We all want our homes to have curb appeal, making it feel well taken care of and welcoming. A well-maintained yard can make your home stand out on the block. On the other hand, a poorly maintained yard can quickly make your home the eye-sore of the neighborhood.
To help you make sure your yard is one to envy, let us use an example. We recently snapped the above photo of a home whose curb appeal is seriously lacking. Let us walk you through all of the issues that are keeping this yard from its full potential and how to rectify them so you can improve your home’s curb appeal.
Yard Issues
Let’s discuss the four main issues in this yard, explaining them in detail.
Unkempt Tree
The tree in this yard has grown freely. The branches are thick and low-hanging. This prevents adequate sunlight from reaching the grass. An unkempt tree also presents the potential for overgrowth that increases the risk of fires.
Thin Lawn
Lack of sunlight, thanks to the overgrown tree, has resulted in the grass thinning around the tree. The thin grass gives little ground coverage, making the lawn look sparse and not maintained.
Compacted Ground
The thin lawn is also contributed to by the compacted ground. Soil compaction hinders the growth of new grass as it makes it difficult for grass to establish proper root structure. A compacted ground also has trouble absorbing water and nutrients. If roots cannot grow, the resulting grass will be thin, short, and slow to grow.
Weeds
Weeds are another problem. Firstly, the weeds in the tree ring not only look unsightly, but they also take away nutrition from the tree. Another issue is that the slope of the yard means that any weed treatment will runoff, preventing the soil from absorbing the treatment. This makes weed treatments ineffective.
Why These Are Issues
If these problems are not addressed, the yard may slip into a further state of disrepair. Firstly, if an effort is not made to get sunlight to the grass, it will continue to be thin and die off. This can contribute to erosion, worsened by the yard’s slope and compaction. Erosion may expose irrigation lines, tree roots, or damage the tree ring or sidewalk. If enough erosion occurs the tree could eventually die or fall over (and damage the home). Fertilizing the grass to encourage growth is more difficult because of the slope and compaction of the yard. This home could also get fined by the HOA for not taking care of the yard.
How To Improve Your Yard
Here are some simple steps the homeowner can take to help improve the home’s curb appeal.
- Trim the tree. Thinning the tree and removing low-hanging branches will let more sunlight through to the grass.
- Expand the tree ring. Move the stones out and make a larger tree ring/ flower bed around the base of the tree. This removes the area where the grass is thin.
- Use sod. Using replacement sod under the tree can make the yard green again. However, it’s important to make sure it will get enough sunlight for whatever type of grass it is.
- Aerate the soil. Use an aeration service to loosen the soil and prevent compaction. Multiple aerations will likely be needed to remove compaction.
- Control the weeds. Hire a service like Chorbie for flower bed weed control. They’ll take care of the weeds in the tree ring, flower bed, mulch bed, rock beds, and other hardscape areas.
These same tips can help you improve your home’s curb appeal and bring your yard back to life. Rather than do all the work yourself, hire a team of professionals from Chorbie. We’ll get your neighbors green with envy over your home’s new curb appeal. Call 972-697-5221 today to schedule an appointment.
