When I hear about curb appeal, the thought that comes to mind is not our home. Our house has little curb appeal – the old toilet flower planter doesn’t help – nor does the extra tires…attached to that broke down Buick. When we bought the house the previous owners told us that the yard was used as a dump…no joke. So in preparation of the listing of the house, they decided to rip out everything.

Last spring we had a 75 foot pine cut down and the root ground out. And that is where we stopped. So obviously this is the right time to plan to get some plants in and some curb appeal out there. Let’s get to the plan.

(Sorry about the ghetto “yard map”) We have a small front porch that has a long set of brick front steps. Currently our yard slopes from the right side to the left – due to being located on the side of a small hill. We hope to level out the area surrounding the front porch in the coming month. Topsoil would need to be added so that the depth from the porch to the ground is even on both sides. We also want to add actually plants. I know…this may be asking too much or being greedy – wanting grass and shrubs and all…that just goes to show how high maintenance I am 🙂

The trees I decided on were the following (pictured from left clockwise):
Dwarf spruce
Crape Myrtle (not really a tree but has a high profile)
Flowering Dogwood

Shrubs (from top left clockwise):
Gold Privet
Crape Myrtle
Hydrangea
Azalea

Perennials (pictured from top left clockwise):
Begonia
Moss Phlox
Daylily
Gaura
Bluebeard (actually a shrub but low growing)

So we definitely need to take this challenge one step at a time. But the key is to get a plan written down, right?! First up – get our landscaping expert friend to take a look at our situation and let us know how much topsoil would be required. I am really looking forward to this transformation. I am also looking forward to Jeff Foxworthy no longer making fun of our yard.

Helpful Hint –Georgia flowering perennials link