October 6, 2025

You are proud of your home, and you want your property to look polished all year long. Your home’s exterior landscape gives anyone visiting or passing by a strong first impression of your home, and if you want that impression to be a good one, you need to make sure you’re keeping up with more than just mowing. To have a well-maintained property all year long, you need to go beyond the basics.Professional landscaper trimming shrubs with a hedge trimmer.

First Impressions Start at the Curb

We all have days when we’re not looking our best, and on those days, you usually aren’t planning to showcase yourself to the world. When you have a presentation, meeting, or social event, you know that putting your best foot forward matters because first impressions are lasting impressions.

We all have days when our home feels a little messy. Maybe someone was sick, maybe it’s been a crazy time at work, or maybe you just fell behind on keeping things tidy. On those days, you usually don’t offer to host anyone inside your home. When you’re planning on hosting friends, family, or even just a playdate, you’ll make sure your home is clean and tidy, because first impressions are lasting impressions.

Your yard doesn’t have that same grace. You can’t simply hope that no one sees the exterior of your home when it’s not looking its best. Whether it’s a delivery, a neighbor on an afternoon walk, or just a passerby, they see your exterior property on good days and bad days, and first impressions are lasting impressions. To maintain strong curb appeal, your home should always appear well-maintained. The problem is that your living and growing lawn and plants don’t care about your busy schedule or the excess rain you got last week, causing the weeds to take over. If you want to always make a good first and last impression, you need to have a maintenance plan that makes sure you never fall behind with landscape work.

Sharper Edges for a Finished Lawn

Clean edges and defined borders take your property to the next level, but maintaining that look takes more work than just mowing. In fact, cutting the grass is only the first step. Grass loves to creep outside its borders and give fuzzy edges to your driveway, pathways, and garden beds. If you want those crisp lines that make your property look neat and cared for, you need to take care of the borders with an edger after mowing. Both manual and motorized edgers can give you good straight lines, and make sure you are edging at a consistent depth. When you edge, you need to be precise and deliberate to keep the lines straight and true. Regular edging will keep your lawn from overgrowing. Some homeowners prefer to use edging strips to keep the lines clean, while others opt for a rock or pebble border between the lawn and beds, paths, or driveways to ensure the lines look as clean as possible.

Keeping Shrubs Neat and Balanced

During the growing season, shrubs can quickly go from their well-contained look of early spring to wild and bushy! While plenty of lush growth from your shrubs means that your plants are likely healthy, an overgrown shrub can quickly take over and overwhelm the area. To keep your plants in line, take some time to shape your shrubs. The first step is to dig into the growth and remove any dead branches that may be hiding under regrowth, and clip those off, which allows for better air circulation and light. The next step is to examine any overgrown areas and thin them out. Branches that are crossing, rubbing, or growing inward should be clipped. Finally, use a manual or powered trimmer to shape the shrub. Make sure that when you begin shaping, you recognize the natural shape of the shrub and work with that shape, not against it. Shearing, which creates elegant and formal appearances, is suitable for some plants but won’t work as well with others. Therefore, ensure you understand each shrub and its natural patterns before over-shaping.

Adding Seasonal Pops of Color

The first indicator of a well-maintained landscape is the neatness of the lawn and shrubs, but what really enhances curb appeal are the beds. Even if you aren’t much of a gardener, adding just enough for a pop of color along walkways, focusing on seasonal colors, will keep things fresh.Yellow flowers do well as the first pop of color in the spring, while summer opens up options to many different colorways, from blue and purple hydrangeas to bright pink forsythia and orange lilies. In the fall, mums can keep the color going with beautiful deep reds and oranges. In the winter, well-placed holly bushes can keep your beds beautiful, even in the coldest times of year. Seasonal color in your beds shows that you are focused on your curb appeal all year long.

Consistency Makes the Difference

The running theme toward everything you do when keeping your curb appeal high is that you can’t let anything go – tidiness is the key. It’s so easy to fall behind, even just by a few days, and find that you are overwhelmed with the work that needs to be done. Regular maintenance on a regular schedule is key to a beautiful property – clean lines, fresh mulch, and well-maintained beds. When you have a regular maintenance schedule, you can identify and remedy any issues right away, before they have the chance to overwhelm you.

Maintaining your curb appeal requires a significant amount of upkeep. While many homeowners do like to do their own landscape maintenance, others have found that outsourcing to a landscape maintenance contractor takes all the stress out of the upkeep. Instead of spending evenings and weekends trying to stay on top of all the upkeep, those who rely on the professionals to handle the maintenance can spend their evenings and weekends enjoying their beautiful homes. Keep your property polished year-round without the stress. Let Twin Oaks Landscape handle the upkeep so you can spend more time enjoying your home. Contact us today to learn more.