When people come to visit your house, the front yard is the first impression made about you and your family. Realtors call this “curb appeal”, meaning that as a person drives up or walks by, your front yard sets an expectation of what’s to come.
Much like going on a job interview, your initial presentation sticks in the mind of the viewer long after the interview is over. Likewise, if your front yard is overgrown and landscaped in a haphazard way, your visitor receives an uninviting impression of not only your home, but you and your family, which is clearly undesirable. If you are trying to sell your home, your front yard landscape can kill the deal before they ever set foot in your house.
So you can see that your front yard landscape is important. Maybe you do not see yourself as an artistic landscaper and feel at a loss as to how to proceed. If you can afford it, the easiest solution is to contact a reputable landscaper to help you out. Depending on the size of your front yard and the amount of work required, a professional front yard landscape design can prove quite expensive. However, even if you do not feel up to the entire task, there are a number of aspects you can define and tasks easily accomplished before consulting a professional.
For example, if you have overgrown areas which you obviously want to get rid of, get out the weed whacker and spend the morning clearing that area. Just like cleaning up a cluttered room, you will immediately have a better idea of both space and what you have to work with. If you have got toys, bikes or a bunch of pots from summer garden work cluttering the area, clean that up as well. Simple tasks like these can inspire you with ideas of what you might like to see in their place.
The now cleared area you have serviced with the weed whacker may be larger than you would have thought and in your mind’s eye, your new front yard landscape should have an eye-filling burst of springtime color, with tulips and daffodils dotting the area. Maybe a climbing rose would look nice making its way along the porch supports. Look through garden magazines and books,which are full of front yard landscape ideas. How about a natural stone pathway or brick retaining wall?
Everyone knows what they would like to see in their front yard landscape, even though they may not know exactly how to execute their plan. Get out a tape measure and make a scale drawing of the portion of the house facing front as well as the dimensions of the front yard. Mark tress and fences and other garden elements you wish to retain.
Roughly sketch in areas in which you would like certain color schemes and features in your front yard landscape plan. Now you are ready to call a professional. You will make their job easier, get a front yard landscape just to your taste and save money too!
