DIY - Front Yard, Curb Appeal Transformation, from Boring to Beautiful
Add Color to your Landscape with Mums, Sedum, and Verigated Shrubs as Shown in the Photo Below
You Can Make the Necessary Upgrades - Yourself
When you look at your curb appeal are you pleased with the look of all of your plants, trees and bushes that make up your front yard? Or do you cringe at the thought of it?
If your thoughts are negative regarding the look of your curb appeal, you can make changes yourself, without spending lots of money hiring professional landscapers.
Put yourself in the mindset that you can do it! And you really can.
I have a few suggestions based on my personal experiences that I will share you, to get you started. The purpose of this information is to get you thinking about personalizing your surroundings to make your home and garden feel like YOUR own style instead of just settling for basic and boring design.
Start with Some Demo
If you have existing landscaping that is either overgrown, outdated or dying take a long hard look at it and decide what needs to go. You may find this somewhat overwhelming at first, because you may have spent years trimming it, even though you did not like it.
Or you may have recently moved into your home and really never gave the landscape alot of thought until you were fully unpacked and given a opportunity to see what grows in the spring., Then you may realize that it is not what you want at all.
Look at surrounding front yard landscapes and do some comparisions. Is your curb appeal as nice as your close neighbors? Or is it time for some changes?
When I moved into my home it was winter. I worked inside making changes, until the weather permitted and then focused on outdoor updates. My husband had been trimming some old evergreens each year and they were still overwhelming. They dwarfed the house because of their size. There was also a huge pine tree in the front yard along with a bradford pear tree.
Some of this had to go! So, once I convenienced him to cut down just one of the large evergreens that was so close to the front door, it was a domino effect after that. After getting to see how much better the house looked being able to see it, the remaining evergreens were removed within a week. If you make the same decision you can start slowly and see how you feel about the changes and then proceed to a completely new look for your curb appeal over time.
Cut shrubs or bushes level with the ground, you may want to rent a stump remover, but you don't absolutely have to. Add some topsoill over roots and design a new landscape that will allow for the roots. They will eventually rot away. Get ideas on various looks that appeal to you by visiting websites, garden centers and looking at gardening books and magazines. They can be very helpful.
Recommended Reading About Curb Appeal
Bring Color into the Landscape
With the removal of outdated evergreens you will now have the opportunity to bring some color into your front yard landscape. There are lots of plants that offer other colors of foliage than just green. Red trees are a nice contrast to so much geen and looks nice when blended with chartreuse (yellow-green). Add some purple in for another change. And make sure to add a ground cover that makes the plants show up good. Light colored stone such as river rock used as a ground cover makes dark colored plants pop in the landscaping.The use of stone borders adds more of a natural look than manufactured edging.
Consider using as many natural elements in your landscaping as possible for a more natural look if you like a casual look. And don't forget to include your side yard in your curb appeal transformation. Carrying the landscaping around to the sides is a natural transition and really does make the curb appeal look nicer. So, go for it, take your time and use plants, trees and flowers that are native to your area for the best value and last longer.
Perennial flowers are great for returning each year and then you can eventually divide them and add them to other flower gardens.This makes them a better value than annual flowers which die after one season, but you can save seeds from both for using the next year!
Have fun creating the curb appeal that reflects your personal style. I hope this article has inspired you to get started, with your own DIY curb appeal transformation from boring to beautiful.
