Choosing Easy-Care Plants for Curb Appeal
Photo: © Dmitrijs | Dreamstime
The choice of plants for curb appeal should endow your home with charm, framing a setting that invites the visitor to dream of iced tea and lawn chairs. To convey easy-care grounds, forget plotting an immense perennial garden. To the majority of people, that says "You'll be spending all your fair weather weekends maintaining me."
Wise plant choice is the key. The following is a very brief list of hardy, enduring performers for easy maintenance in a variety of settings.
Make a Focal Point
Most barren yards benefit from an ornamental tree. If you live between zones 5 to 9, you should consider a self-fertile, dwarf fruit tree. This gives the one-two punch of a pretty flowering tree in spring and the romantic ideal of picking one's own fruit. Or, try a little nut tree—Hall's Hardy Almond is a smallish variety with pretty pink blossoms in early spring, and doesn't require as much fuss as some of the fruits.
Shrubbery Against the House
Negate the need for trimming with shrubs that grow less than 3' tall under windows. Choose from boxwood, Bird's Nest spruce, Blue Star juniper, Siberian Carpet cypress, compact heavenly bamboo and evergreen azalea. Use taller shrubs to frame sections of the mounded forms: Emerald Green arborvitae, dwarf Alberta spruce, or Sky Pencil holly.
Quick, Aromatic Impact
Plant a row of hardy English lavender along a walkway, or a small herb garden with oregano, thyme, and rosemary where visitors will have to pass on their way in. Merely brushing against these plants will release a heavenly fragrance.
Perennials for Texture, Shape and Color
Shade/partial shade:
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Hostas are notable for leaf color and for filling dappled-shade areas with foliage fast.
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Coral Bells are evergreen all year, and their flowers, though tiny, are charmingly fairy-like.
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Hardy ferns make any landscape look instantly cooler.
Full to partial sun:
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Day-lilies, especially the reblooming variety, come in a variety of colors, look terribly exotic, but are hardy enough for cold climates.
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Moonbeam Coreopsis blooms petite yellow flowers from June until October with appealing, airy foliage.
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Ornamental Grasses offer height and interesting form, and most are drought-tolerant once established.
Hiring a designer is no cop-out; your local nursery may provide design or installation services at a discount if you buy their stock. However, landscaping is doable for the able-bodied, as long as you adhere to plant zones, light requirements, watering and soil needs.
