What to Plant in Your Yard for Curb Appeal this Spring

One of your first chances to impress potential buyers is when they first pull up to the exterior of your property. Typically, buyers are brought in through the front of the home, which gives them a chance to have a brief look around the front yard (if applicable), as they make their way to the front door. This period of time, although brief, is extremely important. Your home is making its first impression. Everyone knows you never have a second chance to make a good first impression!
 
With that being said, wowing your potential home buyers with attractive curb appeal really doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. Make sure your front lawn is manicured and that there is fresh mulch in all plant beds. If you have any bushes or shrub-like perennials, trim them back so that all walkways are accessible. Get rid of any weeds in all flower beds, and consider some of the following colorful design techniques:
 

• Create a visually appealing rear border in flower beds. Tall border plants are usually placed in the back of a flower bed to give a sense of the bed’s boundaries. Tall border plants include: tulips, lilies (oriental lilies, giant lilies and day lilies), delphinium, black eyes Susan, Hollyhock, tall phlox, sage, and switchgrass.

• Plant bright and affordable annuals front and center where they’ll be seen. Even if you don’t have the time (and/or money) to invest in adding numerous layers to your flower beds, swing by your local garden center and pick up an assortment of brilliantly colored annuals. The type of annuals you plant should depend on how much sunlight your flower beds get. Some colorful full sun annuals include impatiens, begonias, pansies, morning glories, petunias, marigolds, geraniums and zinnias. Ideas for partial sun annuals include geraniums, salvia, coleus, African violets, wax begonias, violas, African daisies and flowering kale plants. Full shade annuals are less common, but they do exist! Try Swedish ivy, wishbone flowers, baby blue eyes, calendula, alyssum, lobelia and snapdragons.

• Mix and match colors and textures. Whether you’re working with flower beds or floral walkway borders, plant annuals in a variety of sizes, colors, textures and shapes. This will create visual interest for everyone who tours your home.

• Mix and match blooming schedules. Do a little research into the blooming schedule(s) and length of blooms before planting anything. Since your house may be on the market throughout the spring and into the summer, you’ll want to plant flowers that bloom at different parts of the growing season. This will mean that there will always be some flowers in bloom during the warm months that your home is on the market.