In the Garden: Weekend updates for your landscape

Adding new life to your landscape can seem overwhelming. Tackling small achievable upgrades in a weekend can get the momentum started and make a big difference in the overall curb appeal.

Start with your door. Painting or staining the door can add new life to a tired entrance. Look at your home’s style, siding and trim to guide you in the process. Select a durable paint or stain suitable for this purpose. Then dress it up with a seasonal wreath and fresh new door mat.

Add a few container gardens to the steps. These make a colorful welcome for family and friends. Include flowers that complement the door color and your home’s siding and trim. Use reds, oranges and yellows to draw attention, energize, and evoke feelings of warmth and comfort. Create a sense of calm with blues, purples and greens.

Use containers that are scale appropriate for your home. Make sure you can easily open the door when placing pots on the front landing. Select containers large enough to support the plants you want to grow. Choose tall and narrow pots to make a bold statement in a narrow space and bigger containers or groupings to make an impact at larger entries.

Include a few fragrant flowers to elevate the mood of everyone entering your home. Sweet alyssum, heliotrope, nicotiana, and nemesia are a few fragrant annuals to consider. Add some herbs like lavender, Rosemary and thyme, as well as scented geraniums that are sure to invite a gentle pet to release their welcome fragrance.

Freshen your garden beds with a bit of weeding and mulch. Weeds compete with your desirable plants for water, nutrients and sunlight. Many weeds also serve as hosts for insect pests and diseases. Removing them improves the look and health of your garden beds.

Once weeded, consider spreading a layer of organic mulch like leaves, evergreen needles, or shredded bark over the soil surface. Organic mulches help keep plant roots cool and moist, suppress weeds, conserve moisture and, as they break down, improve the soil. The finer the mulch, the thinner the layer needed, and generally, it should be no more than two to three inches deep.

Edge planting beds as time allows. You’ll define the space, make it easier to mow around, and slow the infiltration of grass and weeds into the garden. Use a sharp spade or edging shovel to create a V-shaped trench around the garden. Fill it with the same mulch used in the garden. For larger projects, consider renting an edging machine. You and your neighbors may want to join forces and rent the equipment for the weekend for all to use. You’ll share the cost, and no one has to store and maintain this additional piece of landscape equipment.

Update your address numbers, making them larger if needed so delivery people, emergency services, and others can find your home. You can purchase the numbers and craft your own sign or order one online.

As you accomplish some or all these quick upgrades, you are more likely to tackle larger projects that require more time, energy, and perhaps money. You’ll appreciate each of these improvements every time you enter your front door.

Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including the recently released Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” instant video and DVD series and the nationally-syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and her website is MelindaMyers.com.