Welcome guests with front yard plantings that complement your home. Include blooming plants to create an eye-catching display right outside your door that makes coming home a treat. Typically, entry gardens include a mix of foundation plantings, walkway beds and driveway borders. Spice up these practical, needful gardens with clever design elements to make your yard the talk of the block.
Foundation plantings anchor your home to the surrounding landscape and ease the transition from structure to lawn. Fill foundation beds with plants featuring different colors and textures, and arrange them in layers to create a sense of depth. Always research and position plants based on mature size so they have adequate room to spread, which saves you endless pruning down the road.
Incorporate curving bed edges to soften hard angles between sidewalks, driveways and your house. Test-drive any proposed curves with your mower before actually forming flower beds. Make sure curves and corners are easy to maneuver.
For guaranteed good looks, follow classic design principles when designing front yard flower beds. For instance, arrange flowering plants by height, with tallest bloomers in the back of beds viewed from one side or in the center of beds viewed from all sides. Don’t place too-tall flowers in front of windows to avoid blocking the view. Keep walkways skirted with knee-high or shorter bloomers to ensure sprawling plants don’t present an obstacle course.
Avoid a stand-alone driveway edging bed, which draws attention toward your drive and garage. Instead, connect a driveway bed with a foundation bed. This beckons the eye to wander along plantings toward your front door.
Design front yard planting beds to usher eyes toward your front door. Flowers play a strong role in this by providing pops of color that the eye naturally spots and follows. Repeat a hue throughout front yard flower beds and even on porch planters or hanging baskets and you’ll subtly direct the eye. Choose that hue based on accent colors on your home, and your plantings will blend artfully with your home’s exterior.