‘Plant flowers’ was the answer given when the mayor asked a friend of mine in the nursery industry how best to improve the image of the small but growing city. Your first thought might be this would be the obvious answer from someone in the greenhouse industry, as they would stand to benefit from this beautification endeavor.
If you do an internet search on curb appeal, however, planting flowers is one of the consensus opinions no matter what the source: magazine, TV or industry. It is not only one of the most economical solutions for the pocketbook but has one the most immediate returns on the home’s perceived value.
Several years ago, Mississippi State University participated in a multi-state project which was quantifying the value of a landscape and included a survey of homeowners. Survey responders were shown an image of a home with a base value of $192,000 with the viewers having the opportunity to evaluate several landscape additions.
