Flowers provide affordable curb appeal.
What’s the best way to improve the image of a neighborhood? Plant flowers.
Not only is it one of the most economical solutions for the pocket book, but it also has an immediate effect on the home’s perceived value.
Several years ago, Mississippi State University participated in a multistate project to quantify the value of a landscape, which included a survey of homeowners. Survey responders were shown an image of a home with a base value of $192,000 and had the opportunity to evaluate several landscape additions.
In almost every scenario, landscapes with 20 percent annual color added a $1,000 value. Homes with landscapes combining evergreens, deciduosity, color and hardscape brought the home’s perceived value to $215,147 — an increase of 12.7 percent. This is quite a return on investment.
We want to strive for that special curb appeal that simply makes life more enjoyable. Assuming you have evergreen plant material in place and that you mow regularly, prune and replenish mulch on an annual basis, we then come to the aspect of color.
In the survey, it was just 20 percent color that added a $1,000 value in the mind of the consumer. This may represent one of the best returns for the dollar spent and will most likely put a spring into your step, too.
The most obvious place for pockets of color would be near the front door, porch, patio or deck, in areas where friends and relatives might gather to visit, and that location where your visitors park, at the end of the drive.
Long ago, the pineapple was the symbol that said welcome to friends, family and visitors. While the pineapple is hardly used today, we convey that same welcoming spirit when we decorate the steps with colorful flowers.
Flanking the front porch with containers of Superbells ‘Pomegranate Punch’ and ‘Grape Punch’ calibrachoas, along with ‘Lemon Coral’ sedum with its hundreds of tiny yellow blossoms. It’s a showy display of what we call triadic harmony.
Window boxes, baskets, mixed containers and border columns make adding color easy. It is simple to put up a coconut fiberlined window planter under a window or a porch railing.
Containers of Supertunia ‘Bordeaux,’ Supertunia ‘Vista Silverberry,’ ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia and ‘Truffula Pink’ gomphrena complement a Victorian house, creating curb appeal.
The end of the driveway is another spot for the mantra, “Plant flowers.” My planting includes Supertunia ‘Vista Bubblegum,’ Supertunia ‘Vista Silverberry’ and Supertunia ‘Vista Paradise,’ along with hydrangea paniculata, ‘Limelight Prime,’ hydrangea ‘Firelight Tidbit’ and ‘Pugster’ and ‘Miss Molly’ buddleia. It’s a dazzling way to say, “Welcome, guests.”