7 Landscape Design Secrets to a Great Front Yard

Here are 7 landscape design tips that almost every front yard can use to improve your home’s curb appeal. These tips will give you some ideas on where to start with your front yard landscape.

1. Clear path to front door. This landscape design tip will immensely increase curb appeal. It will make your home look more inviting and welcoming by making the front door obvious. Its best to avoid blocking the front door with large plants. A house where the front door is not visible from the street can feel hostile and uninviting.
2. Separate shrubs into shrub beds with edging or clean line. Do not just plant plants and shrubs out in the grass. Not only is this a maintenance nightmare it just won’t give your yard the shape and structure it needs.
3. Repetition – Be sure to repeat. Too often you go to the nursery and choose one of this one of that and one of the other. What you need to do is choose 3 of this, 3 of that. Use odd numbers and plant in groups of odd numbers (3, 5, 7). So if you have a larger yard use groups of 5 or 7 etc. This is one of the most important landscape design tips to follow.
4. Add Mulch to Your shrub Beds. Use mulch! Mulch reduces maintenance and it gives your yard a nice finished look. The rich dark soil nourishes the plants and prevents weeds. Mulch also helps to retain moisture, prevent soil erosion, control weeds and it adds nutrients to the soil.
5. Add Focal Points. A focal point is usually a small tree (or medium tree) with a unique shape, color or texture. It is meant to stand out from its surroundings. This is a weeping Elm. This is a Rose of Sharon. This is a Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar. This is a flowering plum. Choose views in your yard, for example the front door is a natural focal point already. If possible, reinforce it with another focal point tree (but do not block the front door). Another place might be the far corner of your ward. Make a path for the eye by placing focal points throughout your yard. If you have a symmetrical house or landscape consider planting two small focal point trees and placing them on either side of the entry path. For more landscape design tips on using focal points see this article.
6. Create a shrub Border to define your yard and frame your house. Use shrub beds to surround your yard like you would you use walls in your home. Medium or large trees can be place to frame your house from the tree.
7. Rocks that look cluttered. Avoid rocks that are too small and can look cluttered. Avoid rock borders where the rocks are small and don’t match. Not only will it look cluttered but these small rock borders create a maintenance issue.