Enhance Curb-Appeal: Landscape & Paint
As a homeowner, you have a lot of options for improving the visual appearance of your home. Curb appeal can be a major selling point if you are interested in taking that route, or it could just be something you want to do to make your house the jewel of your neighborhood. You can choose to invest in some fine landscaping options, or a new paint job on the exterior of your house, or maybe even jump in with both feet. Plant, paint, or whatever else you decide to do, there’s some tips to make the most of your updates.
Get a plan.
There are as many ways to add in landscaping and exterior color to the walls as there are people who own homes. Whether you want to focus on a few key elements, like your favorite colors or plants, or you have a theme or dream image in mind, you have to make decisions early on as to what you want to do. If you want to feature a few fir trees or crepe myrtles, you need to decide that early on, as the rest of your landscaping will revolve around these larger pieces. For painting decisions, you want to be sure the colors you choose for the walls will be enhanced by your choice of plants in the landscaping, and the other way around. For inspiration, there are many magazines with beautiful, full-color photos of homes from around the world to give you ideas. Browse these the next time you are waiting in line at the supermarket.
Get vertical.
Try something bold, like a free-standing trellis situated perpendicular to your exterior walls. Or try a gradient, ombred style of paint from the bottom of your exterior walls to the top. Go for window boxes with climbing, vining plants, which will create attractive trailing cascades of foliage and color over your walls. In your lawn, create a unique tower-style container castle, or “petunia trees”. These are planters on poles, which, when loaded with petunia plants, will create an airy, ethereal, weeping-willow effect for little upfront cost. Climbing plants installed along vertical walls or fences will sometimes trail their way up the wall itself without a trellis, creating a vintage cottage look with little effort and maintenance required.
Get blooming.
There are literally hundreds of options for blooming plants, with varieties that thrive and perform fantastically in every region on earth. There are snapdragons that come in bright neons and elegant pastels. There are winter-blooming amaryllis, which can return year after year. There are tulips that bring a sense of fairy-tale and wonder to any spring garden, and petunias which hybridize readily enough to create stunning displays of multicolored blooms. Whatever you have in mind, for wherever you live, there’s a flower that can suit your home to a “T”!
Get lasting.
If working in your gardens year after year, planting new varieties and changing things up, is not something you want to sign up for, perennials can provide a stable, beautiful solution. One-and-done types of plants, these are hardier than annuals. While it take some varieties a while to get to peak appearance and stability, these can provide a wonderful backdrop for a garden for years. Shrubs, trees, and many wildflower varieties establish well in their native areas, and can provide enjoyment for your family and neighbors for years to come. Columbines are something many grandmothers had in their gardens, along with Texas bellflower, coneflower, and Lupine. Research your local area’s native plants, and plan for a few perennials to stage your garden steadily in the years to come.