Creating Curb Appeal in Side Yard

Do you have a side yard that is begging for some enhancements? Consider adding a garden area with stone and mulch to add some amazing curb appeal. We've previously shared the transformation of the front yard on this FSBO senior home in Lakes at Leesburg. Let us show you what we did in the side yard to tie the landscape design all together.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Side Yard Garden
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

Initially, we started our side yard project at the back area next to the opening into the carport and then expanded it to the back adjacent to the shed. Along the side, next to the carport, we dug up an area about 18 inches wide to include red stone edgers and red lava rock. We then stopped that portion of the side yard improvement and jumped to the front curb area.

It was a wee bit challenging to decide how to handle the placement of the water meter as it was set a bit lower than the rest of the area. It took a little maneuvering with the stone edgers to create an "indented" area. We think this actually looks like one of the states -- perhaps a little Utah? 

Oh woe is me! This place needs some CURB APPEAL !!!
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

Let us remind you of the lack of curb appeal before we got started transforming the exterior of this home! It is kind of amazing to see the finished result especially when you compare it to the before condition.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Side Yard Garden
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

The side yard area was handled as mini-projects -- kind of like little puzzle pieces that fit together to create one design. We initially planted Aztec grass and salvia in the front yard side garden. Heading to the back, in that side yard, we did a triangular garden area with more red mulch and red stone edgers. We opted to go triangular so that we could install a stone and rock patio area to connect to the golf cart path along the carport.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Side Yard Garden
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

In the triangular side yard garden, we planted sunflowers! For four consecutive years, we maintained sunflower gardens grown from seeds. The first year, in our Jacksonville back yard garden, we used four different variety of seeds -- mostly Burpee. The fourth year, the sunflowers were grown from the seeds of an amazing wine-colored Autumn Beauty sunflower.

After planting the sunflowers, we noticed little brown bunnies in the area. One morning, over half of the sunflower seedlings we had growing in our backyard garden were nibbled to the ground! The remaining seedlings were moved to this triangular garden and then surrounded by wire decorative edging and the red polka dot pinwheel. The bunnies seemed to leave these sunflowers alone ... but then the squirrels found them! What to do? We tried crumbled moth balls that were spread around the area.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Side Yard Garden of Sunflowers
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

In the photo above, you can see that the wine-colored Autumn Beauty sunflowers are doing well. Notice on the mulch around them how crumbled moth balls have been sprinkled there. It was a good deterrent to bunnies and squirrels.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Side Yard Garden of Sunflowers
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

Of all the sunflowers that I have grown in my four sunflower gardens, the Autumn Beauty variety is my favorite. I also discovered that squirrels in Jacksonville AND Leesburg, Florida LOVE the Autumn Beauty blossoms! I'm not sure what it is about this variety -- perhaps the wine color?

Creating Curb Appeal with a Side Yard Garden of Sunflowers
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

Once the Autumn Beauty sunflowers blossomed, the side yard curb appeal was pretty amazing. Neighbors were driving or walking by daily to check out the sunflowers. It is very satisfying to grow sunflowers from seeds ... I'd say my only "regret" -- if you can call it that -- is that sunflowers seem to have a life of little more than 90 days ... and then you need to start over. When the sunflower heads are read to cut from the plant to harvest seeds, I generally take out the plants.

Creating Curb Appeal with Front and Side Yard Gardens
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

Here is a view of the property after exterior enhancements -- virtually EVERYTHING has been "touched" with a designer's brush to create a visually-stunning finished piece. Classic Burgundy painted accents draw the eye across the front of this property.

If you love what you see, you can be the new owner of this stunning senior home in Lakes at Leesburg. We are pleased to offer for sale by owner this cute cottage-style, senior home at 19 Tortuga Way in Leesburg, Florida.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Garden

Does your home lack curb appeal? Are you looking for a do-it-yourself project that can add amazing curb appeal? Why not start with a front yard garden? Let me share an after shot first.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

In this after shot above, the front yard garden was the first DIY outside yard project that was completed early in 2016. In the photo, you can also see that the house was painted along with the driveway. Now, take a look at the before-before photo!

Oh woe is me! This place needs some CURB APPEAL !!!
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

Luckily for me, I didn't have to have that magnolia tree removed; the previous owners took it out along with the side yard bush and that bush near the lamp post. From the before photo, you can see that ANY work in the front yard would have surely been an improvement.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden - First Day
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

FIRST DAY - On the first day of this DIY project, I moved the triangular area of patio stones to the back yard near the shed. I would later repurpose that stone to create an offset patio area. In all of my landscape projects, I take an area at a time and finish it off with mulch. In this project, I opted for better red mulch that would later complement the sage green color of the house.

TOOLS & SUPPLIES - Shovel, metal rake, hand cultivator, trowel, gloves, bags. Before you get started digging up grass and weeds, you should call 811 before you dig.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden - Second Day
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

SECOND DAY - On the second day of this DIY project, the yard started to actually look like something good was going to happen!!! That area that was dug up this day was tough to deal with. I didn't realize that there was a plethora of nut grass throughout that area ... I was using the hand cultivator after I raked the dug up area. I would filter out the debris, by hand, to put in the trash bags. I was finding a lot of stringy nut grass that should have warranted more work!

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden - Third Day
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

THIRD DAY - On the third day of this DIY project, I was working to try and finish an area across the front. You can see that red stone edgers encompass the finished area of the project along with red mulch. It was the second and third day of the garden project that neighbors were stopping me to ask, "what are you doing." I guess they hadn't seen any work done on this property in some time, so they were probably amazed!

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden - Third Day
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

Here is another view of day three of the DIY project from the street. I was noticing that the red mulch had a bit of a different color ... thinking maybe the older red mulch was drier. The red stone pavers add a nice finished look to the front yard garden.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden - Fourth Day
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

FOURTH DAY - On the fourth day of this DIY project, I was starting to feel that the "end" was in sight for finishing off the area for the front yard accent garden. By this time, many neighbors had stopped to say something AND the park manager must have been summoned by a curious neighbor. He and I had a chat about the scope of that project and he drove off!!

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden - Fourth Day
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

There's another photo of the fourth day of work ... thankfully, Home Depot is about one mile or less! And, driving a Jeep Patriot surely helps with these type of yard projects. I had to pick up more red mulch to finish off the dug-up area. Almost done! You may need some Aleve for your back -- like I did!

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden - Fifth Day
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

FIFTH DAY - On the fifth day of this DIY project, I was more than a little thrilled to actually "turn the corner!" That meant I had reached the width of the front yard accent garden and was capping it off with the red stone edgers and then starting down the side of the house! You can see the "blank canvas" of the garden area.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden - Fifth Day
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

I love DIY projects that are completed in under a week's time. For me, five consecutive days is a lot of exercise ... no need to go to the gym. It was the middle of January, 2016 when I finished preparing the front yard for the flower garden. Knowing that Florida can have a freeze into March, I waited until March 1st to start planting!

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden - March 1st
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

PLANTING! It was March 1st and I was ready to start planting in that front yard accent garden. It was lucky for me that I ran into a fellow at Lowe's while picking up some stone. He said he had some of the red stone edgers and brick pavers that I could have along with Aztec grass. The 8 clumps of Aztec grass across the front of the garden were from his yard!

Early plants that went in included 4 Firecracker plants, 4 Gardenias, and a Confederate Star Jasmine with small trellis.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden - March 5th
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

On March 5th, I added smaller flowering plants including Salvia, Kalanchoe, and assorted Dianthus. You can see rows of those flowering plants, left to right, with two rows of Dianthus nearer the house. To the far right, you can see a rectangular black flower pot that was used for cultivating sunflower seedlings.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden - March 10th
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

By March 10th, I was growing sunflower seedlings to transplant to the front yard garden. And, I had taken time to trim up the bushes that are across the front of the Florida Room. I do a trimming of the branches to create a tree look.

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden - March 25th
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

Approximately 2 weeks later, on March 25th, you can see that the Salvia are doing the best with the Dianthus looking healthy, but the Kalanchoe is hanging in there. The Confederate Star Jasmine has been growing pretty well too. Daily watering of the new plants is important the first week or two!

CREATING CURB APPEAL WITH A GARDEN!

Creating Curb Appeal with a Front Yard Garden
19 Tortuga Way, Leesburg, FL 34788

Fast forward to not quite a year later. Some red polka dot pinwheels along with solar garden lights were added to the front. The periwinkles did spread throughout the front yard garden. The Aztec grass was dug up and replaced with Mexican Petunias. The Salvia didn't make it; only 3 Kalanchoe remain. The Dianthus is doing OK. The 4 Firecracker plants are probably triple the original size if not bigger. Three of them are down the side area and one is near the driveway. The Confederate Star Jasmine is prospering, so much that a large metal trellis was added.

Curb appeal can do a lot for a home. In this case, we continued adding to the "curb appeal" by painting the house and driveway. Why not consider a front yard accent garden if you want some amazing curb appeal?

Front Yard Accent Garden DIY

Do you have an unsightly area in your front yard? Have you considered doing a low-maintenance accent garden? Let me show you how relatively easy and inexpensive it can be. Add some curb appeal and value to your home! I should know as I have been doing it yourself - or should I say MYSELF - for the 3.5 years I have lived in my house. I am one of the blondes that DIY; you know?

Front Yard Accent Garden DIY - Complete
Photo Taken : August 4, 2014

There is a photo of the front yard accent garden upon completion on August 4, 2014. From that view, it doesn't look like that large of an area. It is a bit of an optical illusion. We'll show you some other views so that you get a good idea of the space we used for this DIY accent garden.

BEFORE PHOTO - WHY DIY?

What is particularly interesting about that area of the yard? Behind the neighbor's fence is a vegetable garden. For the most part of the year, it is a barren ground that drains and leeches into my side yard and my front yard, as you can see in that last photo!

This year, I was further challenged when the neighbor in the pink house next to them came over one night with his pressure washer. He washed their fence for them. Not sure whose idea it was to pressure wash the fence; probably not my next door neighbors! The next morning when I came out to check my front yard, I found a mushy wet area where the grass was already being challenged. In a few days, the grass was no longer green! Thanks to my neighbor(s)' actions! Wow! How about all that dead grass? I had already put down sod once. I wasn't going to try sod again.

PUTTING DOWN SOD - AUGUST 2012

In August-September 2012, I put down sod in that very area! When I moved into my home in June 2011, the next door neighbor was waving his arms at me that I needed to water that area of the yard. "Yeah, Yeah! I am just moving in ... I'll take care of it." Hey, you know water isn't free???

I had previously dealt with the same type of grass issues in my side yard next to the neighbor's fence. You might have seen my side yard project with my mexican petunia garden. So, I was up to doing another accent garden out of necessity!

PREPARING THE PLOT

It is important when you are doing any digging in your yard, to know where the cable and any other utility lines are placed. When I had my privacy fence installed, they had contacted the company that comes out and marks the location. However, my fence installer did take out my AT&T cable! So, I know where it has been relocated in my yard -- at the very bottom of the photo!

Digging up that area of the yard wasn't too difficult since the grass had been challenged. I think I might have filled 4-5 black yard bags with the dead grass pieces. I've dug up a lot of yard for my gardens, so I don't mind this activity. I always were my Playtex Handsaver Gloves! Oh boy, but I have gone through a lot of gloves in the past 3.5 years! Every kind you can think of too. It seemed even the heavy duty gloves didn't always protect my acrylic nails. So, I ended up relying on the Playtex Handsaver Gloves.

I found a handy technique for clearing the plot. After I would use my shovel to dig into a rectangular patch of grass, I'd sit down on the inverted blue plastic bucket. Then, wearing my rubber gloves, I'd separate the dead grass [and some weeds] from the soil. When I'd fill a black yard bag, I'd move that to the other side yard behind the fence until yard waste pickup day.

MATERIALS LIST FOR DIY

My materials list for this do-it-yourself project included:

• One - 1.5 CF tree and shrub soil @ $7.67
• One - Fulton 15.6" red square patio stone @ $3.99
• Twenty-two - Fulton 15.6" red scalloped edging @ $1.78 = $39.16
• Five - 1.25 qt Liriope Aztec grass @ $1.89 = $9.45
• Two - 2 gal. Bottlebrush plants @ $10.98 = $21.96
• Five - 2 CF Preen russet red mulch @ $4.49 = $22.45

The total cost of materials, with tax, was $112.01. The total time spent on this DIY project was under 6 hours. I figured I spent about 2 hours preparing the plot; less than 2 hours back and forth to Lowe's to pick up the materials; and less than 2 hours to install the DIY garden.

If you were to contract to have this DIY project installed, I estimate it would cost 2x the materials list = $225.00 plus 6 x $50/hour manual labor for a total of $525.00.

I LOVE BOTTLEBRUSH PLANTS

Selecting the plants was a no-brainer for me since I already had two Bottlebrush plants in front of the privacy fence gate. I've also got the Liriope Aztec grass also in my other side yard on the left side of the house; it makes a nice accent!

In my DeerCreek Country Club home, we had a Bottlebrush plant at the front entrance. My now ex-hubby let me prune that plant a couple of times. Ouch!! I do believe he might have finally moved it to the back yard.

I actually found that you can buy the plant, Bottlebrush Tree Plant Red Cluster Callistemon Rigidus Starter Size through Amazon! It was because of the red flowering pinecone-like clusters that I selected this plant for my front yard. I have a red front door along with Holland red and gray brick. Plus, the plant complements the patio stone and scalloped edgers.

THE LAYOUT

To get an idea on the measurement of that triangular garden, there are ten 15.6 inch red scalloped edging stone down the property borderline. That's 156 inches of stone across a distance of some 163 inches. At the bottom left of the layout, there are seven 15.6 inch edgers in the 110 inches. You can see that there is a 36 inch open area for access to the privacy fence [for mowing the back yard]. I placed the one Fulton 15.6" red square patio stone there as a stepping stone to the four such stones directly behind it. On the top left of the area, are two of the 15.6 edgers.

AFTER PHOTO

Front Yard Accent Garden DIY - Complete
Photo Taken : August 4, 2014

I SHOULD WRITE A BOOK!

That's what my mom keeps telling me. I've not officially written a book, but I have written lots of blog posts and other online content. I've not yet charged anything for my DIY tips. I'd love to hear if I have inspired you to try your own DIY project.

So, here is another resourceful gal's gardening tips. In Easy Front Yard Gardening: Basics of Front Yard Garden Design, the author, Shirley Dianne Lise, delivers her self-help guidebook.

Get over 85 pages of instructions to design and complete your very own front yard garden. The bottom line is curb appeal!

I designed my front yard accent garden in such a manner that I could carry it down the property line to the curb. I've not gotten to that point yet, but it is a consideration. The other benefit, aside from the curb appeal, is the low maintenance.

How does your garden grow? My bottlebrush plants are starting to flourish! And the Aztec grass is looking pretty good too.