Curb Appeal 101

Richmond Home Landscaping

Making your home the ENVY of the neighborhood…

BCLS Landscape Services of Central Virginia

The front of your house is the first thing people see driving by or visiting. So how do you create an appealing front landscape that reflects your style and personality? The basic principles for creating curb appeal are order, unity, and balance.

First, let’s think about creating an order. Look at:

Architecture – examine your roofline, doors, window style, pillars, and other strong architectural elements of your home to see what you want to hide or highlight.

 Richmond Landscape Design ServicesStyle – what is your personal style? What is the style of your house (traditional, ranch, prairie, colonial, etc.)?

Views – what do you see when approaching your entryway? Stand on the sidewalk or across the street and examine your front yard from different angles.

 

Focal point – keeping the front door prominent, what might be some secondary focal points?

Unity is created with repetition, allowing the landscape to look planned and tied together. Creating masses or drifts of plants keeps the design from looking too busy. Consider odd numbers of plants as we see them as groupings. Repeating colors or forms from the home’s architecture also creates a connection between your house and the garden. For example, coral bells can highlight purple shutters or trim. Remember to plan for foliage colors, as many perennials only bloom for a short time. Evergreens give winter interest and come in many different needle colors, including blue, yellow, russet, and more.  Southern Living Lifestyle

Balance or scale is important when planting around a structure. Big houses need larger scaled plants so that the home looks settled into the landscape. Ornamental trees can soften corners and offer good framing elements. Large containers add drama to big porches or more grand entryways.

To make your maintenance needs easier, keep in mind the mature size of the plants you are choosing. What looks great now might not look as good in, say in five or even ten years. So allow enough room for them to grow and not become crowded. Many times, dwarf varieties of trees and shrubs grow slower and require much less maintenance.

Don’t forget to ask for help! At BCLS Landscape Services we are here to help you design, build and even maintain your homes landscaped environment. Contact us at www.BCLSLandscape.com