Trade Evergreens for Boxwoods? Need to increase curb appeal!
last year
Hello, we are interested in a landscape upgrade and I hate our current evergreen type bushes. What do we replace them with?! Any other landscape design ideas? We just bought the house and need help!
The tall tree on the side has been removed.
Thank you!
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Starting Over; Curb Appeal Help Needed
Comments (27)Are you on well water? Is your water from the Quabbin (Mass. Water Resource Authority) or a Town aquifer or local source ? Does your town or city have water restrictions in place right now? If I were starting a garden in MA (or several other parts of the country) I'd plant taking increased drought as a given. We've had less snow and less rain over the past decade. I'm not saying you need to plant yucca and desert plants; just don't buy really expensive trees that cannot go more than 3 weeks without watering. Here in Lexington MA, even with the MWRA (Quabbin reservoir) as a water source, we've been asked to 'scale back' water use because of severe pressure drop. I have a katsura and belatedly found out it does not like dryness when it dropped its leaves a month and half ago. I have several other trees I'm not willing to let die because of drought. I'm sure our water bill will be in the thousands this year. If nothing else, I hope this post drives home the fact that choosing landscaping materials appropriate to your climate and environment is part of design considerations....See MoreI need help. "Curb appeal" landscaping in tough area
Comments (11)Haha, yeah we have to reseed every year. It also doesn't help we have squirrels and some sort of creature that constant digs holes to get under the deck. A turf lawn in this area would be seen of as something completely out of place, we are very rural. Even the local high schools still have grass. We are working on a moss lawn in the fenced area, but it's slow going, We are focusing on the part that cannot be seen from the road. but is seen by every person that comes to the house. The house cannot be seen from the road at all except for in the winter, and even then it's obscured by so many trees you can't see it very well. The rocks are mainly because my husband wanted to put rocks everywhere, and I talked him into just there. Also, I'm not completely positive we can actually grow anything under there, let alone add rocks or a ground cover at all, so that is something we have to look into at a later time. The ground there is a ridge and furrow setup with netting. We had an issue with water seeping into the basement along one part of that area, but that was solved with laying plastic and adding another drain. The well is directly under the screened porch. Would planting a tree that close be an issue? The existing tree in the image is about 25' from the well cap....See MoreMy windowless brick wall house needs curb appeal! Help!
Comments (24)The way I see it, the blank wall has one possibility and that is as a backdrop for a proportionately sized planting arrangement. The most likely possibility of plants that fit would be an arrangement of 3 small, multi-trunk trees (12' height ... made of what would otherwise be known as large shrubs) where two are at the back row (a few feet from the wall) and the third is centered between and in front of them, as a 'front row.' They would be limbed up to half their total height and sitting in a bed of groundcover that is substantial in size. In fact, the bed would also encompass the existing tree. If you'd imagine a 12' circular bed with the existing tree centered in it, that would be a major part of the bed. Then, in line with that same tree, extend the front edge of the bed straight over to the drive and parallel to the house front wall, fine tuning the details as to what makes sense. (Thus, the front-to-back depth of the bed would be roughly equal to the same distance that the tree is in front of the house, where that measurement is made 90* from the house facade.) The multi-trunk trees would be spaced such that the the width of their finished form fits comfortably within the confines of the brick wall width, excluding the entrance area. It seems that an effort is being made to obscure the entrance door. I think this is opposite of what the goal should be. I'd remove whatever screen is in front of it and widen the drive with an abutting walk that goes directly to the entrance area. There ought to be 25 square feet of seasonal color planted left of the entrance door....See MoreSuggestions to Increase Curb Appeal
Comments (8)The garage door and the bow window are your main issues with the house itself. The red door with the orange brick is jarring, and of course the vestigial shutters need to go, especially if the siding is new; get them off before they show a color difference behind them where the siding has been shaded. If it feels bare once they're removed, you should consider adding a garage pergola for interest, plus you can grow something pretty on it. The garage door needs a more modern replacement with square windows. Upgrade and enlarge your lantern lights. They should be 1/3 of the front door's height. I would pull out all the high maintenance stubby shrubbery, maybe keeping the weeping evergreen in the corner, and reno all your landscaping with the help of a local pro who can install things that do very well in your locale. Unless you're able to do everything right now, I suggest you simply paint your front doors white to match the garage. If they face west, black will really heat up in the summer. Add some really pretty hardware for a bit of bling that will work with lanterns (brass might be a good choice.) Do the roof before the landscaping. Roofers may trash your landscaping when they start tearing off old shingles. Tour your city seeking out homes with your siding and brick colors to get some color ideas for your roof. garage pergola...See More- last year
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The house is lovely, just a bit somber-looking (and maybe that's just because it's in shadow in the photo). One possibility is to lighten the siding and maybe the shutter color. I'm not a great colorist (there are others here who are), but here's a visual of just a color change, nothing else.
Landscaping can add brightness, too. Your yews make a nice dark, mature backdrop for something else that is lighter-colored (layers are always good in landscapes), and I agree that a wider walk would be more welcoming, as well as some sort of shelter for the front door. Here are a couple of options that don't change the house colors:
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