Home Landscaping Tips and Tricks

Boost Your Curb Appeal! 

Whether you're getting ready to sell your home or freshening it up for spring for yourself, it's important to include your outside space! Curb appeal is a top selling point, especially during open house season. If landscaping ideas escape you, here are some handy tips and tricks to get you thinking in the outdoors direction.

Landscaping Tricks for creating your personal oasis: 

• Want to create a small retreat space? Use larger potted plants as a wall in a particular area to give your cozy nook the feeling of a room. Tall plants like bamboo are ideal for this purpose. Define your space even more with string lights, or a stone floor.
• Need shade but have no trees? Add a large umbrella or sun shade, surrounded by large potted plants to shade your porch or patio. Or build a pergola and plant a climbing vine like wisteria next to the posts. This plant will climb up and over, providing shade.
• Love the shore, but you're not near water? Add a bubbling water feature or creek bed through your garden. Create a sandy beach area in your yard for kids to play.
• Want to attract birds and butterflies? Create an English-style country garden with stone paths, birdhouses and butterfly-friendly flowers. Add stepping stones where most people walk to keep thin grass from getting trampled. Start small and expand your garden yearly as you gain gardening expertise.

Plus, up your outdoor oasis with some out-there ideas: 

• An outdoor wood-burning oven for making pizzas
• A vegetable and herb garden
• A camping-style firepit for roasting hotdogs and marshmallows
• A backyard chicken coop
• An outdoor kitchen complete with grill, fridge, sink and prep area

Landscaping Tips and Tricks for Selling: 

• Keep up with mowing and edging the lawn every week.Water your lawn one hour before showings or open houses for a fresh look.
• Inspect and repair irrigation system and outdoor faucets. Replace hoses.
• Add a layer of mulch to flower beds, pull weeds and add colorful new plantings. Consider the amount of sun or shade in your yard as you choose which plants to add. Mulch too expensive? Try grass clippings from your mower as an alternative.
• Power wash the outside of your house, and all the concrete surfaces, as well as wooden fences and decks. Repair cracks in concrete and rotted boards in fences and decks.
• Professionally trim trees and bushes to their optimum size and shape.
• Think about container gardens. Containers and their plants can be unique to your style, and the best part is, they're moveable landscaping! Repaint old pots with leftover house paint that matches and give them new life.

  Be creative and make your landscaping outdoors reflect your home's design, your climate and your lifestyle. As you plan your landscaping, keep these key pillars in mind to create an ideal space: privacy, lighting, cooling/heating, shade, greenery/color and gathering places or seating. Attention to detail and making spaces comfortable and inviting for yourself and your guests will give you years of enjoyment of your outdoor spaces — or make your home the most attractive listing on the market.