How to Add Curb Appeal to Your Home's Landscaping

Improving the curb appeal of your home begins with landscaping that complements the beauty of your house. The most beautiful home sitting amid an unkempt lawn and half hidden behind untrimmed shrubbery will lose much of its curb appeal.

The first step in adding to the curb appeal of your home is to develop and implement a plan that places your home in the most attractive setting possible. Such a plan would include the following:

Step 1 - Revitalize your lawn - by re-seeding and fertilizing annually. Start by sending a soil sample to the local agricultural agent and having a test run to determine which soil supplements and fertilizers are required to reinvigorate your lawn. This test can also tell you which grass seed to use for your lawn. Fertilize your lawn every spring and fall with the recommended fertilizer. Use weed killer as necessary to control weeds.

Step 2 - Invest in a Lawn Edger - to provide a sharp and definable edge between your lawn and curbs and driveways edge the intruding grass weekly following mowing of the lawn.

Step 3 - Trim Foundation Shrubbery - to provide an accent between lawn and house. This is best accomplished when foundation shrubbery was planned when incorporated into the landscape around the home. Trim foundation shrubbery to provide a layered appearance with the larger shrubs nearer the house and smaller shrubs in front bordering sidewalks or drives.

In instances in which foundation shrubbery is overgrown and beyond trimming, replacing it may be the best and least expensive option to improve the appearance of the home.

Step 4 - Make Maximum Use of Seasonal Flowers - to provide color to the landscape during every season. Plant these around entranceways, mailboxes, and in window boxes to add interest and color during all seasons.

During summer months the choices for colorful plants are almost endless and include impatiens, coleus, tulips, daffodils, day lillies, geraniums, etc.

In fall and winter use Chrysanthemums, Witchhazel, pansies and Hellebores.

Step 5 - Incorporate Evergreen Shrubs - to ensure that the landscaping around your home maintains color and decorative shrubs in winter as well as summer seasons. Many homeowners value the privacy provided by strategically planted evergreen shrubs along borders. To these homeowners evergreens add significantly to the value of the property.

Step 6 - Maximize the Use of Container Plants - to provide welcome color and greenery to accent and improve the appearance of entranceways and otherwise boring steps up to doorways.

Step 7 - Dress Up the Driveway - (this is the first glimpse most people get of your home) by power washing it to remove stains and mildew. Next use weed killer to kill weed growing in cracks and joints. And last, use cement repair grout to fill cracks in the driveway surface to make it look like new.

Once the lawn and plantings surrounding the home are addressed take steps to improve the outward appearance of the home itself. Some of these steps may include the following:

Step 8 - Change Outside Fixtures - on older homes the outside light fixtures and other hardware to include door handles, locksets, door kick plates, and house address numbers can become corroded and dull. Some actually appear rusty, while others just appear dull and worn out. These can easily be replaced by the homeowner and are not always expensive, but can provide dramatic improvement in the curb appeal of your home.

Step 9 - Paint Entrance Doors a New Color - Painting a front entrance door a bold, new color that coordinates with the color of your home can be one of the most dramatic and appealing changes you can make to your home. As an example, one home nearby for several years used a white door to contrast with beige siding. Recently the owners had the door painted a burnt orange and it changed (for the better) the entire appearance of the house.

Step 10 - Add Window Shutters - to dramatically change the exterior appearance of the home. Window shutters add warmth to bare window frames, especially when contrasting and attractive colors are used to the complement the color of the house siding. (As with the door color above).

Step 11 - Remove Roof Stains - from mildew and mold that forms in shady or high humidity parts of the country. Nothing can take away from the appearance and curb appeal of your home faster than a badly stained, ugly roof.

Professionals best do this job and in addition to dramatically improving the appearance of your home can also improve the life of the shingles (roof).

Step 12 - Add Bird Feeders and Bird Baths - to your backyard. Nothing adds to the appeal of a private backyard than dozens of colorful birds flocking to feeders or happily ducking in and out of a shallow birdbath.

All or any of the above will add to the attractiveness and curb appeal of your home. Most of these ideas are inexpensive to implement and can be done by the homeowner with little skill and effort.

It makes a great "honeydo" list.