Giving kerb appeal to driveway entrance

[Jon12345]

I live in an old late Victorian house in a rural area next to a busy main road. My intention is to sell sometime in the next few years, so I want to do a bunch of improvements in the meantime. Hopefully they will bring a positive ROI.

The driveway entrance to the house looks pretty tatty. You can see in the picture that the stones are falling down, there is mud and leaves at the side of them and overall, it doesn’t look very attractive.

What would you do to make all this look a lot better? Do you have any links to examples of what would look nice?

 

[just pumps]

See this all the time on B roads, looks fine as it is to me. Maybe trim back the bush on the right a little if it brushes against wide vehicles.

 

[Jon12345]

There are 10 neighbours where I live, and all have fencing and gates on their driveway. Mine is the odd one out.

 

[just pumps]

There are 10 neighbours where I live, and all have fencing and gates on their driveway. Mine is the odd one out.

Doesn't make it bad though.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Yes, trim the bush and plant a cherry laurel around the front.

laurel hedge around house - Google Search

Even take out the leaning tree.

Andy

 

[cdbe]

I know they're fur coat and no knickers but I always think they look classier with those short pillar/walls - stone, split faced, render or decorative brickwork - whatever floats your boat.

This is a crap example but gives the idea:

 

[scbk]

I prefer the look of the house in the first post to some of these fancy places you see with no vegetation, buff chippings, 7ft high automated gates, intercomms, up/down led lights, cctv camera etc

I don't know if you would ever get your money back if you did a lot of work? If you do anything, do it for your own benefit!


If you come to sell it, pay a gardener for a day to sweep the leaves, trim the bushes, and maybe put out a couple of cheap planters with bedding plants from b&q.



In the meantime, think about putting in a few bulbs like snowdrops, daffodils (autumn) etc

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

As is typical in selling houses nowadays, rarely is any money spent prior to selling ever made back. Speak to a few agents they will say the same, unless the market for your exact house type is the same as all the neighbours and they're also up for sale then don't waste your money.

 

[DiyNutJob]

Looks OK to me. Repair the holes?

 

[conny]

Clear the leaves, expose the brickwork, take out the tree on the left which is leaning, trim the bush on the right and patch in the hole, (maybe even fully re-surface from kerbside to the brickwork running across).
Don't worry about a gate, let the new owners decide if they want to put one in. The new brickwork on the other photo detracts from the characteristic of the period and looks out of place in my opinion. I like to see original features on original/period properties.

 

[Odds]

Far too many driveways are over-developed these days thanks to the influence of programmes like Grand Designs or Escape to the Country: picture perfect properties where every blade of grass stands to attention.
So much is lost when these properties are left in the hands of companies who block-pave and gravel over everything in sight, leaving a 'minimal maintenance' wasteland behind.
An old Victorian property shouldn't be messed around with too much, especially in the garden which have had a century to evolve and grow their own ecosystems which are destroyed when you develop the garden and driveway to reflect modern trends.
Birds, bugs and all kinds of creatures rely on these places which is why some of them, like sparrows, are in decline as we take away their natural habitat in order to have a garden that's nice to look at.
Your lawn isn't a carpet to be swept and plants aren't ornaments to be dusted: it's an environment that needs to be nurtured and lived in.

 

[foxhole]

Build a retaining wall in front of the failing ones you have.