The grass is greening. The birds are chirping. The trees are budding. And our sinuses are miserable. It must be spring! Who doesn’t love the first signs of spring – especially homeowners ready to “plant” a for sale sign in their front yards?
The House Dressings team couldn’t be more excited about helping our spring sellers get their properties ready to list. There’s no time to rest as the Acadiana market sizzles with great opportunities to list and sell. In fact, a well-groomed and landscaped front yard can add 5 to 11 % to the perceived value of your home! (Source: Mymove.com and Michigan State University study)
Where to start? With curb appeal, of course! House Dressings reached out to the local experts at The Flower Bed for great tips on how to up your game by creating an inviting front yard this spring. Owners Johnny and Cindy Knickerbocker have provided Acadiana homes with flowers, plants and garden products for over 33 years so they sure know a thing or two about charming up front yards.
House Dressings recently caught up with The Flower Bed Manager Kelli Knickerbocker for a Q & A session on all things curb appeal:
1. Let’s start with beds and your top tips for preparing a flower bed for spring plantings?
Clean out weeds and any dead plants/root systems from the previous season
Remove or pull back old mulch and add fresh top soil/potting soil to regenerate the nutrients and minerals to the bed
Till the bed to mix in old dirt with new and loosen up soil.
Finally - don’t forget to FERTILIZE!!
2. Weed control is always an issue for sellers. What do you use?
No matter where you live weeds are always a nuisance. The best ways to keep them under control is by using a high-grade ground cover material around your permanent/evergreen plants, layer your mulch about 2” deep, and if possible create about a 2” gap between your grass and flowerbed edging.
3. We are all about the color. What are a few of your favorite springtime long-lasting annuals for the front beds?
The best part about spring-time is all the BEAUTIFUL colors. The color schemes and palettes you can put together are endless. Our top 3 favorite spring time sun plants are Whooper Begonias, Vinca, and Pentas. All three provide bright colors and are low maintenance. An added bonus is that Pentas attract butterflies! For a few other heat loving, colorful flowers try Angelonia, Coleus, and Pursalane.
4. We encourage sellers to keep shrubs lower than the window sills and trees neatly trimmed so buyers can see the architectural details of the home. Do you have any easy hints for pruning shrubs and small trees?
An important factor to keep in mind when pruning shrubs is the variety. The best time to prune your non-blooming shrubs is as soon as you see new growth, trimming back about 6-8” shorter the your desired height (unless it’s Knockout roses, then give her a GOOD cut!). For blooming shrubs, you want to wait until after their bloom cycle has finished. Again, the only except are the roses because they bloom longer than any other shrub.
5. What low maintenance potted annuals work best for semi-sunny areas like front porches that also provide lots of seasonal color? How about hanging plants?
Potted plants for part sun are so fun to work with! Different shapes, colors, and textures provide so much personality! Our top three favorite hands down are Caladiums, Coleus, and ANY type of Begonia! Coleus and caladiums give color the whole season without waiting on blooms. And the shade begonia family has tons of different blooms colors and foliage textures. All three are also extremely low maintenance, which for our Louisiana summers is always a plus.
6. Finally, do you have any tips for “hiding” unsightly utility boxes or the neighbor’s cluttered carport with landscaping?
For camouflaging “the ugly” around the yard we definitely suggest a neutral option. The last thing you want to do is draw more attention to it. First, make sure you check the location of any underground wires or pipes. Then, depending on the height of what you are covering, we would use Agapanthus, Flax Lily, or Foxtail Ferns to hide shorter utility boxes. To hide taller objects, try Holly Bushes, Indian Hawthorns, Knockout Roses, or Bottle Brush bushes for a quick evergreen fix.
