Whether you're listing your home among Tuscaloosa homes for sale, or you're happily enjoying living in your Tuscaloosa home, you may be thinking about giving your front yard landscaping a redo. A beautifully landscaped yard is a surefire way of catching the eye of potential buyers, while even if you're not selling, landscaping will add to the value of your home and your own enjoyment of the property.

As our real estate agents will tell you, even minor additions to your property's landscaping can do wonders to boost your curb appeal. So, whether you're planning a major redo or just a modest one, it's all worth it in terms of property value and your own contentment in your home.

1. Choose a landscaping style that fits your home. 
   Maybe you love the English garden look with waves and banks of gorgeous flowers — but you're living in a rather austere Mid-Century Modern home with severe, straight lines — a home that doesn't lend itself to showy beds and ranks of profuse flowers. You might be better off with a limited color palette — a few colors of flowers that complement the color of your house. If the color of the house is too distracting, maybe you'd want to paint it dark gray to serve as a backdrop to the plants. Replace an old, funky walkway with wide pavers; accent it with varied shapes and heights of planters and plants that make for visual interest. If your yard isn't overwhelmed with large trees, plant a smaller tree or two as an accent near the front entrance. Check out Japanese maple as an anchor tree, then paint your landscape with colors that complement its rich deep reds. Look at gray foliage and grasses to accentuate the modern theme.
   
   
2. Stagger heights, depths, and shapes.
   One rule of thumb in landscaping is to avoid soldier-straight lines of plantings, or any landscaping features, for that matter. You create visual interest by staggering shapes, tall in back, and shorter in front; mounded plantings varied with taller, straighter specimens; large, rectangular planters with smaller, curvy ones. Also, study what color contrasts work and don't work. For instance, a cool, deep, rich planting of tall 'Violet Riot' Salvia can really make golden yellow black-eyed Susans pop.
   
   
3. Add some hardscaping to your overall design.
   It can be a little or a lot. Think about moving to the front door in a pleasing way, with a curved walkway or a straight one, but break up the space visually with urns or planters. Contrast a richly planted flower bed with a sparser, less busy space with some gray grasses — how about 'Karl Foerster' Feather Reed Grass? — and some attractive mulch or rocks. Do you have room to create low concrete borders or higher brick ones to set off scented herbs or grasses or even some boxwood or cedar topiary? It can be fun and a little adventure, getting from the curbside to the front door.
   
   
4. Include some large plantings.
   People will be driving by, and their attention will be grabbed by large, colorful plantings. So think eye-grabbing when you're selecting plant materials if you're selling your home.
   
   
5. Keep it low maintenance.
   Even if you're a super-duper master gardener, if you ever intend to sell your home, keep the landscape low maintenance. High-maintenance plantings and landscaping may discourage potential buyers. Not everyone has the time or inclination to spend many hours in yard maintenance.

Our knowledgeable real estate staff has more tips on buying or selling a home. Contact us today.