With the variety of materials available today, it's easy to warm up your welcome and create curb appeal.
Choose harvest colours and rustic textures for a quick makeover. As staycations and the trend to turning outdoor areas into living spaces continue to grow, decorating for the seasons also becomes more popular.
You can swap your door mat for one with a leaf motif in fall hues. Then add a rough, orange willow wreath to the door and cluster pots of mums beside the steps.
There are so many options, it's more difficult deciding what to choose from the bounty of farm-fresh trimmings and rustic harvest colours.
If you prefer a soft palette, a wreath of wheat and broom corn provides a subtle mix of green, beige and brown. Complement it with a sheaf of dried willow branches stacked against the wall and a coir mat underfoot.
Try a wreath of dried hydrangea, feathered reed grass or raffia with a sheaf of wheat and straw bales.
Tony Manders, owner of Regency Florists, suggests wicker baskets filled with fresh or artificial arrangements. These can be hung on the door or wall. Replace summer annuals in your urns with tall grasses and grapevine balls, he said. Work some organza through the arrangement for a more upscale look.
"You don't always have to use a wreath," Manders said. "In urns, add a cluster of mums in pots with kale and tall black millet and grasses. This will last up to November, when you change it for Christmas."
When using dried and dyed materials outside, Manders cautions to be sure they are weatherproof. Often, eucalyptus stems have been dyed and the stain can ruin your door.
Mums are a perennial favourite. "They give a lot of show for the money," said Manders. "Some are not winter-hardy but they give a temporary shot of colour."
It's the colour that makes them so appealing. Available in everything from hot oranges, reds and yellows to soft pinks and creams or deep burgundy and golden browns, chrysanthemums fit into any decorating scheme.
"Mums are our biggest fall flower," said Jean Glover, owner of A&M Garden Centre. Pop them into urns, window boxes or among your perennials for a shot of fresh colour.
Other fall-bloomers include asters, heather, sedum, coral bells and ornamental peppers and kale. Adding any of these to your existing containers will perk them up.
"Put fall colour in your pots with mums, grasses, heather and ornamental pepper or cabbage," said Glover. "A lot of people are also choosing icicle pansies. They will bloom through to Christmas and again in the spring."
For more fall interest in containers or garden beds, replace tired annuals with sunflowers, echinacea, ribbon grass or blood grass.
