Porch Landscaping

Gelotte Hommas - curb appeal There are a million and one ways to add curb appeal, but your home’s landscaping is one of the most important.

Home sale price data shows that you’ll get double your investment back on landscaping when you’re trying to sell your home. But it doesn’t take a scientist to see that a drab lawn and an overgrown tree can ruin even the most beautiful home’s mojo.

Don’t let bad landscaping ruin your home’s appearance. These 10 tips will help you get your landscaping gorgeous and maximize your curb appeal so you can sell your home for what it’s really worth, or just enjoy a lovely home year round.

1. Play to Your Strengths

Don’t plant haphazardly. Take a look at the colors of your home, and choose plantings that make those colors pop.

2. Add Some Color

If you can’t find plants that tie in with the colors of your home’s exterior, then place large-scale glazed planters that pick out the same tones and make even mismatched plantings look intentional.

Photo courtesy of

3. Lead the Way

Curb appeal starts at the curb, so make sure the path to your door is clearly defined. Decorative urns or colorful border plantings are two high-impact ways to do the job.

4. Make it Shine

Landscaping features such as paths, walls, and other hardscaping get dirty over time, making the home’s whole exterior look dingy and dark. Make sure to have your landscaped features professionally pressure-washed, so they can shine.

5. Tailor Border Plantings

Large, scraggly, or random-looking plants can overwhelm new eyes and obscure features of your home that you should be playing up. Make sure your border plantings are tidy, grouped by color, and just large enough to cover up foundations and external vents, without covering windows or impinging on paths.

6. Brighten House Numbers

Small details like your house numbers can make a big difference in the overall effect of your landscaping and curb appeal. Replace or paint house numbers so they pop–you could even coordinate them with your door color or the accent color you’ve chosen for your landscape plantings.

8. Trim Trees

Cutting down trees is one landscaping rule of thumb that’s no longer completely necessary. Trees can add charm and character, particularly in rustic-styled properties–just make sure trees are trimmed to complement the house’s best qualities. Light and sightlines should be able to reach the house easily.

9. Light the Path

If you haven’t invested in landscape lighting, consider it: it can seriously boost your curb appeal. Lighting under steps, on path borders, and trained on trees and water features will allow your landscaping’s best features to shine even on gloomy days.

10. Create a Soft Landing

Draw buyers and visitors in by softening the transition between your home and the street. Potted plantings on a porch, green wreaths on the door, and a path that meanders through your landscape instead of going straight to the door are three great tricks to try.

Advanced Renovations, Inc. - curb appeal

Source: porch.com

Landscaping Tips

Though your home is your castle, there is no necessity to surround it with a moat. Here are 5 tips that will help you to make your landscaping feel more warm, welcoming and cozy.

1. Put some flowers nearby your entrance. Flowers make any area look more welcoming and attractive, so greeting your guests with Petunia, Snapdragon, Lily-of-the-Nile or some other garden flowers is always a great thing to do. What is more, to add some space between your house and the entrance, you can consider adding a little white fence. It will create an illusion that your front yard is bigger than it actually is. What is more, adding fence will create a great space for planting flowers to add some color and coziness.

2. Add rambling vines to make your yard look absolutely lovely. You can not deny that rambling vines always create romantic and even magical atmosphere. So why not to use this tip while decorating your yard?

3. To hide the unattractive driveway, consider adding some color, texture, and height. You can easily do it by adding various sorts of flowers. To start, create an island of green lawn right in the hub of a drive. Then add a couple of low boxwood hedges with flowers toward the back of your island.

4. If you want your yard to blossom and flourish bust still do not have enough time to maintain it, consider planting low-fuss lilies. Such flowers look absolutely gorgeous and come in the variety of rainbow hues, so you can pick the one you love most. What is more, low-fuss lilies do not care about the sort of soil, they love the sun and welcome hot, they do not afraid of drought. In other words, Crinums is an ideal flower for all those who are looking for low-maintenance solutions.

5. The last tip also touches the low-maintenance aspect. To make your life easier, group plantings into beds and islands. This will help you to avoid mowing and trimming around each individual plant, save a lot of time and even money.