The Homeowner's Guide To Increasing Your Yard's Curb Appeal In 2019
Would you like to have the best yard in your neighborhood?
According to a recent survey, most Americans would say yes. We want the prettiest flowers, the greenest lawn, and the cleanest driveway. We want our yards to sizzle with curb appeal.
Upping your curb appeal is a good first step whether you are trying to market your home to potential buyers, impress the neighbors, or make a better first impression on guests. But how do you make that happen?
In this article, we'll look at ways to quickly increase your yard's curb appeal no matter what your budget. We'll also dig-in to long-term improvements you can make around the yard to help make your home stand-out for years to come.
Maintain The House
While today's article focuses on the yard, your house is also a big part of curb appeal. One of the simplest and fastest ways to up a home's curb appeal is to clean the windows. You might be surprised how much sparkling-clean windows does for a home's look. Refreshing the look of your front door with a fresh coat of paint or some potted plants on the porch can also make a big impact. For some homes, it might be time to repair or paint the siding as well. Other homes may need more expensive upkeep to increase the curb appeal. Make sure to repair any rot damage in the walls or roof, or hire a professional to take care of the problem. Porches, patios, gutters, and downspouts may also benefit from maintenance and/or repairs.Update The Hardscape
Hardscape refers to the elements of your landscape design that are not living plants. This includes fences, walkways, seating areas, arbors, yard art, and other structures. If your hardscape has fallen into disrepair, fixing that will quickly improve your home's curb appeal. Paint peeling off a fence, a sagging mailbox, or overgrown walkways make your home look unloved. Repair fences, upgrade outdated mailboxes, and clean up the walkways for an instant improvement in the yard's overall look. If your yard doesn't include very much hardscaping yet, consider adding a decorative fence, lawn furniture, new pathways, or a patio. Hardscaping is a great, low-maintenance way to really enhance a home's curb appeal. One of the best ways to boost long-term curb appeal using hardscaping is to update the entrance to your home. The right entryway can make your entire home seem more inviting and more eye-catching. Whether it's a meandering pathway to your front door or a decorative gate that leads into a lush garden, an entryway that complements your home's design is a sure way to increase curb appeal.
Keep The Lawn Healthy
Maintaining a healthy lawn is one of the simplest things you can do to increase the curb appeal of your home. A regular mowing schedule, about once a week during peak growing season, will keep the yard looking well-groomed. If your location isn't getting regular rain, you may have to water as well. Most lawns need about 1 inch of water per week to stay healthy and green, though if you mow the grass at a taller height it will have better drought resistance. To ensure that your grass grows well throughout the year, fertilizer should be applied when your grass is growing most vigorously. Be sure to use natural and/or organic fertilizers for your lawn. They work just as well (sometimes even better) than chemical fertilizers and they're better for the environment. For cool-season grasses, which typically grow in places with warm summers and cold winters, the best times to fertilize are in the spring and fall. Warm-season grass is usually grown in the south and thrives through the summer heat. These grasses should be fertilized when the grass is growing in the early and late summer. Water and fertilizer won't do your lawn any good if it can't get to the grass roots. This is where aeration comes in. Do this in the fall for cool-season grass and in late spring for warm-season grass using a mechanical core aerator to remove plugs of sod from the lawn. The removed cores can be left on the lawn to dry, then raked into the grass.Remove Weeds
Weed-removal quickly increases the visual appeal of your yard. If there are only a few weeds, hand-pulling is probably the best option in both lawns and gardens. For more extensive weed problems, weeds can be treated with herbicides or a natural weed-killer. Be careful when choosing herbicides to ensure that they will kill the type of weeds you want to target and not damage lawn grass or surrounding landscape plants.
Landscape For Year-Round Interest
Adding flowers to your landscape is a sure way to increase the curb appeal of your entire home. In existing garden beds, planting annuals will add instant color. If you don't have flower beds or if the entrance to your home looks a bit drab, container gardening is an excellent idea. Containers can be purchased pre-planted from home and garden centers, or you can plant them yourself. For long-term curb appeal, it's important to consider how your landscape beds will look year-round. You don't want a garden that only looks good in the spring and summer then turns drab and lifeless the rest of the year. Here are four articles that will help with that:- Plants For An Amazing Spring Landscape
- Create A Sensational Summer Landscape
- Plan A Breathtaking Fall Landscape
- Designing A Winter Wonderland In Your Landscape
Maintain A Clean Landscape
While it's vital to maintain a healthy lawn and landscape, both can start to look overgrown and unkept if you're not keeping the edges clean. Use a string-line trimmer to trim grass in areas where the lawnmower can't reach. Edgers, or trimmers with an edging feature, will help keep the boarders of landscape beds and pathways neat. Be sure to keep paving stone and flower bed edging clear of weeds and dirt build-up. Same goes for other hardscaping elements. Decks, fences, and other structures should be cleaned as needed to keep them in good shape. Landscape beds also require regular maintenance. Keep trees and bushes neatly trimmed, weed the flower beds regularly, and clear-out dead plant material. You also may need to water the landscape beds if there hasn't been much rain or you're growing plants with high water needs. It's also a good idea to mulch landscape beds with an organic mulch each year to help keep weeds down and improve the soil. If you want to keep this part of your landscape low-maintenance, consider using native plants and perennials that are adapted to your particular region.
Improve Outdoor Aesthetics
Clever use of outdoor lighting can instantly make your home stand-out from others in your neighborhood. Not only are outdoor lights attractive, but they're also a good security feature. Incorporating lights into your outdoor decorating highlights your nighttime landscape, discourages potential intruders, and helps protect against falls when you or your guests are trying to navigate your landscape at night. Using lights for curb appeal, though, is about more than just illuminating entryways. You can also use landscape lights to highlight architectural features, increase visual interest in the landscape by creating areas of light and shadow, and outline garden paths. You can further improve the outdoor environment with water features and wind chimes that add pleasant sounds to your yard. The sound of moving water or the delicate notes of a wind chime can instantly soothe stress and make your yard a much more inviting place.Hire Some Help
Sometimes, maintaining your yard's curb appeal all by yourself becomes too much of a hassle. We're all busy people and sometimes you just don't have time to mow the lawn every week or remember to water the garden, much less keep up with trimming and weeding. Or perhaps you have the time but would rather spend it on other things than working outside in your yard. Here's where a professional yard care service can help. They'll take the weekly hassle of mowing the lawn and other upkeep tasks off your hands. This lets you maintain your yard's curb appeal without putting continued effort into the yard. And if you want to update the look of your overall yard design, a professional landscaper can help with planning and installing new features.
