Cosgrove’s quick fixes
Denise Cosgrove of Snohomish won the grand prize in the “Curb Appeal Quick Fix” contest.
Here are her tips:
1. A winning plant combination is burgundy, gold and chartreuse foliage. It makes all the colors pop. Use the 1/3 rule when combining plants: 1/3 evergreen, 1/3 deciduous shrubs and 1/3 annuals. Opt for curved flowerbeds.
2. Paint the front door any color but white. Dress up brass hardware with bronze spray paint.
3. Sedum, chicken wire and moss can be used to create a wreath or topiary and dress up an old mailbox.
4. Pick containers that can be filled with different plants as seasons change.
5. Dress up blank entry walls by adding louvered metal shutters painted an accent color. Hang a flower basket above each.
For more design tips or a free “Creating Curb Appeal” brochure, visit the Web site, www.allied.com.
Story by Debra Smith
Herald Writer
Photos by Michael O’Leary
Herald Photographer
N othing says “welcome” like a beautiful front door but, please, paint it any color but white.
That’s one piece of advice that helped Denise Cosgrove win the grand prize and a $5,000 gift certificate to Lowe’s in the “Curb Appeal Quick Fix” contest.
The Snohomish woman beat nearly 1,000 other entries in the nationwide contest sponsored by Allied Van Lines.
Contestants were asked to submit their top five ideas to create curb appeal that cost about $500 and took less than a weekend to reproduce.
In her entry, Cosgrove wrote about that “magical something” that sets some homes apart.
“It’s about creating heart, pure and simple,” she wrote.
A visit to Cosgrove’s replica Victorian era home reveals a home and garden with plenty of that magical something.
Cosgrove, a native Texan with the South in her voice, took up gardening a decade ago after moving to Snohomish County.
In Texas she had grown her share of tomatoes and zinnias, but this area’s climate let her expand her repertoire.
“This is an area where you can grow anything your heart desires: vegetables, tropicals and everything in between,” she said.
And she does.
Her garden was one of 13 featured on the Snohomish Garden Club’s annual tour recently.
Amazing, considering her yard was grass, a few rhododendrons, pine trees and arborvitae when she bought it.
“Boring,” she said. “And everything was in a straight line.”
Today she has made good use of a city-sized yard with curvy planting beds overflowing with a combination of tried and true favorites such as lady’s mantle and euphoriba as well as unusual picks such as purple orach, a burgundy beauty that is excellent in arrangements.
Her back yard serves as an inviting living space with its antique birdcage chandelier and even a daybed for relaxing with 12-year-old daughter, Lauralee.
In the contest, she shared what has worked in her own yard, including combining burgundy, gold and chartreuse colored plants for an eye-popping display.
An example: A ground cover of lime green Creeping Jenny surrounding a Plum Pudding huechera and a honeysuckle shrub called Baggesen’s Gold.
Some of her favorite plants include Love-lies-Bleeding with its long-lasting chartreuse flowers; Limelight, a hydrangea with clusters of lime flowers; Annabell, another hydrangea with light green foliage and creamy white flowers; Painter’s Palette, a persicaria with splashes of white, yellow and pink; and Golden Catalpa, a tree with heart-shaped golden leaves.
She likes using the “one-third rule” when planting a bed: combine equal parts evergreens, deciduous shrubs and annuals.
Curvy is better than straight when it comes to the shape of planting beds and a lot more fun “than all those plants lined up like little soldiers in a row.”
Her front door is a warm burnt orange and she spray-painted brass hardware a hammered bronze color giving it an antique look.
One of Cosgrove’s most inventive ideas was using chicken wire, moss and sedum to hide an old, ratty mailbox.
She used green-coated chicken wire as a shell around the mailbox and then stuffed it full of moss. A few stray sedum from her yard got tucked into the mass. The same technique could be used to create homemade topiaries or decorative columns.
“And who else gets to say, ‘I have to water my mailbox today’?” she said.
Her last tip – attaching louvered metal shutters painted an accent color to a boring blank wall – is a less expensive version of something she tried in the back yard.
A painted lattice with oval white-trimmed mirrors helps dress up a plain wall in the back of her home.
The creativity of Cosgrove’s ideas set her entry apart, said contest judge Daniel C. Owens, one of the designers on the HGTV show “Curb Appeal.”
“Denise’s ideas were very imaginative and I really liked the way she described creating curb appeal as a ‘work of heart,’” he said.
Cosgrove will use the prize money to fix up part of her house you won’t see from the curb: an upstairs bathroom.
Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.
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