Enhancing the curb appeal of your house doesn't have to be expensive.

Wether you are interested in improving the look of your  front yard for personal enjoyment or for  selling your home, here are a few of my top recommendations.

 

This blog post is part of the Garden Designers RoundTable blog theme about "First Impressions."

Please visit the blogsites posted at the end of this article for more inspired ideas!

 

1. Mulch Your Garden Beds!

 

Nothing says "finished and well tended" than a garden that is weed-free and mulched.

There are a variety of mulch products that can be used in your garden from free pine leaves to decomposed granite to decorative recycled glass and more!

The horticultural benefits of adding mulch to your soil are undisputed- it helps to retard weed growth and aids in moisture retention in the soil.

 

I enjoy the decorative benefits of a rich colored top dressing for the soil.

 

If you have a small garden, you can buy bags (usually 1 to 2 cubic foot size) of your preferred mulch or order large scoops at your landscape center and have it delivered.

Prices vary according to your selection.

Standard, "nothing special redwood nuggets or shredded bark " can cost from $4 per 1.5 cu ft bag, more or less depending on where you live.

Inorganic pebbles and stone costs me approximately $10 dollars for a seventy-five-pound bag.

 

Apply  mulch around your plants but avoid piling it up against the stems as this may encourage plant rot.

A two or three inch depth is adequate.

 

My favorite mulch for my Southern California garden are recycled peach pits and tumbled glass.

If you follow my blog, you know I have a fondness for seashells and wine corks too!

For in depth information read my post, "Mulch 101: The Art of Selecting the Perfect Garden Mulch."

 

I always say, "If your garden bed isn't mulched, it isn't finished yet!"

 

 

2. Add Potted Plants Near Your Front Door!

 

Even if you can't afford to relandscape your entire front yard, place a few colorful containers with fragrant flowers near your entry for impact.

Your eye will be drawn to this bright focal point.

Need inspiration?

Read my blog post "Creative Container Garden Ideas."

 

 

3.Paint Your Front Door An Accent Color!

 

 

I have to admit, if it weren't for the bright fushia-colored front door, this yard would look very boring!

The bougainvillea is captivating but it doesn't sport color year round.

 

Select a paint color that compliments the foliage or prominent plant color in your garden to unify house and landscape.

Painting a front door is a lot like putting on lipstick.

Instant smile!

 

4. Beautify Your Mail Box!

Need I say more about the uplifting affect of a plant-filled mailbox?

I was contacted a few month ago by the designers of Creative Mailbox Planters, a company that specializes in mailbox planters.

What a great idea!

 

For around $80, you can have "practical art" in your front yard.

Take a look at their photo gallery.

 

(This is not a paid endorsement, but please feel free to send me some "swag!)

 

 

5. Hide Your Water Hose

 

 

This tall, elegant urn is hiding an ugly secret…a waterhose!

A water hose is a practical element in your garden that can become a decorative feature, if you conceal it.

This urn was on sale at Target for  under $40 dollars. Not a bad deal.

 

Since I wasn't in the mood to spend ANY money, I repurposed a planter I had sitting around my yard.

I gave it a job.

 

 

 

 

The planter is shallow so I don't have to dive in to pull out the hose.

It also matches the style of the other planters in the garden.

 

Go Add Some Curb Appeal To Your Front Yard!

A few small details can make a big difference in adding curb appeal to your yard.

Always follow the path of least expense.

 

Mulch your soil, paint your front door, display some colorful planters,  add decorative detail around the mailbox and hide your hose.

You get the idea.

 

Please subscribe to EdenMakers Blog for updates on new blog posts and for upcoming giveaways!

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest!

Thanks!

Shirley

 

 

Please join the Garden Designers Roundtable bloggers today as we explore the best of First Impressions:

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA

Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA

 

 

 

One of my favorite garden television makeovers was a front yard vegetable and herb garden that Michael Glassman and I designed for our show, "Garden Police," (Discovery Home Channel).

 

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Drought conditions have forced extreme water conservation measures in Los Angeles gardens and it shows!

I've never seen so many parched looking lawns, especially now that we are allowed to water our yards only two days per week.

What Angelenos need are bright, colorful drought tolerant plants for their gardens!

Fortunately for me, I've always had a "plant-driven yard" with little to no lawn to look after so my yard is still looking great!

How is your yard holding up?

Does it need a color injection?

I have an idea for you.

 

Juice up your garden with orange plants!

      

My daughter Maya and I can't help but feel energized and refreshed in this garden, overrun with orange Nasturtiums!

 

I'm not saying to have an "all orange" garden, I'm just suggesting that you add this powerful, spirit lifting color to your garden!

 Your purple plants will welcome the company and so will your sad lawn.

Check out these low maintenance, low water, orange plants:

 

"Spreading Sunset" variety of lantana provides profuse orange/red flowers year round in frost free areas.

Give it full sun and it will bring the butterflies to your garden!

 

 

 

Aloe "Grassy Lassie" does equally well planted in the ground or in a container.

 Deep green narrow leaves with bright orange flowers that bloom most of the year.

 

 

 

Towering,  Anigozanthos "Orange Cross," (kangaroo paw)  is a tall airy plant and evergreen perennial.

Full sun, occasional water in summer.

Attracts hummingbirds and compliments!

 

 

I can't remember when this Arctotis "Sun Spot Orange" has not been in bloom in my garden!

I just keep deadheading and more flowers come!

Compact, mounding habit and evergreen, bright tangerine flowers. 

 

 

Arctotis pairs well with  silvery Senneccio and red Salvia.

Only 3 colors, but large impact!

 

 

 

Vining, Campsis radicans, (trumpet vine) thrives in my garden with lots of sun and some neglect!

 

 

 

Phormium "Rainbow Queen"sports an olive green to bronze central stripe and apricot margins.

This stately plant sets off other plants around it.

 

 

"Rainbow Queen" phormium and orange lantana.

Shades of orange, coral and bronze.

 

 

 

Why stop at orange plants when you can detail a simple potted  jade  plant with recycled, tumbled orange glass!

 

 

On "Garden Police," my co-host Michael Glassman and I created a front yard xeriscape garden and painted the shutters and front door orange, "terra cotta."

Don't forget your house can be part of the garden color scheme too.

Looking for more water wise garden design ideas?

Subscribe to Eden Makers blog for notification of new blog posts!

This is Part 2 of the Mar Vista Green Garden Tour in Southern California.

 

Need some more inspiration for a low-water garden?

The Mar Vista Green Garden tour  I attended last week yielded lots of design and plant combination ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instead of installing a traditional lawn, this homeowner created a "living tapestry" using ground cover plants.

There is lime-colored Helichrysum, purple, Trandescantia, silver/green Senecio, with a bisecting pea gravel path.

To the left of the path is  clumping Festuca glauca, "Elijah Gray."

The contrasting foliage color and texture will impart a dynamic look to the  garden year-round.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The parkway of this house features a pervious surface composed of small and large gravel which discourages water from running off into the street.

Although a pervious surface is ideal, in this situation, the gravel was difficult to walk on and flew all over the place when stepped on.

Messy but a nice idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A manufactured spa usually offers a more customized "jet configuration" than  in-ground spas,  but you have to admit, they are "oogly!"

Designer Johanna Woollcott has the right idea, nestling it behind an olive tree and tall, strapping Phormium, a silver cloud of Westringia, and a couple of varieties of Euphorbia.

"Ethereal" describes this garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Woollcott positioned a small, old-world fountain opposite the spa niche that screens a charming sitting area in front of the wood fence.

The fact that you can't see it is a wonderful design application of "mystery" and enclosure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Woollcott's front yard was adrift with ornamental grasses, chartruese colored Euphorbia,  Bulbine and an anchoring Melaluca nesophylla tree.

 

Front yard gardens benefit from mounding, as it helps to break up wide, flat spans usually covered with lawn.

This designer gets extra points for using broken and recycled concrete as "steppingstones" in this walkway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A closer look at the mounded garden bed and Melaluca tree.

There are many shades of green in this garden and that is a good thing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A glazed, blue ceramic pot is transformed into a spilling fountain with water that "disappears" into the gravel.

The fountain is color-keyed to compliment the house trim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This homeowner took the liberty of painting her neighbor's garage wall a vivid terra cotta color (for her eyes only) and transformed an "eyesore wall" into an artistic backdrop.

Do you ask permission from your neighbor first, or beg for forgiveness later?

Depends on what your neighbor is like!

 

This was the third annual "Green Garden" tour for the Mar Vista community in Southern California.

 

Please subscribe to EdenMakers Blog and share this post with your friends!

 

 

Los Angeles is experiencing an ongoing drought, but you wouldn't know it by the looks of the  lush Edens I saw this weekend at the "Mar Vista Green Garden" tour.

Living and gardening in Los Angeles is a year-round pleasure for those of us with a taste for  decadent, verdant gardens and the ability to create them on a "small water budget."

 

Over 44 gardens were open to the public, all incorporating such green vanguards  as lawn-replacing ground covers, low water plants, edible gardens, drip irrigation, rain barrels, recycled materials, green roofs and much more.

 

The public was encouraged to walk or bike the 5.5 mile tour loop, but I drove because I'm not a local.

Good excuse, huh?

Those who self-propelled themselves through the tour were well rewarded with gorgeous, low water, organic and very green gardens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silver, creeping Dymondia,  carpets the crevices of the flagstone walkway while pink Oneothera spills into the foreground.

The garden is designed by Sarah Herman and also features feathery Nasella, "Mexican feather grass," red and yellow Anigozanthus, "Kangaroo Paws," Carex comans, Cercis and more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The parkway is planted with easy care Dymondia and  toffee colored Libertia peregrinans that looks like it's breaking through the ground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Nasella grass dances to the chorus "umber waves of grain!"

There were plant-driven focal points including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Majestic Matilija Poppy resembles a fried egg without the calories and cholesterol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An edible artichoke takes center stage in this front yard garden.

 

It takes a few years to be rewarded with edible fruit after planting an artichoke, once a strong root system is developed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This "lawn-less" front yard boasts succulents, wildflowers, grasses and a dry river bed to soak up the water when it  rains. 

 

This garden has "zero-tolerance" for water runoff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green hardscaping was also on display.

This decomposed granite and pea gravel stepping stone entry walkway was designed by Paula Henson and made to absorb rain water instead of sending it to the public sewer system.

The driveway is also a pervious floor created with gravel and granite tile blocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This rain barrel is strategically placed in the corner of the yard where rainwater falls from the roof. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The red Cercis Redbud tree adds a lot of color to this water-wise garden.

 

Other plants include Pelargoniums, Aeoniums, Salvia chaipensis and Euphorbia x "Martini"

Design by Johanna Woollcott.

 

I'll post some more photos of this idea-filled tour later this week!

You now have the choice between leaving a conventional comment or a video or photo comment.

 

Have fun!

Shirley

 

 

This lawn-free front yard in Los Angeles stopped me in my tracks!

Filled with lively succulents, Mediterranean plants and California natives, I was enamored with the simple color combination of yellows, oranges and a touch of red.

I want to know if edible front yards are dethroning lawns in your neighborhood?

From the amount of coverage  the subject is getting from news papers and prominent garden bloggers like my friend Susan Harris over at The Sustainable Gardening Blog,  you'd think that the movement to replace lawns with edible gardens is a popular one, at least among gardeners.

 

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