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How to Add Curb Appeal Through Landscaping & Gardening

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This post is sponsored by First Editions® Plants and SheKnows Media.

Have you ever wanted to have a garden or landscaping with curb appeal that you can be proud of? Are you lost on where to start, or what to prioritize when you’re working on a budget? I’ve been there, friend. But fret not. I’m so excited to partner with First Editions® Plants to bring you lessons I’ve learned that have helped me transform our yard from blah to WOW over the past couple of years.

How to Add Curb Appeal Through Landscaping & Gardening - home with beautiful landscaping junipers hollies and hedge

Adding Curb Appeal Through Landscaping

Below, I outline how to tackle your landscaping, and what items to prioritize. And, don’t worry if you can’t accomplish everything in one year. Seriously! Improving your landscape doesn’t have to be expensive, but sometimes if you are starting with a blank canvas (like I did) it’s a good idea to break up your landscaping goals into smaller chunks over a couple of seasons.

David Austin Boscobel in Jacksonville, Florida December

Know Your Growing Zone

Before you fall in love with something on Pinterest or Google image search results on your gardening quest, make sure you are aware of your USDA growing zone. The USDA makes it easy to find your growing zone by entering your zip code here. Jacksonville is in USDA growing zone 9a and I had to learn the hard way to listen to this map. If you click on your state on the interactive map, it will zoom in to show you a more detailed map to help you plan your garden.

Get Inspired

Have a bare landscape? The possibilities are endless! Pick up one of many home décor and gardening magazines at your local supermarket checkout lane for ideas on curb appeal. I love seeing all the wonderful ideas for gardens, including those that are “hardscapes” with lots of rocks and pebbles.

This is also a good time to learn your gardening style. Remember, gardening is a form of self-expression. Do you prefer informal, cottage garden styles? Or do you prefer formal, manicured gardens. I love the latter, and so I knew that I wanted structure and symmetry in my garden. This will help immensely in my next point.

palm-tree-landscape
One of the landscaping plans that did not make the cut. The palm trees weren’t what I wanted, but I only learned that after seeing it on a picture.

Plan, Plan, Plan

It’s important to sketch out your garden beds how you’d like them to look in the end. I like to use Photoshop to plan my garden beds. You don’t need to use Photoshop to help you plan, but I found that this was the most realistic way for me to visualize everything before I spent money and time planting things.

Measurement for new garden bed and new irrigation lines, PVC pipe laid out. Lawn marked with landscape paint.
Use landscape paint to help you plan new beds. Extend sprinkler or irrigation lines into new beds to help you in the long run. It was a lot of work but so worth it!

One super important thing to keep in mind when selecting plants is MEASURE THE SPACE YOU HAVE. Don’t fall for the trap of planning for your plant’s CURRENT size. Look at the spacing instructions on your plant’s tags. Some flower bed dimensions you can’t change (such as those that are surrounded by cement). Others, if they are in your lawn, you can adjust to accommodate the plants you want to have.

planting shrubs with careful spacing
Newly planted juniper and hollies in early 2015, after careful spacing.

After our honeymoon in Italy, I fell in love with the tall cypresses all over Rome. I knew that I wanted them in my landscape, so I measured and planted accordingly even if it looked odd, and even when my neighbors questioned my judgment. Now, they’ve asked me if I’ve moved the one that grew over 15 feet since it looks closer to the house than when I initially planted it far away. Hint: I haven’t. If you plan and execute accordingly, your plants will grow into the space you created for them. Always trust the spacing requirements!

Landscaping with juniper topiaries, hollies, and Italian cypress against a stucco house.
Same flowerbed in summer 2016.

Prioritize Projects

After you have planned your landscape, prioritize what you can do (and afford) in one growing season. The first year in our home, we had a lot of expenses. However, our HOA demanded we lay down new sod. This wasn’t something we could drag our feet on without incurring fines. If you can’t feasibly do this, consider laying down new mulch. You can find mulch at 10 bags for $10 during the spring and spread it on the flowerbeds to prevent weeds from taking over. You’d be surprised at how much curb appeal this small investment can add to your home.

The second season, after I had a whole year to observe how the sun hit different parts of our property over the course of the year, is when I started buying special plants such as roses and hydrangeas. Roses need full sun, and hydrangeas wilt in full sun. Taking the time to observe how lighting changes throughout the year helps you avoid heartaches and wasted money.

But one of my most important tips: if you need to prioritize due to your budget, prioritize by incorporating evergreens into your plan!

Coppertone distyliums in First Editions purple pot on nursery display table

Invest in Evergreens

Evergreens are the backbone of your garden. Just like a tailored blazer or tailored jeans are the base of a great outfit, evergreens will ALWAYS polish your landscaping. When the middle of winter has everything looking dead, your evergreens are the ones that give life to your landscaping.

Even though I know our USDA planting zone, I have had a couple of disappointments in plants not thriving in my garden. Lavender was one of those plants that my local hardware store carried, but the humidity killed it. So when I learned that First Editions® Plants had plant cultivars recommended for the South, I was intrigued.

Vintage Jade distylium plants in nursery display

First Editions® has beautiful plants that have been rigorously tested so I can feel confident they will flourish. If you are unsure about a plant, First Editions’ plant guru can help with any question you have about gardening on their Let’s Ask Amy page. The varieties of Crepe Myrtles and Distyliums, particularly the Vintage Jade Distylium, caught my eye.

Vintage Jade Distylium in First Editions purple pot; a great plant to use in your landscape in the South

This charming shrub has a mounding habit, spreading 4-5 feet and growing 3-4 feet high. I immediately knew they would be a great candidate dress up my garage beneath the carriage lights. A member of the witch hazel family, petite red flowers appear in the winter. This adaptable plant grows in full sun or part shade, tolerates drought, heat and wet soil, making it a PERFECT choice for my area!

garage entrance
Garage entrance before removing the overgrown azalea (where the afternoon’s full sun scorches it)

Vintage Jade Distylium in First Editions purple pot next to future planting space

Vintage Jade Distylium by First Editions
Note the spacing requirements on the tag!

green gardening gloves and blue kneeling matnewly planted distylium shrub soaking water

Distylium is a good alternative for boxwood, cherry laurel, holly and juniper in foundation plantings or anywhere you want low maintenance evergreens. Since I already have boxwoods, holly and juniper I knew this would be the perfect addition to the existing flowerbed.

Vintage Jade Distylium by First Editions
Vintage Jade Distylium planted next to blue point juniper
garage entrance after planting First Editions Vintage Jade Distylium
Garage entrance after planting First Editions Vintage Jade Distylium

This particular view of the house has bothered me for a while, but it wasn’t a priority. The Vintage Jade Distylium is a perfect for either side of the garage due to its full-grown size. When fully grown, the shrub will hide those ugly utility boxes while still allowing us access to them. Also, I won’t have to worry about it covering our carriage lights since it only grows to 4′ in height. They may look tiny in this bed, but in two years’ time, they will look nice and cozy!

Play with Color

While Brian and I need muted, neutral colors indoors to keep “zen,” outdoors is a different story. Gardening is another form of self-expression. I like to use between one and three colors (other than green, of course) in the garden. I love bringing in color through annuals, as I can change out the colors every year as the annuals fade. Petunias and Vincas have done the best for me in the full, Florida sun.

loropetalum in purple First Editions pot

You can also bring color to your garden by choosing plants with foliage color that is not green. Loropetalums have deep maroon leaves that make a striking contrast against evergreens. Plus, they have beautiful little pink blooms in the spring. They are a breathtaking characteristic of spring in the South that sometimes are overlooked when the azaleas are in bloom.

I love playing with different shades of green. The yellow greens of my boxwood pop against the blue-green leaves of my roses, which are in contrast to the true green of my podocarpus hedge.

Group Plants in Odd Numbers

When planning your landscape, sometimes a space calls for multiple plants of a certain specimen (i.e. hedges, mailbox planter, edges of property, etc). Planting plants in odd numbers looks better than even numbers. For example, if you plan on incorporating showy plants such as crepe myrtles, purchase 1, 3, or 5 of them depending on how much space your garden has in order to achieve balance and harmony.

Vintage Jade Distylium planted next to blue point juniper

Polish off with Mulch

Last but not least, use mulch to finish off your hard work! Adding mulch to your landscape not only makes it look better, but it has several benefits. Mulch helps your plants’ roots stay cool and hydrated, saving you money on watering and also helping them battle the elements. Mulch also helps prevent the stray weed seeds from taking over your beds. I love using mini pine bark nuggets, as the rich brown complements all the greens and pops of color from annuals.

I hope you’ve found this helpful! Please reach out to Let’s Ask Amy if you have any questions! I love chatting about plants! And to help you out with your gardening and landscaping plans, be sure to enter the sweepstakes for a $100 Visa Gift card!

What is on your gardening and landscaping wishlist?

Let me know in the comments for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card! (giveaway closed)

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About the Author

Lisette Harrington Jacksonville, Florida blogger - La La Lisette

Lisette Harrington writes about her love of fitness, beauty favorites, home décor, and her two pups, Chip and Daisy. When she's not blogging, gardening, or working out, she is helping medical spas and aesthetic elevate their brands and websites at Mila Design Co.

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Comments

  2. Bekah Walsh says

    I’m in the city, so finding container-friendly plants that I can keep alive is my biggest goal. I had some Jasmine plants (NOT in my zone) that I tried to keep alive. As you can guess, fail. Time to take your advice and read up on what works best for me here.

  3. Kate says

    Peonies EVERYWHERE–that’s all I want. I just moved from the Midwest to Atlanta, and as long as I don’t stray much further south I should be able to achieve my goal someday :)

  5. Brooke says

    The contrast in the before/after pics is really making me want to update my landscaping! You did such a wonderful job with the curb appeal project!

  6. Kelsey Eaton says

    First off I want a home so I can actually plant a legit garden! For now apartments mini gardens will have to do. I love growing herbs though so some little planter boxes are high on my wish list!

  7. Lisa Brown says

    Some Dahlias, pansies, more ivy for the trellis, and anything else that is orange in color, love orange in my garden.
    jslbrown2009 at aol dot com

  12. Nancy K. says

    That shrub is a very attractive choice for the garage door and utility area. This company has many interesting varieties. I wonder what it’s like to garden in Zone 9a….maybe someday I will find out!

  13. Carolsue says

    My gardening wishlist includes lots of vegetables that our family can feast on when they grow! I also want some flowers to give color to my garden!
    digicats {at} sbcglobal {dot} net

  16. OFG says

    I want to produce fruit and veggies that the deer and squirrels stay away from. I think that’s only in my dreams though.

  19. Madeline says

    My gardening wish list has mostly vegetables—zucchini and lettuce, but I’d also like to plant some day lilies.

  21. Rachel says

    I would like to dig out an old stump and replant a tree or shrub in it’s place. I would also like to plant a vegetable garden.

  23. Margaret Smith says

    We’re going to add some more rose bushes this year. Also, I love lilacs and this past winter we lost two plants that we had. So, I’m hoping to replace them. In addition, we’ll be planting a garden with veggies and herbs and adding some daisy’s, day lilies and planting sunflowers.
    Thanks so much.
    rickpeggysmith(at)aol(dot)com

  28. Jessica To says

    My landscaping wish list includes lots of mulch to go around our house and trees and some flowers to plant around the front porch.

  33. heather says

    A new landscape is on my wishlist and lots of flowers are on my gardening wish list this year.

  35. Natalie says

    My gardening wish list includes more hanging pots, dahlias, pansies, begonias, tomatoes and cucumber seeds!

  37. Rebecca W says

    My girls and I love planting flowers in the spring and watching them grow! I’d love to put in a raised flower bed for vegetables and some herbs! We love fresh tomatoes for salsa.

  41. Cynthia C says

    My wish list is for herbs that I can cut and use in the kitchen. I’d also like some new peonies.

  47. Jeffrey says

    My wish list is to create raised beds in my garden, It would require a lot of work, but once it was finished it would be easier to control weeds and pests!

  49. Rosie says

    I’d like to give a nice rose bush to a relative, she has a lot of deer. Are they any you would recommend or what she can do to deter the deer?

  50. Janice Cooper says

    I would like to plan a vegetable garden with tomatoes and cucumbers. I also would like to plant some petunias and geraniums.

  52. Tina W says

    My mom had a row of gardenia near our walkway in my childhood home. It is still one of my favorite fragrances and I would love to recreate that look someday.

  54. Cheryl B says

    My landscaping wants this year is a burning bush and some more Rhododendrons.

  57. Dana Rodriguez says

    That looks absolutely beautiful. We have been doing some landscaping the last few weeks as we have time.

  59. Susan Smith says

    My landscaping wish list includes bushes on the side of my house and flowers in the back surrounding my fence.

  65. angie lilly says

    A few winters ago, we lost a tree and 16 of our perennials! I have been on a mission to replace them all a bit at a time each year. The most expensive thing that has been on our wishlist to replace is a Japanese Maple tree. They are SO expensive! hahaha!

  67. Elle says

    I always grow different varieties of tomatoes and herbs in the spring/summer but I’d love to have a garden where I could grow different veggies like cucumbers too.

  69. BusyWorkingMama says

    I am planting some fresh herbs this summer along with some potted tomatoes, jalapeno peppers and habanero peppers. I love to use fresh herbs in cooking and I dry some of them, too, for future use.

  70. shelly peterson says

    I would like to plant some tomatoes and cucumbers and also some Tulips and Iris’s out front.
    cshell090869 at aol dot com

  72. Seyma Bennett says

    We don’t do flower beds as much. I love to plant things I can use like herbs, fruits and vegetables but my husband loves growing flowers that he can easily pick and give me on Mother’s Day or our anniversary LOL. I would love to grow Tulips but right now we have Roses.

  74. Chrissy says

    We are planning to actually put in landscaping around the front of our house this year so basically everything is on my wish list! I’m not sure yet what we are putting in flower wise but definitely a few shrubs as well. I need to make up my mind ASAP though because the plan is to get it done next week!

  76. stella methvin says

    Mine is to actually have the entire yard looking good. But with 2 acres and loads of trees its never ending to keep it under control.

  82. Barbara Montag says

    On my gardening wishlist – I would love to try a raised garden.
    thank you

  86. Susan Christy says

    My landscape dream is to have a stepping stone path to a fire pit in the backyard.

  89. Margaret Smith says

    I’d really love to landscape the front of our home. We can use some nice shrubs and plants.
    Thanks so much.

  91. Jeffrey says

    I would really like to transform our garden and make raised beds. We’ve had some wet summers and it has had a negative effect on the vegetable yields. We could also use some new plants around our patio.

  93. Susan Smith says

    My gardening wishlist includes lots of vegetables like tomatoes, radishes, onions and carrots,

  98. Julie says

    We’ve added a ton of different garden beds but I really love how our tulips are doing

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