What is one thing you notice first about a central New Jersey home? Is it the home's facade, or perhaps its majestic gate or entryway? Or what about its long and winding driveway, or its location, or appearance in comparison to its neighbors?
Or just maybe the first thing you notice is the landscaping. For many people, one of the first things they notice about a home is its landscaping. You can tell a lot about a home's curb appeal based on exterior appearances. In most cases, the better your landscaping, the higher the likelihood that your home will have serious curb appeal.
In our latest blog, the team at Country Classics shares why landscaping matters for curb appeal and offers a few landscaping ideas to boost it, so your home isn't the odd one out - or it is, for the right reason. By the end of our blog, you'll know exactly why you should think of your home's landscaping as its attire and how to outfit it in the best ways possible.
Before we dip our toes into the proverbial pool of landscaping for new homes or walkway landscaping ideas, it's a good idea to learn the why behind choosing to landscape to improve curb appeal and how it achieves this.
Essentially, landscaping through plants, greenery, trending decor, and hardscaping is what frames your home and gives it personality. It can make a new build feel established or an existing house look refreshed. This is attractive to both homeowners and passersby, as well as those looking to invest in a new property.
Additionally, a well-planned yard also shows that you care for your property and take pride in living at your abode, which adds to its curb appeal. Visitors and potential buyers in the future will immediately appreciate your home and want to know more about it.
If you've read this far, you're likely looking into front yard landscaping ideas, low maintenance landscaping ideas, or simply the best plants for curb appeal. Fortunately, the ideas we've shared below tick these boxes and are worth considering if you want to boost curb appeal in Central New Jersey with a home you've just bought or want to build with us at Country Classics:
What's one of the most effective front yard landscaping ideas? Layering your plants. It might sound silly, but placing taller shrubs or ornamental trees at the back, mid‑sized perennials in the center, and low groundcovers along the edge creates depth and is incredibly aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Not only do the plants look artfully designed, but they also draw the eye toward your home, giving the entire yard a more polished look.
If you want affordable landscaping upgrades, choose plants that are easy to care for. The last thing you want is to invest in hundreds of plants that die after or during their first winter or before they get a chance to bloom. We recommend low-maintenance plants like hostas, coneflowers, or black-eyed Susans – yes that is actually a plant – to give color and texture to your yard with very little effort needed to care for them year-round.
The best way to guide the view toward your stunning home is to refresh walkways. There are many different walkway landscaping ideas you can try to guide people from the driveway to the door, such as installing solar lights, placing them near stone edging, or adding a border of flowers. These details will make your entryway look purposeful and invite guests to follow the path and enjoy the view that is your abode.
One of the best curb appeal tips for New Jersey that we can share is adding hardscaping for structure. Hardscaping is like landscaping, but it differs in that you'll not be adding anything living. Instead, you'll add features like curved stone edges, small retaining walls, or a gravel bed framed by greenery. Trust us, hardscaping is among the top landscaping trends of 2025 because it creates visual contrast and enhances your home's curb appeal.
We've said it once and we'll say it again… highlight your front entrance. Your front yard entrance is where people focus first, so your front entrance landscaping design deserves to be the center of attention. We recommend considering trimmed shrubs, tall planters, and even fresh mulch in flower beds to make your home feel warm and welcoming. And if you really want to go all out, consider a few hardscaping statues or fountains and bird baths framed by in-season blooms.
When you work with the right design-build firm, such as Country Classics, they will provide NJ landscape design to enhance curb appeal during the construction of your new build. Usually, a new build will feature minimalistic landscaping or foundational landscaping that you can add to when you know your style and what will best complement your home. It's best to brainstorm these ideas before or while building a new home so that the firm can build with this in mind and even recommend a few options.
Your driveway takes up more visual space than you realize, which is why you should choose greenery that frames it well and looks good all year long. Simple driveway curb appeal ideas, such as narrow planting beds or ornamental grasses along the edges, soften that hard surface and connect it to the rest of your yard.
If you want something new, consider exploring top landscaping trends for 2025, such as gravel gardens, native wildflower strips, or a mix of formal beds with natural edges. These styles work beautifully with many homes in Central New Jersey, adding a touch of modern charm. Trust us; we would know.
We hope that our blog has shown you how to improve curb appeal and that you found our landscaping ideas for Central NJ to be insightful.
At Country Classics, we focus on building homes that feel thoughtful from the inside out. When you choose to build with us, you are choosing a team that considers how a home will look and live for years to come.
If these ideas have inspired you, we would love to show you our homes and communities in Central New Jersey. Contact Country Classics today and let us help you create a place that feels as good to arrive at as it does to live in.