Help me up my kerb appeal! (Pic)

[Sparklydiplodocus]

Hello all. Before you say anything yes I know the bay tree on the right is kaput and needs to be replaced.

My husband thinks the planted bay trees look a bit spindly and blah here anyway.

There are lots of very smart houses near me with that very minimalist kerb appeal thing of gravel/ window shutters/ couple of bay trees or similar and they all look great. Mine doesn’t look right. Thoughts?

I would take out the planted bays and replace with bays in large matching pots, or maybe lavender instead. Then change your gravel for something more interesting (slate?) or even just newer similar gravel. The edging of the gravel needs to be neater around the bay window and along the path to the door.

Weed the gravel and out the bays in nice pots. They looked a bit plonked rather than planted

Yes I don’t like them planted. Much better in pots.

Weed the gravel. Put the bays in nice pots. Consider doing some kind of variation in gravel colour/texture in a circular pattern with bay in the middle. Put lavender in long trough pot in front of the bay window (hides the poorly edged gravel, the discoloured brick and won't fuck up the dry course like planting directly does)

I’m not an expert in looking after the bricks but could you power hose the facade?

Your gravel looks old and dirty, could you top it up with new, clean, gravel. Bay trees in big pot either side of the door would be great. How about planting a low level hedge (box or similar) under the window and along the path? If it was mine I would plant a parterre over the whole gravel area but you may find that too much work to set up. I am sure you could pay someone to do it for you if you have money to throw at the problem. If you keep the gravel area why not throw a packet of wild flower seeds around in spring. You would end up with a lovely display of poppies etc for no real effort.

Window box with winter pansies, ivy etc

Trees that tall would look better either side of the front door in pots if there's space for them, they look rather lost sticking out of the gravel like that! I'd get some shrubs with colour that will provide year round foliage and are easy to maintain / will grow to provide cover. Don't ask me what though, I'm terrible with plants!!

Can you turf it and then add plants?

I’d go for a border / smart edging next to the path, weed and refresh the gravel, have one bay tree in a big pot as a centrepiece, lavender or heather in a window box and maybe plant a rose in the corner by the porch, to grow around the front door.

Agree, they need pots. One on either side of the door. Tidy up the edge of the path.

I think for the minimalist, smart frontage look of just a few key things – gravel, path, shutters, bay – those things have to be really high end and well done to have impact: very crisp stone path with sharp, clean edges; clean, nicely covered gravel (more like pebbles really); big healthy bay lollipops in fuck-off RHS planters; etc. It’s a look that screams “money” because it costs money to do well – there’s no room to hide.

Easier maybe to plant something climby up that trellis, a big bushy hydrangea under the window, and lots of lavender and rosemary etc where the spindly bays are. Low-maintenance and lovely, just a different look from what you’re going for.

Give the brickwork under the window a scrub: it looks like you have splashing gutters with that greenness. Weed and hose/brush the gravel.
Put in an edging strip all the way around the gravel if you can afford to make it really sharp.
Living bAy into a pot. Lose the dead one. Make sure your walls and paving look clean and secure/undamaged.

Key safe: is it possible to put it round a corner so it is less obvious?

Have the front (whole?) building cleaned by someone who can do a soft wash with a brush. Include the path, the porch roof etc. It makes a HUGE difference. Get them to do the gutter while they are there. They can use pressure washers for some of it but not on the roof tiles. Cost me £120 for front and back of a 2 storey mid terrace last year including paths and decking. Worth every penny.

Refresh the gravel - a 1 ton bag would do it all I reckon. Chuck it down on top!

Put in edging for the gravel - it looks so much neater and smarter.

Put the good bay in a pot next to the door/in between the two windows facing each other. Or plant some lavender along the wall under your window. Weed the gravel and tidy up next to the path. The smart houses usually have white/grey pebbles or slate

I don't like the minimal look personally, so I would get some more stuff in. A few nice planters with lavender and something climbing - I really like ivy growing up an obelisk for year round foliage. It has no green or life just now.

I think for the minimalist, smart frontage look of just a few key things – gravel, path, shutters, bay – those things have to be really high end and well done to have impact: very crisp stone path with sharp, clean edges; clean, nicely covered gravel (more like pebbles really); big healthy bay lollipops in fuck-off RHS planters; etc. It’s a look that screams “money” because it costs money to do well – there’s no room to hide.

I think, sadly, that you’re on to something here. And I don’t have the cash for fuck off RHS planters sadly.

Interesting about getting someone to clean the brickwork, I’ll look into that.

So I’ll get rid of the rubbish bay which leaves one nice one. Do I plant that out back and get two smaller ones in pots for out front? Or put plants in? It’s quite a big space.

Well I would say this as it is what I have done but I would fill it with plants and flog off the gravel, get the place living. It looks miserable because it is a dead space.

Lavender, rosemary, thyme, roses, ivy etc etc. Easy to maintain but pretty and fullof wildlife in spring.

If you are skint do it in stages, do a corner at a time.

Clean out the weeds/moss (?) from the gravel and edging.

Clean up the brickwork under the window or put some tubs there to hide it.

I would have gone for one, central bay tree rather than two tbh.

Thank you. I struggle with where to put plants though and end up keep moving things around. Plus I don’t want everything looking brown and bleurgh in winter.

Get rid of kaput bay, make a large square bed leaving a gravel/slate "path" round the edge, plant lots of evergreen/flowering shrubs in said new bed and mulch to prevent weeds.

Gives year round interest, helps bees and gives you something to thread fairy lights in at Christmas 😃

@Sparklydiplodocus

Thank you. I struggle with where to put plants though and end up keep moving things around. Plus I don’t want everything looking brown and bleurgh in winter.

Viburnums, camellia, azalea, dwarf rhododendron etc all evergreen and flower at different times 😃

Definitely agree with comments about cleaning brickwork (first thing I spotted), edging the gravel nicely and sorting the bays.
Also is the trellis on the wall yours or a neighbours (can't quite tell from the photo). If yours, while whatever was growing on it isn't in leaf, give it a coat of matt black garden paint. Will pop, match your door and look better than a slightly aged, rotting one.
Depending on the way the house faces I'd be tempted to make a linear, straight bed, the width of the gravel under the window and plant densely with lavender or box. Then a set of flags in front of this to edge and stop gravel spread plus somewhere to sweep of when gardening (pain of getting bits out of gravel). Re-gravel the rest.

Either go for two big pits/planters with bay or box or whatever you decide to plant (the planters don’t have to be hugely expensive - I paid a couple of hundred pounds for tasteful square planters and a month later there were some very similar ones in Wilko for £40. The smaller ones, probably enough for a bay, were only £20. Ok they weren’t exactly the same and I do marginally prefer mine but only marginally; they were certainly close enough where they would be just fine for kerb appeal!) then sit them further back closer to the house on either side of the window. Or get one longer box to sit in front of the window. As pp said you can plant your long box to have varied flowers/foliage in turn through the seasons and greenery during the winter. Some ivy would keep it evergreen, for example. Even one pot for your one good bay, which would sit beside your front door, would be fine! Then you can add a few more plants in blue (or whatever colour you like) clay/plastic (some of these can look very good)/whatever material you like when you see them going cheap. But I personally really like to keep it very simple and understated.

Also like pp’s suggestion of a bigger box to sit centred in the gravelled area - would make for a lovely display. Would take some money to buy enough plants to properly fill, but you could plant a few each month or whatever your budget allows. For instant improved kerb appeal I think I’d plant your good bay into the nicest pot you can afford and place it next to front door. It looks to spindly there in the middle of that large area.