresh coat of paint on the front door can add new life into an otherwise dull looking home and it is an inexpensive way to add a pop of color to your front yard. If painting the door is too scary, add colorful pillows and chairs to your front porch. Shutters around your windows in contrasting colors to your home's siding can also add a decorative flare to the front of your home.

A well thought out perennial garden is a great way to add color to your landscape. Flower beds bursting with blooms throughout the season are not only visually pleasing, they also offer a great sanctuary for pollinators and hummingbirds. Many perennial plants have specific bloom times. Choose a mixture of perennials that will provide interest for the entire season starting in the spring with flowering bulbs. Hydrangeas are one of the most sought after perennial, prized for their showy long lasting flowers. Ornamental grasses are also perennials and although they do not flower, smaller grasses can provide interesting textures to a perennial garden.

For shade gardens, adding ground cover such as myrtle mixed with ferns and variegated hostas are a great way to add interest to large mulched beds under trees.

Annual flowers are an excellent way to add continuous color to your outdoor space for the entire growing season. Unlike perennials, they will need to be planted every year. Decorative pots, hanging baskets, and urns spilling over with trailing foliage are great additions to your outdoor space.

Maintaining Healthy Plants

A dying or lack luster plant in front of your house will be the focal point of your outdoor space regardless of how beautifully designed your landscape is. Every shrub, tree, and perennial flower has specific growing needs. If they are not met, the plant will struggle and be more prone to disease and insect infestations. Soil types, available sun, and exposure to wind vary from one home to the next. If you are looking for front yard landscaping ideas, I advise doing research on the needs of the plants you wish to purchase before adding them to your gardens.

Maintaining moisture is key to having healthy plants especially in new landscapes but even mature trees and shrubs can struggle during dry spells. Repeated drought stress in plants can lead to poor vigor. Adding a layer of fresh mulch around your plants will help maintain moisture and keep them from drying out. Soaker hoses or drip irrigation are a great way to add water to your landscape during those hot dry spells.

Overgrown shrubs should be removed. In a mature landscape it's not uncommon to see shrubs that have completely outgrown their space. They interfere with walkways and some look like they are eating other plants. Often times people spend countless dollars and energy shearing these shrubs back just to keep them at bay, resulting in browning and dead branches. With a little grit and a shovel, many shrubs can be removed and replaced with new plants. Removing them and starting fresh often saves you time and money and can make a big difference in the aesthetics of your home.

Plants need nutrients from the soil to survive. The soil around your home can be packed with fill material that does not provide adequate nutrition. Soil testing kits are available through county extension programs and are an inexpensive resource for homeowner's looking to maintain a healthy landscape.

Providing fertilizer for every plant in your landscape is often unnecessary but it can help if a plant is struggling. Reblooming perennials such as roses, cat mint, and perennial geraniums benefit from an application of fertilizer in the spring and again in mid to late summer after deadheading.

A green lawn can make a huge difference in the curb appeal of your home. Adding fertilizer to your front yard will help provide a lush carpet of healthy green grass.

4-Season Appeal

Your home's curb appeal doesn't have to suffer with the changing seasons. Creating a four-season garden is about plant diversity. Adding evergreens such as firs, pines, rhododendrons, cedars, and cypress are excellent landscape plants that will enhance your outdoor space even in the cold winter months. Winterberry is a native shrub with vibrant red berries. Not only does it look beautiful covered in a fresh blanket of snow, it also provides food for birds during the winter months. Shrubs and trees with interesting bark textures such as the oak leaf hydrangea and paperbark maple are also great additions for winter appeal.

Early spring can be a bit dreary with cold rain, wet snow, and mud. Flowering shrubs and trees such as witch-hazel, forsythia, magnolia, and cornelian cherry can add color to your landscape in early spring. Hellebores are one of the earliest perennials to bloom.

Proper Pruning Techniques

Pruning is not a one-size-fits all approach. Many landscape plants will struggle if sheared into a ball year after year. Learning to hand prune is the best way to ensure longevity in your trees and shrubs. Many plants have a specific time that is ideal for pruning. Evergreens such as arborvitaes should not be sheared in late fall due to the risk of winter burn. Some flowering shrubs such as lilacs and rhododendrons should only be pruned right after flowering or you risk cutting off the next year's flower buds.

Keep Weeds Under Control

Weeds are inevitable in any outdoor space. Have you ever heard the saying, "One year of seeds give you seven years of weeds?" This is the garden procrastinator's worst nightmare. Weeds let go will eventually produce seeds and give rise to baby weeds, compounding your problem for years to come. A beautiful landscape can quickly be overshadowed by weeds. Regular weeding and/or the use of herbicides are the best ways to keep weeds under control. Weeds that pop up in a stone walkway or patio can easily be weed whacked during your weekly mowing routine or a treatment of a herbicide application can keep them at bay.

Little things go a long way in the visual appeal of your home. Grass belongs in your lawn and not in your garden beds. Blowing grass clippings out of your garden beds help keep grass from creeping in places it doesn't belong.

Pressure Washing

A high quality pressure washer can do wonders to the look of your home. Dust, mold, and pollen cling to surfaces making fences, siding, walkways, and patios look old and dingy. Pressure washing is an easy way to bring life back into your home's exterior and a great way to make your sidewalks and patios look new again. Pressure washers can be rented from equipment rental centers. The use of harsh chemical soaps should be avoided in your outdoor space as it can burn lawns and plants. Patios and walkways will need a new application of polymeric sand swept into the joints after pressure washing. Be sure the pavers are dried thoroughly before adding the sand.

Border Edging

Edged beds and walkways are common in great landscapes. Crisp, defined borders around your garden beds accent the transition between your lawn and the bed. Edges also help keep mulch and stone from washing out into your lawn. I prefer natural edges to vinyl or metal edging. Freezing and thawing of the ground often causes synthetic border edging to heave up, creating a messy look. Creating a natural edge can be done with a handheld manual edger and a flat shovel. The best time to do it is in the spring when the ground is saturated and soft.

Defined edges alongside your sidewalk will help keep your lawn from spilling over onto the pavers. Turning your weed whacker or string trimmer on it's side and running it alongside your walkways will create a sharp contrast between your pavers and lawn.