New Kensington, PA, front yard tabbed best in the nation

[left-of-center2012]

Kevin Prall and his husband, Layne Bennett, 63, an architectural designer, bought a house on Victoria Avenue in New Kensington, PA, in 2011. In the spring of 2012, Prall got to work on the yard, where there had been only grass, a hedge and a couple of azalea bushes.

“I knew this whole yard was going to transition,” he said. After seven years, Prall has a front yard that makes people driving by slow down, stop and stare in wonder. Now, it’s been recognized as the best front yard in America.

Prall emerged as the winner of Better Homes & Gardens’ first “America’s Best Front Yard” contest. His yard was among 10 finalists chosen from more than 900 entries.

“We wanted to celebrate our homes’ curb appeal,” Executive Editor Rachel DeSchepper said. “Our front porches and front yard gardens are the first view into your home’s creative personality and, rather than have all the beauty tucked away privately in the backyard, we wanted to showcase welcoming front yards.”

https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/new-kensington-front-yard-is-tops-in-the-nation-says-better-homes-gardens/

[Sinistrous]

1. Not my taste.

Cluttered.
Overgrown.
Outrageously high maintenance.

[teenagebambam]

4. Yeah nothing about that says "yard" n/t

[madaboutharry]

2. I don't like it.

It reminds me of food in a restaurant that tries too hard.

[Zambero]

3. A measure of climate change?

Those Pennsylvania palm trees are looking very robust!

[livetohike]

5. Why hide that beautiful, old home? I live in the Pgh

area. Are those palms plastic?

[left-of-center2012]

6. "Are those palms plastic?"

Did you read the linked article?

“But it’s the palm trees — now numbering eight across the front and back yards — that really get noticed.

Planting palm trees was a gamble and, at $500 each for the first five, an investment.

While the windmill palms Prall started planting in 2014 are more resilient to the cold than other types, New Kensington is still outside their zone, and Prall has to protect them so they survive the winters.

From mid-November to early March, Prall boxes the palms up and keeps them warm with old-fashioned incandescent Christmas lights. Remote thermometers monitor their temperature.”

[livetohike]

7. No, but I will. Thanks for the excerpt. n/t

[FakeNoose]

8. Yep - one bad winter and those palm trees are firewood

These guys are nuts! They should move to Florida or somewhere way south of Pittsburgh.