Lawn and Landscape Ideas

 Your front yard is the first impression people have with your home, making it one of the biggest areas you can focus on if you want to improve your home’s curb appeal .

There are thousands of different styles of front yards you can have, and we created a list of some great ideas you can browse through if you’re still not 100% certain on the type of lawn you want to have for your home. No two gardens are alike, and your front yard is your personal canvas. Just like the clothes we choose to wear everyday, your front yard also represents a part of you.

Our goal with this list of ideas is to provide you with our curated list of best lawn and landscape ideas for your front yard, in an effort to inspire and motivate you to maximize the potential of your lawn.

                                                   

Minimal

The minimal design style is hard to go wrong with; simple, clean and elegant. Easy to maintain, this style is a great starting point if you’re looking for a great foundation to build on.

Topiary

                                         

Green ornaments pruned into round and square shapes attract attention. These are called topiary, and are one of the more attractive front yard landscape designs. This one pictured below includes a few beautiful trees as well.

Simple with Concrete Walkway

                                             

Paired with a garden bed of mostly small plants and shrubs, this simple green beautiful lawn incorporates a classic walkway that takes your visitors through your front lawn and into your home.

Simple driveway bed

                                                 

Driveways benefit from the addition of a narrow bed along their length. Not only does this give your yard a tidier and more appealing look, but it allows you to add lighting to the edge of the driveway to guide guests to your door. These small lanterns aren’t only fun and whimsical, but are practical, too!

Easy to maintain Potted Bed

                                            

If you’re a novice gardener or often find that you’re too busy to keep your border looking its best, try this idea for an easy-to-update flower bed. You can also use this idea to add showy if short-lived annuals in an established perennial beds.

Low Maintenance evergreen shrub

                                       

While especially useful for bulbs which need special care and often need to be overwintered indoors, you can also buy potted flowers, evergreen shrubs, or creeping ground-covers and simply swap them out for new plants as the seasons change. This is an especially useful idea for neglected side yards which are left bare.

Mediterranean

                                            

Mediterranean features not only make a yard feel more balanced and elegant but are another great option for drought-prone gardens. Water-wise annuals and ground-covers ring the fountain without crowding it .

Tiered Block Beds

                                          

If you think a cinderblock planter must look bland and utilitarian, think again. By staggering the layout of the blocks you can create small planters for succulents around the outside of the main raised bed. This kind of block wall creates a simple and clean look that compliments modern landscaping well.

Concrete Walkway with shrubs

                                            

Have a black thumb? No time to garden? Want an entryway landscape that you can virtually ignore? Evergreens like junipers require relatively little watering, stay green year round, and are hard to kill once they are established. As a bonus, they are easily sculpted into topiary forms which provide a lot of visual interest to a home’s entryway.

Pond with Flowerbed

                                 

In areas where the threat of freezing is minimal, a bold water feature won’t need as much care as fountains or ponds in northern areas. Be sure to add a bold spotlight at night to highlight it with some annual flowers to create additional allure.

Drought Tolerant Plants

                                            

If you live in an area where temperatures regularly soar above 100 degrees, you know how difficult it can be to maintain an attractive front yard no matter how often you water. Many plants – including many blooming annuals – simply cannot survive long periods of dry heat. In these areas, your best option may be to use a low maintenance and water savvy Mediterranean front garden design such as the idea shown here. Hardy evergreens with waxy leaves are better able to retain moisture during heatwaves and droughts.

White picket fence with flowers

                                                    

This breathtakingly lovely front yard landscaping idea may seem unachievable at first glance, but if you look closer, you’ll notice that the fenceline is planted with a small variety of flowers. By repeating three or four flowers in sequence, you can achieve a simple yet jaw-dropping display which will be the envy of the neighborhood.

Spring Cottage Garden

                                                              

Despite the small size of this cottage, the well-proportioned shrubs and immaculate front garden make it feel grander. Bulbs and Azaleas are a fleeting but beloved part of spring, and this front yard landscaping idea gives them pride of place.

Floral Garden

                                                  

A simple floral garden in front of your porch can also be an effective yet stunning solution to a beautiful lawn. The elegance of this white house is given more emphasis as the stunning red and yellow color effect of tulip blossoms surround it. The greenery and simple view of the white house serves as the tulip’s perfect spot to shine.

Window Boxes

                                       

What makes this particular design so appealing is the use of window boxes. Not only do they help to beautify the entryway, but they also help draw visitors’ eyes to the house itself. This is a great way to add instant beauty to any home but is especially useful for guest homes, show homes, or houses that are on the market.

Petunias Hanging on Porch

                                                                     

Petunias are often overlooked by green thumbs and experienced landscapers, but this humble but tough flower can not only add to your front yard landscaping idea but can even be the star of the show. In this yard, petunias are used both in the hanging baskets on the porch but as a highlight in the flower beds as well.

Circular shade-loving annuals flower bed

                                                

Most annuals are sun-loving and don’t do well in the near-constant shade of established trees. However, there are some varieties of annual as well as many ground-covers which can thrive in this environment. Sweet alyssum, coleus, begonias, touch-me-nots, and pansies are all able to enjoy this kind of shaded ground. The example below is of a fountain with some annuals covered in shade underneath it.

Rustic Log Planters

                                       

Planters are a great way to enliven a specific area of the yard, and a hollowed log or stump is a great natural alternative to concrete or plastic. As a bonus, you probably already have a stump or log in your yard you can use for this kind of display. If not, try searching the free ads in your area, and you are likely to find someone who is more than willing to give you their downed tree.

Tree Stump Planter

                                             

Tree stumps can be difficult and expensive to remove. Instead of ripping out a stump after a tree removal, turn an ugly eyesore into a beautiful feature of your front yard by turning it into a flower planter. Simply create a hollow in the stump, and plant with annuals. Not only will the tree stump help maintain soil moisture and provide some nutrients for your flowers, but the soil microbes and fungi that grow among the roots your flowers will break down the stump more quickly.

Mini Mailbox Flower Bed

                                                      

Even if your front yard is limited to a small strip of ground between the sidewalk and the road, make the most of it by planting a colorful bed of flowers at the base of your mailbox. Any number of annuals or ground covers can be used at the base to create a small but showy display which will delight your mailman and passers-by.

Sophisticated Japanese Garden Beds

                                         

This bold look is perfect for mid-century or modern homes where the home’s architecture pairs well with structured beds. Other notable features include the tall planters that flank the doorway and the stone pillar . Both of these elements help cut the strong horizontal lines created by the home and planting beds and pull the eye towards the entryway.

Walkway Lights

                                     

These metal garden path lights are a sleek alternative to the lantern-like pathway lights normally sold at home stores. While pathway lights aren’t always necessary, they tend to offer a more welcoming feel to a home’s entryway. By choosing to update this one element, you can take your landscape design up a notch. Paired with a cut flagstone path and a pleasing mix of grasses, annuals, and evergreens, this front garden idea is a solid mix of modern and classic elements.

Now these are some great ideas aren’t they?

In general, a well-kept front garden will add appeal and value to your home. Even the smallest front yards can become home to verdant seasonal displays of flowers and greenery. By planting hardy evergreens in your landscape, you can create a framework to which you can add climate-appropriate groundcovers, bulbs, annuals, and perennials that can bring color and texture to a plain yard.

Even if you are an inexperienced gardener, have had poor luck with plants in the past, or even if you are currently renting your home, there are cost effective ways to enliven your front yard. If you’re uncertain about where to begin, try adding a planter with petunias or a similarly hardy flower to either side of your front door. You’ll soon learn through trial and error how often you must care for your plants and which varieties do best in your area. Before long, you’ll be ready to revamp your entire front yard.