Landscape Gardening: Revalue Your Home

Did you know attractive foliage and landscaping will increase the value of your home and make it more inviting? Spring, late summer and fall are ideal times of the year to upgrade your home, especially the landscape and gardens. Hopefully, the following ideas will add to your list of possibilities, or perhaps lead you to some creative answers of your own.

One easy way to begin is by a trip to the local garden centers in your area. Potted plants, bushes and shrubs are at peak sale in the summer and many are on sale during the oncoming fall. Buying a plant, shrub or vine in growth at the garden center and bringing it home to plant is a form of transplanting that requires daily attention, ideally water in the morning and evening on hot days, mid-day causes evaporation before the roots receive water. Mulching is best for protecting the base and roots of plants over the winter and can be applied in October or November, or just before winter frosts begin. Removal should be in early spring to avoid rotting underneath from spring rains. For a better success rate, seeded flowering plants may be started indoors in small pots. Any plants brought indoors for the winter should be done gradually, or acclimated slowly. Bring outdoors several hours each day, and indoors overnight. Continue this adjustment process for several weeks to give plants a chance to get established. Observant people who grow plants indoors usually realize how moving an adjusted plant from one room to another or changing its lighting is enough to weaken it. The same regimen is required in the spring for adjustment from indoors to outdoors, and it must be gradual.

It's very important in the fall to plan ahead for the following spring. This means planting of fall bulbs and certain eye-catching flowering perennials. It's a must to plant herbaceous shrub or tree peonies, and most bulbs at this time of year. Daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, spring-blooming crocus are some of the larger categories of bulbs. Directions are usually on the label, many mail-order companies offer this advice with your order as well as a guarantee. Some items can be planted both spring and fall, i.e., day-lilies, oriental and Asiatic lily bulbs, hydrangeas, ferns, ornamental grasses, etc.

First-rate companies do offer entire gardening plans on-line. Consider magazines such as Horticulture, Garden Design, Better Homes and Gardens and others for plans and ideas. When purchasing plants ask the seller if the item you like is perennial or will re-grow after the winter. Many very attractive items are sub-tropical meaning they can only grow year-round in southern states. Show-stopping examples include dahlias, agapanthus, begonias, etc. These can be stored over the winter and regrown each year, or over-wintered in northern climates.

Also think of contrast in your garden or shadow gardening, whites, light pinks, light yellows patterned with contrasting dark reds, blues, or purple colored flowers, your choice of combinations. Why not try an all-white garden for a moonlit look? Remember when you arrange your garden or borders, taller items can be planted towards the back, shorter flowers and ground creepers towards the front. Other items to consider include how much light your plants need. For instance, roses require bright sun and covering in the winter in the northern states, flowering hydrangeas often require some shade and have a better success rate if covered in the winter. Soil amendments are usually available at retail home improvement centers, otherwise another important consideration for your landscaped yard is whether you have acidic or alkaline soil. Most university extension services offer low-cost soil testing.

Another noteworthy hint is to use garden fertilizers sparingly. Modern fertilizers are time-release and too much will burn your plants. Be careful to dilute and use in spring or fall, flowering lilies and roses can use a boost a few times during the summer season. Then use plenty of water and let the fertilizers seep in and adjust slowly to not shock the plants. Used properly, fertilizers are a must to encourage re-bloom and a healthier plant, shrub or vine. Be sure to allow plants to dry before re-watering. Over-water causes rot, a very common reason plants collapse.

Attractive vines can decorate a long fence, hedges can be shaped in many creative ways, the latest include innovative conical, triangular, spherical and rectangular cuttings. Raised garden beds with either stone, brick or wooden support make for a terrific focal point and allows excellent drainage for roots. Another attractive option is a large pot with an arranged assortment left in the ground in the spring and summer, then lifted out and set in a warmer location over the winter. For the back-yard border consider trees either maroon or gold in color to decorate a long-line of deciduous trees and evergreens. More options include container gardening in barrels, outdoor wooden planters, terra-cotta and clay planters in the summer. Arches, arbors, trellises and gates are very attractive additions. If you're able to visit a well-stocked nursery, ornamental water fountains and water basins are available for fresh-water aquatic plants and lawn centerpieces.

Most experts agree an attractive lawn, garden and flowers are really a plus in elevating the value of a home. For average-sized homes the property value can increase nearly $10,000 due to attractive landscaping. Not only is a fine landscape a conversation beginner for guests, it's also an uplift for visitors and tourists of your town. Relaxing and therapeutic, consider adding plants to your yard for function, decoration, and family fun.