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10 Low Cost Landscaping Ideas to Improve Curb Appeal

Landscaping is believed to add between 15-20% to the resale value of a home. Whether you’re looking to add landscaping improvements to sell a DFW home or compete for yard of the month, here are 10 low-cost landscaping ideas that will increase your home’s curb appeal.

Mulch Plant Beds

Installing a 2-inch layer of mulch on your landscaping beds is one of the cheapest things you can do to protect your plants as well as visually highlight them. Mulch is an organic layer of material installed around the base of your plants. The most common example would be shredded hardwood mulch, but mulch can also be made of bark chunks, shredded leaves, straw, or even rocks. This layer protects the roots of your plant from the elements.

Clean-Up Landscaping Beds

Keep your landscaping beds looking their best by pulling out all the grass and weeds. Weeds should be only an occasional issue, but grass growth will be your biggest task. Plan to remove blades of grass with the roots.

Power-Wash Concrete Surfaces

For just a few hundred dollars (or less if you rent), you can purchase a power washer. Power washing your concrete surfaces, like the driveway, sidewalks, and any decorative stonework, can return them to almost new condition.

Install Landscape Lighting

Illuminating your landscaping is a wonderful way to literally shine a light on everything. Designing a landscape with lighting can range from installing pathway lights, a spot light to emphasize a special plant, or even flood lights to highlight the entire area. Professional landscape lighting can cost thousands, but solar lights are widely available now and easy for any homeowner to install, starting at just a few dollars.

Plant Colorful Annuals

One easy and budget-friendly way to maximize curb appeal to your home is simply to add seasonal annual flowers, or annuals. These flowers bloom and will bring loads of color and draw attention to your landscaping beds or a well-placed pot, and they cost less than a dollar each.

Mow the Lawn

Keeping your lawn mowed is not only healthy for the sod, it will also keep your yard looking neat and tidy. A freshly mown lawn will show off the surrounding landscaping.

Repair Sprinklers

Make sure all of your sprinklers are working properly. It’s a good idea to have your irrigation system checked out every year to ensure it’s in working order. Having your sprinkler system properly repaired will directly affect your curb appeal by keeping all of your grass and landscaping plants properly watered and looking their best.

Replace Dead Grass

If you notice any dead areas of your grass, replace it right away. Small, dead areas in your lawn can quickly become large areas as the exposed soil erodes. With minimal cost, you can reseed small areas or install new sod pieces for larger areas.

Use Decorative Landscaping Rock

Consider installing decorative landscaping rock in your yard. This natural landscaping material brings curb appeal wherever it is installed by providing color contrast as well as visual interest. With a few bags of rock from your local hardware store, you can highlight the plants in a special pot or provide a new area of feature around the base of a tree. For a few hundred dollars more, you can have decorative rock added to entire landscaping bed areas and skip the recurring expense of refreshing the mulch.

Shape Overgrown Trees and Shrubs

Last on our list is one of the basics…pruning. Pruning should be done at least once each year for all shrubs and small trees and every 2-3 years for mature trees. Maintaining the growth of your trees and shrubs is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to make your landscaping stand out and increase your home’s curb appeal.

There are many ways to add curb appeal to your landscaping without spending a fortune. A small investment of your time, muscle, and a few well-chosen purchases can get you big results. You can quickly have one of the nicest lawns on the block by using these 10 low-cost landscaping ideas to improve curb appeal.