{"id":1462,"date":"2026-06-13T10:00:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T07:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/?p=1462"},"modified":"2026-06-13T10:00:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T07:00:04","slug":"is-your-garden-killing-your-homes-kerb-appeal-then-avoid-these-7-deadly-sins-says-expert-jane-moore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/?p=1462","title":{"rendered":"Is your garden killing your home’s kerb appeal? Then avoid these 7 deadly sins, says expert Jane Moore"},"content":{"rendered":"

First impressions count don’t they? If your garden looks a mess, people will assume your home is a state too. We all know visitors start judging as soon as they step over the threshold, and it’s no different in the garden. For anyone selling their house, an ugly garden can also knock a chunk off the asking price. It’s not just general mess and weed-filled borders that give a bad impression \u2013 how about the deadly sins of gardening? We’re talking massive trampolines, rusty furniture and tasteless ornaments. Let me start with gnomes…<\/p>\n

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\"Gnome.<\/p>\n

1: Tacky ornaments<\/h3>\n

If you want a class look, then it\u2019s a no to gnomes, fairies, faux butterflies and that collection of concrete frogs and tortoises. Your garden should be a sanctuary for living creatures, not the prefabricated kind. I know the life-size tiger is really quite something, and that kids love it, but save it for the back garden.<\/p>\n

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\"Gravel<\/p>\n

2: Excusing front-garden mess as ‘rewilding’<\/h3>\n

Is letting your garden go to seed rewilding? Um, no, it\u2019s not \u2013 it\u2019s just letting everything grow wild, and not in a good way. If you don\u2019t want to mow a lawn \u2013 and let\u2019s face it, who does in a tiny front garden \u2013 then cover that space with low-maintenance plants, mulch, gravel or all three. Yes, you will have to weed and tidy every so often, but nowhere near as often as you would have to cut the grass. Save your rewilding for the back garden, but for the front, keep it simple and neat, and it will always look good.<\/p>\n

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\"Framing<\/p>\n

3: Container overload<\/h3>\n

Plants in pots look great \u2013 to start with. But a good container garden is not as simple as plonking a few plants in a mismatched set of pots. Believe me, fresh is also key, as no plant looks good once it\u2019s been in a pot for a few years. Whatever your best intentions, plants in pots inevitably suffer from haphazard watering, stale old compost, and the periodical bouts of aphids\/ants\/ various nasty fungal complaints that stressed plants are prone to. Have a ruthless pot cull \u2013 get shot of the cracked, the chipped, and the way too tiny and opt instead for a couple of top-notch pots for each side of the front door. Bay trees, bedding plants, a couple of clematis \u2013 plant what you like in matching containers, they will look dead classy and definitely a cut above.<\/p>\n

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\"Shed<\/p>\n

4: There are more toys than plants<\/h3>\n

A trampoline should not be the main focus of your garden. The same goes for the slide, paddling pool, kids\u2019 bikes, or adult bikes. Nothing screams mayhem like kids\u2019 toys all over the garden, and it\u2019s far from the stylish look you\u2019re aiming for. If you must have them, then make a place to store them. While you\u2019re at it, make a bike store and plant a nice shrub or climber – or three – to create a screen.<\/p>\n

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\"Bin<\/p>\n

5: Bins are a focal point<\/h3>\n

Bins are never, ever a great look, so put them away if you can, if not, then make a tidy screen by the garden gate. That way, it\u2019s easy for the refuse collectors to get to, and it\u2019s away from your front door. No one wants a sniff of an unemptied bin when they pop round to see you.<\/p>\n

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\"Attract<\/p>\n

6: Hands-off gardening<\/h3>\n

Dead plants, unkempt hedges and piles of leaves might be good for insects, but they don\u2019t often look good, so are best out of the main view. Besides, you can have wildlife as well as an attractive garden, believe me. Plant a few plants for pollinators like bees and butterflies, some wildlife-friendly, but compact shrubs, and perhaps a small tree, and your garden will be every bit as good for wildlife, but look so much better. As for those hedges, keep your neighbours and the birds happy by trimming them out of the nesting season.<\/p>\n

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\"Keep<\/p>\n

7: You’ve taken the ‘distressed’ look too far<\/h3>\n

The trouble with shabby chic is that it tends to look just plain old shabby unless it\u2019s contrasted with a sharp, classy finish on other items. It\u2019s a tricky look to pull off and demands more maintenance than you might think to stop it descending into a mess. If the paint is peeling off your gate\/ fences\/ front door, then that\u2019s not \u2018distressed\u2019 in the designer sense of the word; that’s just unmaintained. You can have a bit of rust here and there \u2013 let\u2019s be honest, a bit of corten steel always goes down well in a garden setting. But take my advice and keep your fences, gate and front door well maintained, or it will all start looking a bit \u2018junkyard\u2019 rather than chic.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First impressions count don’t they? If your garden looks a mess, people will assume your home is a state too. We all know visitors start judging as soon as they step over the threshold, and it’s no different in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1462"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tadoley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}