Houses are comprised of interiors and exteriors – yet so often the latter is subordinated. Whether you are simply house-proud, or getting your house ready to sell – it is worth giving some due diligence to your street appeal. As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Here’s what some of Australia’s leading garden designers have to say on the matter.
Plant man about town, Richard Unsworth, of Garden Life says the golden rule is that house frontages need structure. “Formality works at the street level. This means repetition, mass planting, and avoiding messy chaotic planting schemes – but it doesn’t have to be boring.”
Unsworth suggests keeping planting simple yet bold:
- Neatness – instead of predictable low perimeter hedges, look at using softly clipped and mounding plant forms that can also flower for you. Indian hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis indica) is a great performer, as is Pittosporum Miss Muffet and the hardy shrub, Loropetalum, gives great colour.
- Small urban front garden – consider using one large feature pot and plant in the middle surrounded by a mass of ground cover.
- Larger suburban streetscape – keep things formal and elegant. You want to provide privacy from the street but not to the extreme of a huge barrier hedge. Plant small trees and shrubs where you do want privacy but leave some spaces more open where this is not an issue. Use a small deciduous flowering tree if you have the space. Spring blossoms, winter sun and summer shade – crepe myrtle, frangipani, magnolia.
- Perfume – is gorgeous for passers-by, or wafting into the house when the windows are open on a sunny day. Think jasmine, lavender, osmanthus, and gardenia
read more at: http://www.domain.com.au/news/how-to-maximise-your-homes-street-appeal-20151022-gkf9q5/
disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only
Green Real Estate Appraiser 