15 Great Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

Creating the perfect front yard can increase the curb appeal of your home, possibly even increasing its value. 

How do you design an attractive and functional front yard? In this article, we will cover the seven principles of designs as well as 15 front yard landscaping ideas. 

7 Principles of Design 

Before getting started, you need to understand the basic principles of design. When you go into the project with these ideas in mind, you are sure to enjoy your new front yard. 

Balance

Balance refers to having the same amount of visual impact on both sides of your yard. You can make things perfectly symmetrical or opt for an asymmetrical look. 

In order to keep things balanced, you should analyze your front yard’s space and plan accordingly. 

Do you need a site plan of your front yard to keep things symmetrical? Learn more about My Site Plan and how they can help you upgrade the look of your front yard. 

Emphasis

You need an area of focus in the yard, known as emphasis. Some people choose a large tree or a specific type of flower. 

Proportion

You need to create an appropriate proportion among the different elements in your yard so that one doesn’t overshadow the others.

Unity

Unity refers to the way that the different aspects of your landscaping design come together to create the larger picture. 

Every single piece needs to contribute to the overall portrait. You also want to ensure that everything fits well when the house is included in the greater snapshot. 

Sequence

You need things to move smoothly when you look at the design in a sequence. It needs to take you on a visual journey from start to end, like a story. 

Simplicity 

Some people decide to overflood their front yard design with an overwhelming amount of things to look at. Instead, keep things simple and clean-looking. 

Variety

Simplicity doesn’t mean boring. You should still add variety so that your eyes travel from one unique plant or water feature to something else. 

Related Link: Site Plan: Everything You Need to Know in 2021

15 Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

Do you want to create an attractive front yard? Try these 15 front yard landscaping ideas that will take your yard from drab to fabulous. 

1. Fill Out the Grass

You want full, green grass. This means that you will need to plant grass in areas that require it. Find out the grass you currently grow in your yard. Find out if this grass grows well in your area. If it does, buy grass seeds and fill out the thin spots. If the grass doesn’t grow well in your area, plant new grass that does. 

If you still have bare patches, get creative. You can put something else in that area, such as a different plant or a garden gnome. 

2. Install Rock Features

Consider rock features in areas that don’t support grass growth. Attractive rocks look much better than patches of dirt. They also don’t cost very much, usually only as high as $50. 

3. Upgrade Mailbox

Your mailbox offers you the opportunity to enhance the appearance of your home. Instead of going for a novelty mailbox, pick a high quality one that matches the theme of your yard. You can also grow flowers around it. 

4. Grow Flowers Around Trees

Similarly to growing flowers around the mailbox, you can grow flowers around trees to enhance the appearance. Of course, you need to grow flowers that can grow among the tree’s roots and grow under shady conditions. 

Some common plants to grow under trees include:

• Wild violets
• Periwinkle
• Hosta
• Cylamen
• Bellflower
• Daffodils

5. Create Shade

People like a nice, shady location to enjoy the yard on hot days, and they like shade to prevent sun from getting inside. 

One of the easiest ways to create shade in your yard is to plant a large tree. However, most trees take years to grow, causing homeowners to look into other options. 

For a place to enjoy the yard with protection from the sun, consider installing a large umbrella or canopy above a bench. You may even put a gazebo in the yard. 

6. Buy Birdbath

Birdbaths look great, and they also encourage gorgeous birds to naturally enhance the beauty of your front yard with their majestic colors and uplifting songs. Add a birdbath to your front yard. 

You can choose between a birdbath with moving water or one with still water. Moving water attracts more birds and provides a comforting sound, but it requires more maintenance. Still bird baths don’t work as well, but they don’t require a lot of work on your part. 

7. Replace Mulch 

Some spots in your front yard will use mulch. In these areas, you need to replace the mulch regularly to ensure it looks good. 

Mulch can go bad when it becomes drenched in water and sits for too long. You should replace the mulch every year, especially if you live in an area with heavy rains or high humidity levels. 

8. Plant Shrubs

Shrubs are a type of plant, similar to a bush, that makes a statement. There are a number of different shrubs available, so how do you know what type of shrub to plant in your yard? 

You want something low maintenance and beautiful. You also want something that won’t grow so large that it overpowers the rest of your yard. 

Some of the most popular shrubs to plant include:

• Yew
• Azaleas
• Boxwood
• Hydrangea
• Camellia

9. Light Up the Yard

Lighting can make your front yard look bright, even on dreary days, and it can deter intruders from entering your property. You need to install lights in the front yard. 

You can put lights up and down different walkways, and you can put lights around your favorite features in the yard. 

Related Link: 10 Best Backyard Work Spaces

10. Choose Aesthetically Pleasing Fencing 

The fencing is another item that not only contributes to security but also the overall appearance of the front yard. 

You have a number of different options when it comes to fencing, including: 

• Wood fence
• White-picket fence (PVC or vinyl)
• Chain link fence
• Bamboo fence
• Aluminum fence

Each fence has different advantages and disadvantages. Of course, you want to select a fence that will compliment your design aesthetic while also providing the security you want. 

11. Place Benches

Part of enjoying a beautiful front yard involves having a place to sit down. For that reason, you need to place benches strategically throughout the front yard. 

Place the benches in areas that provide a gorgeous view (and maybe even a photo op). You also want to place the bench in a comfortable area without too much sunshine. 

12. Enhance Garden Borders

Make your flower beds look their best by upgrading the borders to your flower gardens. Install stone other material to upgrade the look simply and provide plenty of support. 

13. Plant Attractive Flowers

You naturally want to plant beautiful flowers that don’t show up in every garden on the block. Of course, the beauty of different flowers can be subjective. However, you can’t go wrong with certain flowers. 

Some of the most beautiful flowers to attempt to grow in your front yard include:

• Water lilies
• Cherry blossoms 
• Bird of paradise 
• Lotu
• Tulips
• Roses
• Bleeding heart

14. Insert Walkway 

A beautiful walkway will enhance any front yard and provide a convenient place for people to walk through the yard. The walkway should provide a direct route to the front door as well as a route to the back door. 

Some of the most popular options for front yard walkways include:

• Stone
• Cement
• Gravel
• Brick
• Wood

15. Place Thematic Lawn Decorations

Show a little personality by incorporating a bit of a theme into the front yard, such as Alice in Wonderland, Magical Forest, or Paris. 

Once you pick a theme, you can buy lawn decorations that enhance the theme. For example, a fairie statue can fit into a Magical Forest theme. 

Of course, you want to keep lawn decorations with the confines of your gates to ensure that no one will take them. 

My Site Plan

At Veteran-owned My Site Plan, we provide detailed site plans of your yard to help you plan landscaping from a bird’s eye point of view. 

Additional My Site Plan services include:

• Real estate marketing
• 3-D Design
• Floor plans

We make landscaping and home renovations easy, especially when you want to prepare your home for the market. 

Do you want to get a site plan of your yard to upgrade the landscaping design? Contact My Site Plan today to start the process. 

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