This Tiny Corner Garden Plan Adds Tons of Curb Appeal

2015-06-09
This Tiny Corner Garden Plan Adds Tons of Curb Appeal

This tiny corner garden plan creates a quick-color display sure to boost your front yard's curb appeal. Just nestle a triangular planting bed into your front yard's sidewalk-defined angle, add a section of picket fence to anchor it, and start planting. This garden will also effectively deter deer and pedestrians from cutting across your lawn.

Plants for Creating the Tiny Corner Garden Plan

Packed with sun-loving flowering plants, the design features a mix of colorful annuals, punctuated with a few low-maintenance perennials. A tall butterfly bush fills the corner with deep purple flowers that pollinators can't resist. Hummingbirds will also love to visit the petunias, cosmos, zinnias, cleome, and penstemons.

  • 9 Moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora): Zones 9-11; annual elsewhere
  • 9 Narrow-leaf zinnia (Zinnia angustifolia): Annual
  • 12 Dusty miller (Senecio cineraria 'Silver Dust'): Zones 8-11; annual elsewhere
  • 2 Petunia × hybrida: Annual
  • 6 Flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alata): Annual
  • 12 Cosmos bipinnatus: Annual
  • 4 Gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia hirta 'Irish Eyes'): Zones 3-7 (often grown as annual)
  • 2 Feather reedgrass (Calamagrostis × acutiflora): Zones 4-9
  • 3 Penstemon 'Maurice Gibbs': Zones 7-10; annual elsewhere
  • 1 Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii 'Nanho Blue'): Zones 5-9
  • 7 Spider flower (Cleome hassleriana 'White Queen'): Annual
  • 1 Speedwell (Veronica 'Fairytale'): Zones 4-8

If you aren't able to find the exact cultivars listed above, substitute with others that have similar colors, shapes, and sizes.

Because some plants can become overly aggressive and spread out of control in certain climates, always check which species are considered invasive in your area before planting. For example, butterfly bush can become problematic in some parts of the country, so you may instead want to plant similarly sized bluebeard that also has purplish flowers that draw pollinators.

Get the Free Tiny Corner Garden Plan

This garden plan includes an illustrated version of the planted garden, a detailed layout diagram, a list of plants for the garden as shown, and complete instructions for installing the garden.

Most of this garden's color faces the street, so it enhances the view for passers-by. To add more color on the back side to enjoy from indoors, simply duplicate some of the plant combinations in front of the cleome (stairstep the plant heights so the cleome isn't upstaged). You can place a few stepping-stones or pavers to allow easy access into the bed for planting and deadheading flowers.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How do you improve your home's curb appeal?

    The easiest way to increase curb appeal is by adding flowers to your yard. In addition to planting flowers near the sidewalk, hanging baskets can be added to the front porch or window boxes can be added to the windows.

  • What color plants are the best for curb appeal?

    Different colored flowers work best for different types of aesthetics. Warm colors, like yellow and red, will make your yard more vivid and exciting, while cool colors like purple and blue will make your yard more peaceful and soothing.

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