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Landscape Design

How to improve the curb appeal in my house?

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

Hello!We have a house that has a large front yard, therefore the house sits pretty far off of the road. We also have several trees which shades some of the flower beds and causes the other beds to have full afternoon sun. I've been trying to add flowering plants in front of our holly bushes to add color but I'm always having problems with things growing well in these areas. I also have had a vole problem in recent years that we are trying to fix.My husband has always hated the Holly bushes and would love to dig them up. However, that would leave the house looking quite bare since they are covering about 90% of the front of the house. So we never got rid of them. But now that we've had a really hard cold snap in December that is not normal for our area (below zero temperatures in middle TN), most of the bushes on the front of the house look freezer burnt and are possibly dead. I'm not sure if they will come back or not but we will see soon. In the meantime, I would love some ideas on what I can do to improve the curb appeal on our house. Should we look into other evergreen type bushes? What kinds of plants would look best?Thank you for reading!
I will add a picture once I figure out how

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Comments (12)

Wendy White
Original Author
2 years ago
0
PRO
DreamzAR AI Landscape Design
2 years ago
Beautiful front yard! Here are some design ideas for inspiration.
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How would you improve curb appeal on my house?
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Comments (43)
You could use some help from the LD forum on this landscaping. Since you didn't pick the hollies and aren't attached to them, I'll be blunt: for my eye there's not much you can do with paint colours or house details to distract from the very unfortunate placement of those bushes. I'm not saying they couldn't be useful if you combined them with some other landscaping (the other forum people tend to be better at foundation planting issues than I am), but on their own at that height they... are unnecessary, to put it mildly. The house has a very nice foundation, nothing to hide. Do any similar houses in your area have no foundation planting with more greenery further out in the yard instead? I might be inclined to put such a hedge perpendicular to the house if anywhere in that yard, perhaps along the side property line. Cutting them and fleshing out the beds further into the yard with more plantings in front of them might help. I think they will sprout from below if cut back, but check that on the shrubs forum perhaps, or someone on LD might know. KarinL
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Comments (19)
Totally charming cottage! What part of the country are you in? One thought, if you're up for painting, would be to warm up the paint and highlight the beautiful trim details with a darker color, much like the English cottage stuccos. (Also showing a lighter version.) I added just a little more trim detail, with a horizontal finishing piece below the accent window and a more substantial crown piece over the door. And freshly painted the trim and gutters. Basically, though, here are some plant ideas to bring more focus to your charming walk and entrance. I think I would scale down that one shrub if it would still be green and beautiful with a pruning. It's a bit overwhelming and the house would show more. Looks like the one on the right might be a nice screen from the neighbor's houses. Big clump of graceful daylilies (Daffodils in Spring) and a bird bath. A larger, decorative planter than what's in the pic; here with some trailing lavender verbena and pink geraniums. Little bit of low growing florals highlighting the curve of the walk -- maybe Sweet Allysum (although I liked a bit of yellow there). Not sure what the wide dark area is along the base of the azalea, maybe just shadow, but I filled the bed out with rich, lush, and ruffly pachysandra. Looks like you already have a nice big window box hiding behind there, too, so it is filled! Charming, scrolling wrought iron (stainless steel) or wooden supports if there are none. What a beautifully shaped tree on the right -- is that a Kousa Dogwood?
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Comments (7)
The red bricks are not really dating the house any more than the architectural style is. It is what it is......a mid to late century ranch style. And unless you do something significant to alter or amend that style, it will still read from that time period. Sure, you could cover the brick with ledgestone or a stone veneer but that is not going to change the style or necessarily "update" it. I think if you really want to update the exterior appearance, you need to get an architect involved. Any landscaping would necessarily wait until after all that was completed.
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I agree the brick is fine but the shutters need to go. I actually think the current siding color with the roof and brick is nice. Garage door should be the same color to pull focus away from it. You want more focus at your front door/entry area. At some point you might think about a garage door with windows across the top. That can add interest and help break up the "wall." Larger light fixtures for the garage and front door would be nice. As gardengal suggested, beef up the posts and maybe the same for the window trim once the shutters are gone. Though this is an entirely different house, it gives you an idea of how the sage green gardengal mentioned could work with brown brick (or stone, in this example).
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cecily 7A
2 years ago
Well, you certainly do have a few hollies! What's the tall shrub that's reaching the gutters?

Does removal of the hollies need to be an all or nothing choice? I expect they will green up in spring. How about you keep every fifth holly and add white azaleas, dwarf boxwoods and white drift roses for more interest.
0
Wendy White
Original Author
2 years ago
The tall bush is also a holly. Honestly I didn't considered possibly just taking out a few vs all. That's a good idea.
0
simplynatural
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Is the front door used? If so, how do people reach it? I don't see a walkway. And I assume the house faces west, if this area gets afternoon sun?
0
Wendy White
Original Author
2 years ago
We use the back door to enter the house since the driveway wraps around to the back. We plan to add a sidewalk someday when budget allows. It would be 80 feet long to connect the front door to the driveway.
0
Shasta
2 years ago
Add some color and texture in place of the hedges which do nothing to compliment your house. I don’t know what grows in TN but I would go to the local nursery for some ideas of good candidates. It would be good to have a plan to work toward so you can do a zone at a time. Beautiful lawn! I’m quite envious living in CA.
PRO
Dig Doug's Designs
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Here are a few suggestions:
Sigrid
2 years ago
You can move the hollies. Or keep them. In shade, you can find a lot of rhodos and azaleas that should be fine and, in some cases, even native.
0
ffpalms
2 years ago
Wow, Akhilesh Joshi! This one is fantastic and looks achievable.
charles kidder
2 years ago
If you have deer in your area, that will greatly reduce your options. I'm guessing you do and could explain why you have just a few evergreens in the front.
0
cecily 7A
2 years ago
I figured their landscaping is minimal because they're working parents. Or they're just not into gardening which is also cool. The basic issues I have with the hollies are a lack of interest because only one type of plant is used, the dense planting which creates a heavy "eyebrow" look and the height of the shrubs reaching the window sills.

For an easy DIY update, I'd remove the hollies on the far left (shady) side and replace with azaleas. Space the azaleas five feet apart and five feet out from the foundation. Yes, you'll be able to see the foundation between them. Your house is lovely and you've got nothing to hide;)

Next, remove the hollies between the front door and the tall guy. Choose a smaller flowering shrub like Drift roses or spirea to plant there. Again, plant the new shrubs five feet off the foundation and five feet apart. Add liriope and flowering annuals in front of the roses.

Shorten the tall guy by two feet and prune it into a denser cone.

When you plant the new shrubs, don't spread bark mulch around them. Wood mulches may attract termites. Use river rock along the foundation and compost (like the bagged Black Kow brand sold at Home Depot) around the shrubs.

Leave the remaining span of hollies in place until you install the sidewalk.

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