Your home is your most important investment, and chances are you've spent a lot of money to make the interior as attractive as possible. But before any of your potential visitors can enter your home to see how nice it is, they must first pass through your front yard, and it is your front yard that will give them their first impression of you and your home. And you want that impression to be a good one.



The easiest yard to take care of is one that is quite simply, grass from sidewalk to sidewalk. You need only mow it once a week and your done!

But why not make the exterior of your home look a bit more attractive, a bit more inviting?

Adding a flower bed or two to the side of your home is the quickest and easiest way to improve the attractiveness of the home, and doesn't take a lot of effort if you design it properly. Do some research to decide if you'd like to plant perennials or annuals, and decide on a color scheme to match the color of your house.

Do you have a simple set of concrete steps leading up to your front door? Consider adding a covered portico...so that anyone standing on the stoop during a rainstorm won't get rained on! Or if you feel like expending a bit more money, consider adding an entire porch. Add color to the porch with potted plants and flowers, and have enough room for some wicker furniture so that you can sit out there during the warmth of the day and enjoy the sunshine.

Keep the sidewalk or pathway up to your door clean and free of debris. You can buy concrete patching to fix any cracks in the concrete, which is only common sense. If you leave cracks unattended, it's easy for grass seeds to bury themselves within and start growing, destroying the concrete even more. And if you live in cold climates, the change of temperature will accelerate the destruction. If you need to replace this pathway, consider using ornamental brickwork instead of plain concrete.

If you have no trees in your front yard, you might consider adding some. Line your sidewalk with bushes to add a sense of privacy, as well. Whatever trees you choose, it's best to choose ones that don't shed their leaves during fall and winter. You don't want to spend your sunshine-enjoying time expending energy raking leaves! And its best to have trees that don't have limbs low enough for small children to climb on.

If you've got a porch on which you can sit to enjoy the peace of the outdoors, think about adding a small pond or fountain as well. The foundation should be of ornate brick or stonework, and flowers should surround it to make it truly a magical sight.