We all know that a good first impression can impact the outcome of our decisions. Whether it’s meeting new people, interviewing for a job, or finding the dream house, features that we notice first will stick with us on a conscious or subconscious level. Therefore, paying attention to details and finding ways to get the desired attention is the oldest trick in the book, especially when doing business. A curb appeal improvement can add value to a home, attracting many potential buyers. To make a great first impression, you have to equally emphasize the best features of the interior and exterior. That can sometimes be hard with a limited budget. If you’re planning to do a budget-friendly property makeover, here are some landscaping tips for maximizing the curb appeal of your Flagstaff home.
Determining the budget for your landscaping project
Regardless of your impressive home exterior look, if the front yard is poorly maintained, your property won’t give the neighborhood or potential buyers a good impression. Luckily, unlike repairing, fixing, and refreshing the house on the outside, landscaping can be done faster, and you can do it yourself. However, it would be best if you did some basic research about the right plants and landscape maintenance. If you’re maximizing the curb appeal of your Flagstaff home to put it up for sale, you’ll want to save some money on these improvements. Still, even with a limited investment, you’ll be able to do wonders for your property with simple landscaping tips and tricks. Before coming up with a plan for the project, it’s essential to determine the budget. After you know a sum at your disposal, you can start with the research.
Maintaining the lawn
Lawn maintenance shows how much love and care someone puts in their home appeal. It is the base of your landscape that needs to be well-kept. No matter what everything else on it looks like, poorly treated lawns are a turn-off for anyone. The easiest way to have the perfect landscaping base is to mow it often and on time. Usually, weekly mowing will do the trick, but some lawns require more or less frequent interventions. To keep your grass looking fabulous, make sure not to cut more than one-third of the grass blade. Pay special attention to trimming the grass patches, especially in shady areas around the house. They might grow more quickly than the other parts.
How to pick the right plants
If landscaping your Flagstaff home after the move from scratch, it’s essential to carefully choose the plants on your property. This step will depend on the amount of money you’re planning to invest in exterior improvement. For an effective look on large landscaping surfaces, you can pick big plants and trees. They are a great way to improve the look of your yard, though they need some space. Alternatively, some smaller trees and big plants can be kept in big pots. This is especially important if you have moved to a new home and are landscaping your property in autumn. Moving during this season requires a lot of inspections on the house since you need to be sure your home is ready for the winter. The same applies to your landscaping project. Focus on autumn plants arrangements and upgrade your curb appeal in spring.
The safest way to ensure your plant sustainability is to opt for native Northern Arizona trees, bushes, and flowers. Native herbs thrive in regional ecosystems, lowering the fertilizing and watering demands. Thus, when deciding on the plants for your landscaping project, think of practicality and maintenance too. There are a plethora of Native Flagstaff herbs that can make adequate arrangements without having to worry about sustainability:
- Trees and shrubs: Common Chokecherry, Utah Serviceberry, Colorado Blue Spruce, Rocky Mountain Juniper
- Perennials: Golden Columbine, Scarlet Cinquefoil, Maximilian’s Sunflower, Showy Milkweeds, Arizona Valerian, White Sagebrush, Blanket Flower, Poppy Mallow, Colorado four o’clock, Purple Coneflower, Wild Bergamot, Orange Sneezeweed, Coral-bells,
- Grass: Little Bluestem, St. Augustine Grass, Bermuda, and Blue Grama
Recommendable landscaping color patterns
Whether you’re staging your Flagstaff home for sale or you’re moving into your dream house, focusing on the exterior of the house is equally important as interior home improvements. Besides the right plant selection, it’s crucial to pick tasteful and effective colors and patterns. The best way of maximizing the curb appeal of your Flagstaff home is to choose two or three complementary colors. With creative patterns inside flowerbeds, you can achieve outstanding results. Avoid too bright, colorful, and supplementary color combinations since such displays can have the opposite effects.
For example, a warm house facade will benefit the most with a similar palette of green, orange, yellow, white, and red. However, for cool house colors such as blue shades, use purple, white, and pink.
Add practical and decorative elements
There are plenty of decorative landscaping elements that, combined with plants, can beautifully accent the landscape. Most commonly, the use of rocks, artificial turf, and rubber mulch can transform the curb appeal of any home. However, these materials can heat the ground below, which can affect some plants. Thus, for long sustainable landscaping results, combine only heat-tolerant plants with these elements.
Additionally, use rope lighting and solar lights to show off your landscape magnificence during nighttime too! Aim lighting to trees, bushes, and pathways for the best appeal. The same goes for your porches and patios if you have some hanging pots with plants.
Conclusion
No matter how attractive colorful flowers might be, you have to think about landscaping tips for maximizing the curb appeal of your Flagstaff home throughout the whole year. That means, even during the winter season, your yard should look amazing. Thus, the easiest way to achieve that is to include evergreen plants and bushes in your landscape. Such threes, shrubs, and plants will look great during all four seasons.