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I am not exactly sure how I stumbled onto the info, but someone must have told me a long time ago that yellow flowers sell a house. And for a long time, I just kind of assumed it was an old wives’ tale. But now that I’ve decided to prepare the house for sale, I got a little curious and checked with my old friend, Google. And do you know where that lead?
Yep.
If you think about it in terms of color theory, we choose paint colors to invoke emotions all the time in home decor. People often choose blue in places they want to feel calm (like bathrooms and bedrooms), warm tones in places where we eat (yellows and reds supposedly stimulate the appetite), and light colors when we want rooms to feel more spacious or clean. So why not use the same kind of thinking when choosing new flowers for the front yard?
When it comes to the human eye, the color yellow is the most fatiguing to the eye and processes first. It arrests our attention. Which is also often why it’s chosen for warning signs and to highlight things that we want to see from long distances. We can see it in the corners of our eye faster. And in almost every culture, it’s associated with happiness, warmth, and sunlight.
So, yeah – all of that seems like something that I want to use to my financial advantage. It’s planting the literal seed in exchange for a psychological “BUY ME” one. And the nerd in me is smiling from ear to ear about that.
So, enough with the nerd talk. Let’s get to the pretty flowers. To begin, there was quite a lot of cleanup needing to happen to the mailbox area. Three months of neglect will do that to a front yard.
Pulling weeds was short and quick. I like to use the wiggle method: grabbing close to the root, wiggle back and forth, and give a little tug. If it feels like it will break, just wiggle a little more. Getting it out by the root is more important than breaking them off on the stem.
And yet, I was still working against the clock! Storms have been in and out of Atlanta for the last few days, and I wanted to get these in the ground before the sky opened again (which would be kind of convenient, not having to water them!).
Muuuuch better.
Of course, pulling all of those messy weeds only made the area next to the mailbox look all the more unkept. Lots of pine straw, pollen, and dirt have been washing through over the winter, so it was time to clean that up as well.
Then comes the fun part: digging new spots for the flowers.
I’m a pretty lousy gardener, but had great results with Osmocote during last fall’s backyard makeover, so I added a little in there too. Anything to be able to ignore this spot for a little while again and finish other projects!
I chose a mix of yellow marigolds and white vinca to surround them (planning for height, the marigolds will grow taller than the surrounding vinca, and hopefully fill in as they grow). Hopefully they’ll have a chance to establish and I’ll be able to show you how they’re performing in another few weeks (and I’ll need to add a little more mulch soon as well).
I also took shovel to concrete and scooped up all of the decayed mix from the curb and runoff area. Again, it’s mostly just pinestraw that got caught & has been basically mulching next to the curb.
I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with it, considering it seems like perfectly good filler to scoop into the back yard’s uneven spots (or would it be safe enough to use as soil in the side of the house when planting new shrubs there? I am clueless at these things).
Regardless of whether or not the color of the flowers will have any power over a potential buyer, the mailbox is in much better shape (bird poo notwithstanding, that is).
And the rest of the flowers around the house are doing well, so perhaps this spring and summer, I won’t be facing nearly as much of an uphill battle with curb appeal as previous years. Just look at the buds forming on my hydrangea!
Got any new garden plans this year? Have you tried using color theory to sell your house?
So I guess the house across the street should sell fast, they have a lot of dandelions in the yard :-)
Hahaha!! This made me LOL!
It looks great! We’re waiting until we’re closer to selling since I have such a green thumb. But I’m going to have to go with yellow now that I’ve read this! We also have a ton of pops of red so that will be pretty and eye grabbing!
I have not tried this theory, but our house will be going on the market soon so I think I will be taking a trip to Home Depot tomorrow… Can’t hurt right?! Thanks for the idea! Let me know if it works for you! :)
When I sold our first house I was amazed how quickly it sold. My Realtor said that a few touches I did before a showing made a big difference in allowing it to feel homey. I bought an lit a few banana nut bread candles in the living room and dining room and played classical music. The market was different back then, but my house was only shown twice before the new owner made a bid. Hope these ideas help you when you start showing your place.
I need hydrangea advice. I want to plants some. When did you plant yours? I killed one already :(
For me, it wasn’t so much about when as where. I planted two several years ago in the spring, and the only one that survived was the one I planted in the shade. I planted four more behind the house last fall, and 3 of the 4 grew back. No reasonable explanation to why the other one died at all. But I hear that they are easy to do cuttings from, so if you get one that’s growing strong, you can make more of them!
Once the new house is complete, we’ll be putting the one we’re in on the market. We’ll have to try the yellow flower approach. And to think I’m always declaring war on dandelions.
Not to get your hopes up or anything, but I read the same thing, so when we put our house up for sale I painted the front door a bright yellow and put huge pots of white flowers on either side along with yellow flowers in the front beds. It sold in 18 days! I’m a believer!
I love those yellow marigolds. I planted them last year and they fill out and spread like crazy so you’ll have a lovely splash of color there! Good luck on the sale!
Yup, these are definitely happy little cheerful things. Good luck getting your place ready!
My mother in law baked a batch of cookies before their showings!