The front yard look is the key to an improved curb appeal. You may think that a well-looking landscape design will cost you a lot of money and time but these are not always the keys to making your dream come true.
There are many simple, affordable and easy projects that will make your front yard shine and to help you, we have collected 28 Simple Front Yard Landscaping Ideas for a Fresh Look.
1. Gravel Garden
Keep the front yard perfectly maintained and visually appealing with gravel in place of grass. You can replace only part of the lawn and enjoy both the green carpet and the rock garden.
Gravel gardens are trending in low-maintenance landscaping as they minimize the growth of weeds. You can still plant specific kinds in the gravel bed that will give it a fresh and living look. The gravel cover is also a good way to improve the curb appeal by matching it with the walkway leading to the front door and the adjacent outdoor features.
2. Try Edging Of The Garden Beds
You can improve the current look of your front yard by adding edging to the garden beds or making the existing ones deeper or more visible.
There are a few ways to make the edging bolder- by sculpturing it with hardscape materials such as pavers, bricks, stones, large rocks or by differentiating it from the adjacent cover with mulch.
3. Tiers Of Boxwood
Simple is not boring and these straight lines of gardens prove it. When you do your garden work properly, the final result will give as much visual interest as more complicated gardens.
The idea in this simple front yard landscape is to create layers of an identical plant by giving them different heights and shapes. For this idea, boxwood is a great plant that is prone to quick growth and various forming ideas.
4. Slab Walkway
If you like the grass pavers, you can create an alternative to them which is easier to maintain, very comfortable for walking and good-looking. In this image, we present to you a walkway from large stone slabs with grass joints that blend the walkway with the lawn.
The design of the walkway is up to you and the properties of the terrain. One thing you won’t avoid is the maintenance of the grass by removing weeds and mowing.
5. Paved Front Yard With Raised Garden Beds
If there is plenty of rain in your area, you may want to minimize the size of the lawn. An inspiring and visually appealing idea is given in the image above. The front yard combines a lawn, a large paved area and raised garden beds close to the front door.
The flower beds are made from the same material as the walkway for an elegant and harmonious look. As for the garden beds, you can plant your favourite perennial kinds that will beautify the facade of your home.
6. Lush Garden Beds
Create interest in your front yard with different flowers and plants. Plant them by kind, shade preferences and height to achieve a visually appealing result.
The highest plants, such as rose shrubs, trailing plants, topiaries, etc. should be closest to the porch so that they improve the privacy and don’t disturb the shortest ones and those that need more sun.
7. Classic Front Yard
This entry garden is an example of a traditional landscape design. It is simple and easy to maintain and at the same time very elegant and inviting.
Traditional front yards usually feature a large area with lawn and a curved or straight garden, depending on the property specifics.
The garden bed features different shrubs, evergreen and blooming, ground covers and trees. At the end of each garden bed, there are tufts of seasonal flowers.
8. Create A Colorful Pattern
Creating the classic flower rows is always a good idea. You can go for one kind of plant and mix all of its color varieties or pack two or three blooming flower varieties in one row.
These flower tufts can beautify a sidewalk or add color to the house’s facade.
9. Revamp The Existing Front Yard Garden
If you are happy with your front yard landscape in general but want to refresh or revamp it, here is a simple and effective idea.
Cover the gardens with mulch. This material will help you with the weed control and will unify the garden spaces in a beautiful and cost-effective way.
10. Garden Bed Around A Tree
If you have trees in your front yard, you can dress them up with garden beds around them. The size of the beds is up to you and the free time you have for practicing your green thumb.
Of course, this can also be solved by applying a layer of mulch or gravel over the soil.
11. Small But Beautiful Front Yard
Even the smallest front yard can be turned into an appealing outdoor area with minimal effort.
Here, the homeowners have decided to go for green and evergreen plants that are long-lasting and easy to grow. There is a tiny bit of area that mimics a lawn and acts also as a sidewalk.
To maintain the garden easily, they have covered the soil with mulch.
12. Expose Structural Plants
Isn’t this front yard attractive and unique? This effect is achieved thanks to the sculptural plants amid the rows of ornamental grasses and green ground covers.
Structural plants add a bold touch and effectively improve the curb appeal. If you want to try this idea, check the following structural plants: Torch Lily, Ruby Falls, Myrtle Spurge, Century Plant, Baccarat Agave, etc. All architectural plants will amaze you with their unique and striking shapes.
13. Front Yard Garden With Annuals
Annual flowers can make the front yard shine. Compared to perennials, they offer brighter colors, versatility in shapes, heights and kinds.
The only advantage is that they last only one season. Anyway, if you are looking for a quick and simple way to refresh your front yard garden, plant annuals in tufts.
14. Terraced Flower Bed Along The Fence
If your home is on a hill, there is still a way to make your odd exterior attractive. The sloped terrain is perfect for a cascading effect in the garden.
This effect can be additionally improved by a certain arrangement of the plant kinds in the garden. Start with the tallest ones closest to the door and continue with plants of descending height. The sloped terrain is also very practical for watering.
15. Add A Colorful Border
Give the boxwood hedge a pop of color by adding a row of colorful plants like the one shown in the idea above.
The tufts of flowers paired with boxwood shrubs create texture and an elegant edging of the house porch.
16. Coleus Garden Bed
When it comes to the plant design of the garden bed, it may be challenging to decide what plants go well together. In such cases, you can consider only one plant kind for the garden bed.
Coleus, for example, is a great choice, because it comes in different foliage colors and that makes the landscape very attractive.
To enhance the interest of this garden area, outline it with a border that suits the style of your exterior.
17. Create A Garden Bed With Perennials
Unlike annual flowers, perennials last for more years and are perfect for a garden that you want to enjoy for a long time. Perennials usually bloom once a year, so it is recommended that you mix more kinds that alternate in their blooming phase so that there is a pop of color during the whole warm part of the year.
Perennial flowers are usually good friends with evergreen shrubs so you can create visual interest in height by surrounding the back side of the garden bed with boxwood, for example.
18. Create A Cottage Garden
For a really simple landscape design, consider creating a cottage garden. Select flowers that are easy to grow, thrive quickly and are different in height. The last will let you create a beautiful pattern.
Cottage gardens usually include trellises or arches that highlight the architecture of the house.
19. Add A Dry Creek
Dry creeks are usually considered for sloped terrains but if you have a dedicated garden bed, you can still make this unique nature-inspired feature using different sizes of rocks and stones.
The largest ones will help you achieve the shape and height of the creek’s beginning. Smaller ones would form the curved creek.
20. Shrub Garden Bed
A garden bed with shrubs is a low-maintenance area in the long term. Another advantage it offers is its impressive natural effect. If you prefer a shrub garden rather than a blooming one, take a look at this inspiring shrub bed.
A Tamukeyama Japanese Maple tree, a Hydrangea shaped as a topiary, ‘Peachberry Ice’ Heucheras in the front enjoy the eyes with their thick and orange colored foliage.
They are backed up by evergreen shrubs, which enhance the contrast.
21. Replace Grass With Ground Covers And Flowers
Ground cover plants are great as an alternative to grass. You can minimize the lawn size and plant more ground covers that are resistant to foot traffic and require little maintenance.
Ground covers are also a great way to cover a garden bed around an old tree that makes too much shade for other plant kinds.
22. Create A Jungle With Layered Greenery
Create a green oasis in your front yard with various plants and shrubs. Layer them in height, texture and green shades for more interest and an elegant visual effect.
You can plant the kinds symmetrically on both sides of the walkway or experiment with the pattern and the final effect. In all cases, layered shrubs and green plants with lush foliage will make the front yard extremely appealing.
23. English Cottage Garden
Most associate English garden style with colors but shapes and textures are also important parts of the landscape.
This landscape design is easy to recreate if you mix plants so that the green shades mix well together and create a continuous lush garden.
24. Decorate For The Season
An easy way to swap the front yard landscape by seasons is to use flower pots. Add spring blooms, then change them for annuals that will cheer the lawn with their bright colors.
When autumn comes, place large pots with mums in front of the door. In the coldest season, you can add two evergreen shrubs on both sides of the entrance for an improved Christmas mood.
25. Cover With Mulch
Black mulch is great for making the front yard landscape more elegant and maintained. Create a garden bed, or two on both sides of the walkway and cover them wth mulch.
A good thing about this soil cover is that there are plenty of plants that prefer the conditions for growth it provides, so you are not limited to the style of the garden bed.
26. Embrace Symmetry
The symmetry of this house and its front yard requires symmetrical landscape design.
Whatever design you go for, it should be repeated on both sides of the walkway.
27. Anchor Vertical Gardening
Create vertical interest at your front door with topiaries or climbing plants. They will act as the final touch of the garden, drawing the eye up.
There are people who like simpler designs and prefer boxwood topiaries. Others, enjoy a layered look created by different plants.
28. Create A Focal Point With A Large Pot
Adding one or more flower pots to the front yard lets you experiment with the textures and colors of the garden flowers. This is also a good way to upgrade an already existing landscape design simply and easily.
In this idea, the flower pot is in the center of the front path. It instantly catches the eye wth the bold and bright colors of the flowers planted in it which differ from the garden colors at both sides of it.
