Maximize your landscaping dollar for your home in Denver

The best way to make a good first impression with potential buyers is to enhance your home’s curb appeal. While landscaping is the easiest way to do this, it can become a costly endeavor. However, there are several resources available that will help you stretch your landscaping budget. Here are just a few to get you started.

Plant Trees. The Park People’s Denver Digs Trees program helps Denver residents cultivate a greener and healthier urban environment by providing them with low-cost trees for planting on both public and private property. These low-cost trees are even available for free to residents in the organization’s 24 target neighborhoods. A few of the areas include Baker, Five Points, Globeville, Green Valley Ranch, Sunnyside and West Colfax. Apply for spring street trees and/or fall yard trees by visiting theparkpeople.org.

Learn to Compost. Composting is good for your yard and garden, and it’s easy and fun to do. The city of Denver hosts free Learn to Compost classes, where attendees can learn everything there is to know about composting. For more information, and to sign up for a class, visit denvergov.org. The web site also offers tips and instructions on how to build your own composting bin. Also, be sure to check with your local Starbucks and ask for a free five-pound bag of used coffee grounds as part of the company’s Grounds for Your Garden program.

Get Free Mulch. Denver Recycles holds an annual “Free Mulch Giveaway & Compost Sale” where you can stock up on the goodies for your yard. The free mulch is made from grinding up Christmas trees collected during Denver’s Treecycle program, and the compost is made from leaves collected in the city’s LeafDrop program. For more information, visit
denvergov.org.

Plant a Garden. Rather than hiring an expensive landscape designer to plan your garden, try it yourself with the help of Better Homes and Gardens’ free garden plans. Visit bhg.com, and find free plans for shade gardens, summer gardens, vegetable gardens, long-blooming gardens and cottage gardens. These plans offer everything from the layout of the garden to lists of specific plants that are perfect for Denver’s dry climate.

Follow these tips, and you’ll be well on your way to creating a yard that says “Welcome Home.” And, when it comes time to sell your house, potential buyers will fall in love at first sight.