Making a great first impression is a must if you are selling a home. A nicely landscaped yard is a major factor that can improve your curb appeal.
Make your landscaping appealing enough that a possible home buyer is enticed to see more and enter the house. Ask yourself, how does my front yard look compared to my neighbors – better or worse? This is the baseline to see how much you need to do for a spruce up. Below are some tips and tricks for making your front yard stand out.
Green Grass
Considered the foundation of any landscape design, a nice green lawn is indispensable. First thing to do is locate any patches of dead grass, bare spots, and any weeds.
Watering – For those with sprinkler systems, make sure they’re tuned up so the entire lawn gets covered. A sprinkler expert can save you time by replacing or fixing sprinkler heads that may be interfering with proper coverage. Sprinklerrepairin the spring will ensure that the summer sun will shine down on a green lawn. Water at night when the sun won’t evaporate the moisture, it will be more effective and help save on your water bill.
Fertilizer – Fertilizer comes as a solid or liquid. The main difference between the two is how quick the nutrients are released. Both work, but a solid fertilizer application will release at a slower rate. When liquid fertilizer is used the lawn soaks it up faster and you will see a growth spurt, but one that doesn’t last as long as a slow release application.
Sod – If your lawn is too far gone there is always the option to till it and apply sod. You can lay sod yourself at about 25 cents per square foot, or hire a pro to do it for a little more. If you go it alone, keep in mind that grass does not grow on clay so when you till everything up make sure that there is enough topsoil available. Always overlap your strips of sod a bit so the lines aren’t visible. Last but not least, water and water some more. Sod cannot last long without watering until the roots take hold and become established.
Seed – If the eyesores in your yard are manageable, invest in a little turf grass seed. Always loosen hard pack soil to allow the seeds to root and follow the watering schedule on the packaging. Seed requires more watering than whatever is programmed into your sprinkler system. Get a grass variety that’s for sun or shade depending on the trees in your yard.
Flowers
No perfect home is complete without some well placed flowers in the front yard. Places to consider planting are in front of the porch or along walkways and driveways. Sketch a design of where you think they’d look good, take some measurements and take a trip to your local garden center. A hanging flower pot can make a great accent piece.
Overgrown Bushes
The wild and untamed may look beautiful on a hike in the mountains, but sitting in front of your home the bushes say “Hey, I don’t bother to trim my shrubbery which means I probably haven’t done much work on anything else outside or inside my home.
Trees
If you don’t already have a mature tree in your front yard consider having one planted. It doesn’t have to be a mature tree because as age goes up so does price. Any tree will do, it all depends on your landscaping design.
Plant the tree in a spot where it will not eventually rub against the house or grow into a telephone line. If you have a mature tree in your yard, think about having it trimmed. Most trees will need some maintenance to make them look clean and neat. There are a lot of advantages to having your trees trimmed besides improving your curb appeal.
Outdoor Lighting
Nobody can see how nice your yard looks after the sun goes down. If you are proud of your landscaping think about adding some strategically placed outdoorlights. Highlight the shrubs on the corners of your home, along your walkway or a mature tree, anything you want people to see. Light can accentuate the detail of any unique features your home may have.
Landscaping to enhance curb appeal should not be an afterthought. Don’t’ ignore your landscape and jeopardize the sale of your home or a reduction in your home’s perceived worth. Making a great first impression will go along way – not only will outstanding curb appeal help your home retain it’s true value, it will also reflect in the buyer’s mind that if the yard looks great the inside of the house will too. A home’s stunning exterior usually implies a stunning interior.
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Rich Coffman lives on the front range of Colorado. He writes about Colorado living, home and garden and works with various landscape companies, tree care companies and home lighting stores.
