Curb Appeal for Under $100: Plantings
by
Cori Warner
Nothing will add more curb appeal to the front of your home than plants.
A house without grass and foundation plantings just looks rather sad and neglected.
Like it's been forgotten, really.
When we moved in to this 1940s bungalow, we had a packed dirt yard, two stumps in the front foundation bed, and some really huge, overgrown trees.
A house without grass and foundation plantings just looks rather sad and neglected.
Like it's been forgotten, really.
When we moved in to this 1940s bungalow, we had a packed dirt yard, two stumps in the front foundation bed, and some really huge, overgrown trees.
In case you missed the other riveting posts in this curb appeal series, this is what we started with: pink trim and a dirt yard, and ugly holly tree-shrubs. We moved in October, so I had to put up with this for a while, but Spring finally came.
As renters, it would be foolish to spend a ton of money on a home and yard we don't really own. So, I'm not spending a ton of money. My budget for installing the beds and the plants for the front yard is $100 or less.
Now, I love digging in the dirt, and taking care of my plants. But I gotta tell ya that digging out Oklahoma clay in August is just not real high on my list of fun things to do. After a good two hours, this was where I was at: just starting to put in the metal edging.But finally, the edging was in, the weed-block was laid, and six bags of mulch was poured and raked, and I had a foundation bed. Halle-freakin'-lujah, its been 10 months in the planning, and roughly 6 weeks in the execution, but I finally have a real lawn, and real plants, in a real bed, with real curb appeal. Woohoo!
This purple fountain grass was my splurge in the project. I already had the empty pot, and the grass and the potting soil was $26, over a quarter of my budget.
Orginally, I tried the plow in the front bed, but it was forever falling over.And without something behind it, it wasn't really that noticable. Now it has the brick behind it, and is shows up very nicely. It can also lean against the wall, so it won't be falling down all the time. I planted cannas, moneywort, and a tiny volunteer Nandina that I got off the shrubs in the back yard. There is also a starter of umbrella grass that will grow to 3 or 4 feet tall next year, after it has established itself.
The approach to the front porch is much improved and I stayed on budget! To see how, be sure to check out the full blog post!
So what do you think? Did we amp up the curb appeal of this house?
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2 comments
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Your landlord is a lucky guy.
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Yeah, I know. I'm giving him free labor, but there's no way I would have looked at the front the way it was for the duration of a three year lease. So there ya go!
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