8 Gardening Tips to Transform Your Home’s Curb Appeal

Your property’s garden and exterior landscape is the first impression your home makes. In a four-season country in particular, this can make year-round gardening tricky - but with some strategy and ongoing maintenance, it is more than possible to create a sustainable and lasting garden aesthetic that will boost your curb appeal. 

By taking measures to boost a property’s curb appeal, property owners are able to highlight their property’s best features and contribute to not only their own exterior aesthetic positively, but the overall street-wide appeal, which neighbours will appreciate and hopefully take inspiration from to follow suit themselves. 

Landscaping with curb appeal in mind doesn’t have to mean breaking the bank or exhausting your energy. With a little creativity and some strategic goals in mind specific to your property, owners can reap the benefits of a beautiful exterior landscape, which will pay off in big ways. Specifically, the potential for increased property values as a result of your exterior landscaping efforts. 

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when strategizing your garden to improve your home’s curb appeal. 

Consider The House Itself 

The architectural design of your physical home should help guide you in mapping out the garden design and landscape layout so that your garden flatters the natural aesthetic overall. For example, if you have a modern home, your garden design would likely end up in a more minimalist, “clean” style. 

In every area of landscaping design, it’s always a good rule of thumb to look to your existing structure and any fixed components to establish a baseline of design theme going forward.

Look to the Colour wheel for Complimentary Hues 

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Looking to things like your home structure, any existing hardscaping elements, fences and etc, you can establish the “anchor colours” for the area and work from there to select plants, blooms and any design accents that compliment those hues. 

Use a colour wheel to determine what complimentary colour options you can work with. This article from Better Homes & Gardens gives some great advice on how to use a colour chart to isolate agreeable colour combinations. 

Use Hardscaping Accents

Hardscaping elements will boost curb appeal. Benches, oversized sidewalks, things of that nature establish strong visual anchors and allow some room to creatively accent these areas with plants and flowers that really amplify the overall look. 

Add some potted plants into the mix 

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Potted plants are a great way to inject some colour into the mix. They allow homeowners to play around with potter styles and sizes and enjoy trying out new floral accents to refresh and change up your curb appeal from season to season without the commitment of being planted inground. 

Choose hearty, low-maintenance plant varieties mixed in with seasonal blooms 

Keeping in mind that Canadian gardens are exposed to four full seasons of weather throughout the year, owners will want to be cautious and calculated in their selection of plants for their gardens. It’s a good idea to line the property where possible with evergreens, which will last year-round, provide a natural option for added privacy on and around the property, and are an excellent option for sectioning off certain areas of your property. 

Fill in voids in your garden beds with rocks

Using larger boulder-style rocks to take up some space and fill voids in garden beds, you’re able to easily complete the look of an area in a way that adds some natural aesthetic value. Larger rocks in this style can be pricey - fortunately, there are “faux boulder” options available, like these from Wayfair.

Alternatively, mulch is another great way to top the soil in vacant garden patches. 

TIP: This article from GoodHousekeeping breaks down how to select and apply the right mulch for your garden. 

Add greenery to your stoop and walkup

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Give your stoop, walk-up, and front door landing a little extra TLC with some potted plants and decorative accents.

This will allow your garden’s aesthetic to carry over to this area of the exterior in a way that’s subtle and easy to maintain. Just be wary of placement to avoid cluttering or overtaking the necessary room for access.

Illuminate your Landscaping

After all that work put into making your garden beautiful, it’s a shame to lose any potential for curb-appeal after-dark! Why not illuminate garden beds and walkways with some soft lighting to keep the beauty of your exterior going past sundown? When it comes to outdoor lighting intended to illuminate and accent your garden, there are plenty of options to choose from, including:

• Spotlights
• Flood Lights
• Up/Downlights
• Step Lights
• Garden Lights
• Bollard Lights
• String Lights

And as always when dealing with electrical elements, be sure to take the proper safety precautions, ensuring the lighting you’re using is outdoor-friendly and enlisting a professional for any work that goes beyond DIY basics.

Refresh Paint and Trim

Keeping up with the backdrop of your garden, i.e. any structural elements visible curb-side, will go a long way in showcasing your exterior in the best possible light. Replacing damaged house numbers and repainting the front door and any fencing are a great way to give your overall exterior a major refresh. 

Do a Thorough Cleaning

You can add all the accents and floral varieties possible, but if your curb-facing lot is messy and in disarray, it will most likely end up overshadowing any design efforts. 

Taking the time to maintain a tidy exterior space will do wonders to open up your space and have it looking it’s best. A clean lot will allow all your design and gardening work to really shine through, while also avoiding visually shortchanging your lot size with clutter or neglected areas that take up precious outdoor real estate. 

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