Hartman Baldwin Design

Most of us focus on only the interior decorating of our home, but you don’t want to be forgetting the outside garden, grass, shrubs, and flowers. A home is definitely not complete until the grass is lush, the flowers are blooming, and everything is neatly cut and trimmed in the front and back of the house. Here are some easy over-the-weekend landscaping projects that will make a HUGE difference to your home’s curb-appeal

Make Sure Your Soil is Good Quality

If you just purchased a new home, make sure the builders didn’t strip the good topsoil away. Test the quality of the soil – hardpan or glacial till means invest in new soil if you want to grow shrubs, plants, trees, and flowers. A great lawn needs (at least) a few inches of quality soil in order to nourish roots.  Pretty flowers will never thrive and trees won’t grow to full potential without good soil.

Pay Attention to the Size of Plants

Before purchasing a shrub or tree, pay attention to where you will be planting it. A nice small bush may look wonderful now, but it a few years it can grow to block a view, create large amounts of shade, and require tons of pruning or further landscaping. It may also start growing into the neighbor’s yard, so be mindful of placement and consider how large it will be when it has grown to full potential.

Arrange Plants Naturally

If you take a nature walk you will quickly see that plants are never perfectly aligned in a row in nature. Professionals mock homeowners who create perfect hedges and geometric shapes with plant life.  Try to mimic plants in natural sections and arrangements rather than attempt to make a perfect square, circle, rectangle, etc.

Take Your Time When Landscaping

Some landscapers are notorious for the mow, blow, and go technique, mowing the lawn, cutting with a trimmer, blowing debris from walkways, and quickly taking off to the next job.  Try to focus on taking your time and use your creativity to prune and form your bushes, flowerbeds, and lawn. Chainsaws and trimmers do damage to branches and bacteria, which can let in fungus, and insects into the wood.For bigger jobs it is better to use serrated pruning saws or clippers with bypass blades, while pruning shears by Fiskars are great for flowers and plants with smaller diameter stems and branches.”

Pick and Choose

Try to balance out when it’s time to call professional landscapers, as most of the work you can do yourself without any specific knowledge. If you really don’t have a green thumb, you should let the professionals do the landscaping. If you are on a budget consider hiring a professional as a consultant rather than a worker to give advice regarding what to do and the proper equipment to use.  Also, don’t go overboard with the flora and fauna; you may decide to improve the look of your garden with stone, gravel, and other types of landscaping.

Nothing Good Comes Easy

Be patient and diligent. Great gardens don’t grow overnight and require a lot of attention! A lush garden requires strict discipline, dedication and a lot of effort. Once you get the hang of it, you will surely learn to enjoy every minute of it!

Nailing the perfect exterior of your home can be a little tricky with so many options for color schemes, furniture and accessories. Sometimes its tough deciding on the perfect exterior when you try to get durability, style, and trendiness all in one package. One thing is most important – you definitely don’t want to sacrifice style but you want to make sure your home is tightly sealed away from dampness and the cold.

Taking a little bit of time and effort to give your home’s exterior an update will not only improve its curb appeal, but make it a lot more welcoming to friends and family. Doing some exterior maintenance will also protect the home from long-term weather effects and will add value to your property.

Clean up Your Windows

You can make some minor changes to your home within a few days. First, clear up any unsightly debris that may be cluttering up the house’s façade.  Think about tackling any window frames that may need repainting or washing. You may want to check out our easy recipe to get your windows sparkling in seconds.

Repaint The Front Door

Choose a bright colored, weatherproof paint that fits in well with the age and architectural style of the property, and repaint the front door.  Homeowners may even want to splash out on some new door furniture to complete the look.

Stock up Your Garden

Don’t underestimate the importance of a well-stocked garden – even a couple of containers filled with bright flowers on either side of the front door can make a huge difference.  Attractive outdoor lighting will make the home look welcoming after dark, so stock up on solar powered garden lights to place along the front path. You may also want to pay close attention to your backyard. Dining alfresco is all the rage right now, and creating an outdoor escape where you can relax and enjoy an outdoor meal is priceless.

Install Siding

For a longer lasting solution to the possible deterioration of the house, it may be worth considering using siding for the home.  Vinyl siding is one of my favorites since it’s extremely durable, and will save you tons of money in the long run unlike painted exteriors. It’s also a great way to shrink your electricity bills – the high quality insulation keeps the heat in during winter and the heat out in summer.

Transform Your Exterior

If you ever dreamed of giving your home a cozy wood cabin look or a realistic stone appearance, now your their chance!  There are tons of choices to choose from that come in a variety of colors like seamless siding, shake siding or shingle siding, or wood cladding.

If you ever dreamed of giving your home a cozy wood cabin look or a realistic stone appearance, now your their chance!  There are tons of choices to choose from that come in a variety of colors like seamless siding, shake siding, shingle siding or wood cladding.

Coordinate the Little Details

To add to your home’s new look, coordinate the guttering, windows, shutters and fences to the siding. This way you will create a unified new look that will transform your home and amp up your curb appeal!

Photos: Houzz