“Curb appeal” … don’t you love that phrase? It first became popular as lingo during the great housing boom of the early 2000s, when houses were being bought and sold at a record clip, and people were looking for a competitive edge when selling a house.
Today, one of the smartest, most effective ways to enhance curb appeal is with flowers. But how can you do that easily and effectively?
To get some helpful answers, we asked Beth Warren of Winslow, Maine, a certified Master Gardener. Here’s the advice Beth passed along:
If you’re selling your home between May and September, when nights won’t be too cold, use annual flowers. (See examples below.) If you have a front porch, you can put hooks up for hanging flower baskets, or you can use “shepherd’s hooks,” which are the large flower-basket hooks you put in the ground. Flower baskets and hooks are readily available in Central Maine at stories such as Agway, Lowe’s, Home Depot, or your local gardening center. The standard diameter sizes for these are 10-inch or 12-inch.
Next, buy or grow annual flowers for your hanging baskets. Wave petunias are a good choice, because they are pretty and like sun. Lots of folks also choose geraniums, because they are hearty and also like sun and heat, without needing a lot of water. Geraniums are also practical if you travel a lot during the summer, and aren’t always home to take care of your flowers.
If you have a portion of property that is mostly in the shade, Boston ferns, begonias, and/or impatiens make a lovely addition to hanging baskets or other flower presentations.
Another way to enhance curb appeal is through flower buckets. These can be easily positioned to beautify (for example) either side of your front porch steps, or places in your driveway, such as either side of a garage-door opening. If you aren’t a gardener or simply don’t have time to grow your own flowers, any home store or garden center will have flower-arrangement buckets already made up for you.
If you have old-fashioned window boxes, they are another great option for adding curb appeal. Depending on whether a window box is primarily in the sun or shade during the day, use the flowers mentioned above (for example, geraniums in a sun-drenched window box; begonias in window boxes mostly in the shade) to quickly and easily add beautiful, vibrant color to your home and property. Then sit back—and watch that curb appeal start appealing!
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