New Trees, Perennials and Fresh Mulch Boost Curb Appeal in Leawood

This Leawood home had beds that just weren't doing the house any favors. Sparse, tired, and lacking any real structure - the kind of front yard that fades into the background instead of making a statement. That's exactly the problem we set out to fix.

We started by clearing everything out and rebuilding the beds from scratch. New trees were planted at key corners and along the foundation to add height and structure. Evergreen columnar trees give the beds a clean, upright form that complements the brick exterior without competing with it. Around them, we filled in with a solid mix of perennials - ornamental grasses, spirea, hostas, salvia, and boxwoods - chosen for both texture and color contrast.

Plant selection matters a lot more than people realize. A bed full of the same plant type looks flat. Mixing upright evergreens with low mounding shrubs and ground-level perennials creates layers, and those layers are what make a bed look intentional and designed rather than just planted. That's the difference between a yard that looks good in a photo and one that actually holds up all season.

Once everything was in the ground, we laid dark mulch across all the beds. It's one of the simplest things you can do, but the contrast between rich black mulch and fresh green plants is hard to beat. It also helps lock in moisture and keeps weeds from taking over - so the beds stay cleaner longer with less work on your end.

The stone cobble edging running along the bed perimeter ties the whole thing together. It gives the landscape a defined, finished edge that separates the mulch from the lawn cleanly. Everything from the plant layout to the edging detail was done with the long view in mind - not just how it looks today, but how it fills in and grows over time.