YOUR HOME CAN HAVE CURB APPEAL.....EVEN IN THE WINTER!

That's right....even through the cold and blustery days of winter, you can still find ways to bring curb appeal to your property.

Your grass may not be the brightst shade of green, but there are a ton of low-maintenance shrubs that become particularly beautiful in the winter.  Add some of the following plants to your landscaping and you can have year-round curb-appeal.

1. Witch Hazel: This plant will flower from October to December, its branches filling up with sprays of yellow blooms. They look like tiny firecrackers and attract beneficial bugs to the garden.

2. Winterberry:  A deciduous holly puts on an extrordinary show in winter.  How long the beautiful red berries last will depend on the temperature and how quickly the birds consume them.

3. Japanese Pieris (Lily of the Valley Bush): Glossy and green year round, this popular container plant will bloom with clusters of small white flowers from November to May. Varieties are also available that start as bright red buds before becoming off-white flowers.

4. Winter Jasmine: The stems on this elegant plant stay green throughout the winter, a nice contrast to other winter blooms on woody branches. The tall stalks produce rows of white and yellow flowers from December to June – just remember that the winter varieties aren't fragrant like their summer sisters.

5. Burning Bush: Though this plant does not flower, in the winter it becomes true to its name and turns a bright, rich shade of red. It thrives even in the coldest of winters, and goes back to dark green in the spring.

6. Winterthur: This is probably our favorite of the winter plants. It's actually quite dramatic even before it flowers in the spring: in the winter, the red leaves are accented with pink, then blue berries. 

Not a big fan of gardening in the winter?  Here is a quick fix.....you can also use the dwarf version of some of these shrubs in pots to be placed at your front door.  That will carry you through the winter season, then when the warmth of spring arrives, you can add a variety of the above shrubs to your overall landscaping for a fuller impact in the years to come.

And don't forget, you can always use bright door mats, hanging wreaths, and landscape lighting to dress up your entryway in the winter as well.

If you are selling your home, your yard and entrance are your first impression to buyers, so keep it clean and bright no matter what the season.

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