A front garden is one of the most underutilized and oft-overlooked area of a home. While many people assume that a front yard is simply a walkway to their front door and nothing more, that’s not true at all. The fact is, a front garden can have a lot to say about your home and your personality – and you can do a lot with it, too! A front yard can say a lot about your family, your taste for flowers (and plants), and even about the size of your home. Here are some front garden design ideas to help you get started.
One of the easiest front garden design ideas to implement is to use structure and symmetry to your outside space – consider straight lines, well defined flower beds, and even solid plant placement. While symmetry is most common in more formal gardens, it also is a wonderful design principle that will add a wonderful sense of style to virtually any open-air area. Symmetrical designs work great in containers, too; take a look at some of the gorgeous asymmetrical planting that’s popping up in recent garden trends. If you have a larger yard or a cove or lake front, using symmetrical elements can make for a great looking outdoor oasis.
One of the other front garden design ideas that’s becoming popular lately is incorporating a green environment into your oasis. There are so many ways that you can go green – there’s even a growing trend of landscaping around natural resources (like streams and lakes, for example). In this case, you’ll want to go with low maintenance grasses or “soft” surfaces like flagstone, because they won’t hold up to the heavy use and wear that you’ll get from active children. Another great eco-friendly option is to plant low-growing plants as close to the house as possible, because these plants will spread quickly and are easier to take care of. Here are some low-maintenance, eco-friendly front yard plant options:
Of course, some people are more interested in front yard garden design ideas that involve growing flowers and other hardy plants that will do well in more traditional gardens. One of these is perennials, which are great anywhere from the house to the yard. Perennials like these include shrubs, herbs, vegetables, and flowering annuals. These plants are great for creating a sustainable, eco-friendly lawn, and they’re perfect for adding color and variety to a front yard. Some of the most popular perennial plants among front yard gardeners are hydrangeas, ground ivy, boxwood shrubs, and a host of desert flowers, such as dune rhododendron.
For those interested in creating a greener oasis, you might want to consider planting an orchid garden in your front yard. Orchids are one of the easiest and most forgiving plants to care for when it comes to watering. They don’t need very much care once they’re established, and there are certain species that are even desert flowers, which can flourish even in drier areas. Some of the most popular orchids for planting in or front garden design ideas are orchids, epiphytes, ferns, and cacti. Some orchids, such as the orchid cattlemen, grow well in drier areas, and others, like the epiphyte, do well in full sunlight.
Some people are more concerned with small front garden design ideas that involve creating habitat for various small creatures. This includes creating habitats for various types of butterflies and dragonflies, which can be especially useful after a bad rain or a particularly wet summer. Creating a habitat for these flying things will not only make the yard look better, but will also provide a great source of insect, free food for local birds and butterflies. It may also be possible to attract some of these animals by providing a good source of water, which may help to keep pests away from your yard, too.
If you’re more interested in gardening for other types of purpose, you have plenty of great front garden design ideas, too. People who enjoy planting trees and shrubs have a lot of choices, from planting fruit trees, perennials, shrubs, or flowering plants along the perimeter of their front lawn. Other types of gardening, such as vegetable gardening, can offer the same kinds of beauty and function as the larger more traditional types of plants and can often be completed in the same space as traditional types of landscaping. And finally, the area that encompasses your back patio or your front porch can also be designed around various types of plants and flowers, while still providing some function for outdoor living.
Whether you prefer small front garden design ideas that include small plants and flowers, plants that serve multiple purposes, or large plants, you’ll find plenty of options for planting a small front yard, if you look around. One thing that’s always a good idea is to make sure that you create a plan that will allow you to move your plants later, should you want to, without creating a hole in your back yard, or in your front yard. There are plenty of great options that will allow you to have the best yard possible, no matter what your needs may be.
