Landscaping Improvements to Make This Autumn
You can add value to your home and celebrate fall by landscaping your home. Re-landscaping can add up to 14% to your home’s resale value by giving your home some major curb appeal.
Deciding What to Plant
You might associate landscaping with your nearby golf course, but about 67% of US landscaping projects involve single-family residences. Try working with a professional landscape architect for the best results.
These individuals can create a site plan for your home and show you an artist’s rendering of how the finished home and landscape will look. Some of these plans turn out so beautiful that you’ll want to frame them and hang them as art in your home.
Landscape architects can help you plan a xeriscape or landscape that looks great throughout the year. They will know which trees, shrubs, and plants will look best in your yard and provide you with the pastels of spring and the burnished shades of autumn. Depending on your location and USDA zone, you might landscape using:
- Scarlet oak
- Japanese stewartia
- Aspen
- River birch
- Honey locust
- Sweetgum
- Red maple
- Sugar maple
- Sourwood
Fences and Area Dividers
You can make a large yard seem cozier and break it up into manageable spaces using rock walls, retaining walls, and fences. Around the yard’s perimeter, consider installing a solid wood fence.
These fences can reduce wind flow by up to 50%, which can save your picnic from blowing across the yard. Retaining walls can help stop erosion and add to the perimeter’s uniqueness.
Use six-inch height fencing or rocks and boulders to enclose garden plots. Installing these in ovals or round shapes instead of using square or rectangular plots can make the plantings look as if they grew naturally.
This un-planned planting look makes a landscape look more natural while letting you plan an organized garden. Consider planting ornamental grasses around the base of key trees in the yard. These trees change color in autumn, such as the Japanese stewartia and red maple. Plant flowers and flowering plants that look good year around.
Try verbena, begonias, or forest pansy. Don’t forget the mulch regardless of the time of year you plant. You can purchase local mulch at a nearby garden center or choose dyed mulch to add festive garden color without planting a thing.
Paths and Walkways
While you landscape, remember the hardscapes. That term refers to the driveways, walkways, decks, porches, porticos, and other pathways or stone areas. If it isn’t a plant or a decorative sculpture, it’s a hardscape.
Use flagstones, pavers, permeable pavers, stepping stones, or flat rocks for delineating a path. You can also try pebbles or seashells, although this requires a large amount of the product you choose.
Consider planting flowers or ground cover, such as clover, along the edges. This is a great way to help save the bees and make your yard look great at the same time.
Paint Your Front and Back Doors
Consider changing the color of the doors to red for an updated, jaunty look. Make sure the color you choose complements the rest of the home. Add a storm door if your home doesn’t already have one. Also, paint the door trim.
Add Seasonal Décor
Once fall arrives, add pumpkins and gourds to the yard. Create groupings in front of fences and on the porch or patio. Space small pumpkins or gourds about two feet apart along the deck rails.
Add pumpkins to the large potted plants and consider creating a pumpkin patch. You can also add one of each beneath each tree in the yard within that tree’s circular garden.
