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Landscaping front yards have special planning considerations.

No matter the size of your front yard or the reasons behind wanting or in some cases NEEDING to landscape, front yards usually have different planning requirements than other, more private areas of your garden.

First, the front yard is typically more open, making it easier for visitors to find their way to your front door. You must also consider that landscaping front yard designs should incorporate certain safety factors, guarding against intruders.

The style you choose may be a factor as well. For example, if you have a large front yard in the cottage garden style, this may affect access adversely, both for guests and intruders. A more open plan may be a better choice, but this doesn’t preclude using privacy screens or shrubbery to achieve both objectives of privacy, safety and good looks.

Let’s take a look at some design techniques you can use to create your ideal front yard landscaping.

If you might be selling your home in just a few years, you’re wise to heed that old real estate adage on ‘curb appeal’. When selling a home, the front yard landscaping is what prospective buyers see first.

This truly can make or break the sale. A well manicured front yard makes that buyer more enthusiastic about your home before they ever enter. In this case, you might want to give this factor some weight.

When you’re landscaping front yards, you want to scale your garden design to the size of the front yard. For example, a small front yard is overwhelmed with a single large tree as the main focus, causing the front yard to appear smaller, as well as awkward. Consult plant catalogs and gardening encyclopedias to find plants which are suited to the size of your front yard.

Before you settle on a specific style, browse the home and garden magazines to pick out plants and design features which you find appealing. Compile a portfolio of these various features, including lighting, trellises, pathway materials, edgings and statuary – whatever catches your eye.

Ultimately, you probably won’t use all of these, but this technique helps you focus and directs you to a style that suits all of your objectives.

A large front lawn, with green stretching from the street to your front door, edged with a curving flower bed next to a brick pathway, is perhaps the most open of landscaping front yard designs, but not the most interesting.

Consider breaking up the space with some well placed patio trees, which still allow easy access, but don’t give a direct line of sight to your front door. Back lighting and down lighting around these trees serves two purposes: safety against intruders and an element of drama.

A good compromise on landscaping front yard designs is to begin with an open look – on paper or with software – and address privacy and interest concerns as your design develops. Let’s say you love that big expanse of green lawn. Why not divide it in two, with flower beds at the perimeters which are broken up with a grouping of ornamental grasses close to the entryway?

When choosing candidates for the flower beds, think about seasonal color. Interplanting spring bulbs with later blooming annuals and perennials can provide three seasons of color. Look for winter color in ornamental grasses and plants like Cottoneaster, with bright red berries in the dead of winter.

Lighting is an essential consideration when landscaping front yards, particularly along pathways, steps, porches and decks. You want these areas to be well lighted. Solar lighting is an inexpensive and attractive way to accomplish this.

Landscaping front yards requires careful planning. Follow these guidelines, and settle on all of your design components before you start digging. You’ll have a lovely front yard!

For more information on landscaping, check out these great links from our friends over at Our Backyard Oasis!

How To Redo A Front Yard After A Severe Water Disaster

How To Create A Moveable Garden

Patios have always been popular in America and beyond. Especially in the warmer regions of the West and southern states, like Florida.

The purpose of a home patio is a place to gather with friends and family in a relaxing and comfortable environment. There are probably as many patio landscaping ideas as there are patios. The best patio landscaping ideas are inspired by your own imagination. The design depends on many aspects of course.

The main thing to consider is making comfortable and appealing, your very own getaway spot in the garden, one that serves your purposes and lifestyle.

To get started, thumb through some of the top rated garden design magazines. By doing this you’re sure to notice certain features of different patio designs that you really love. Perhaps a certain type of patio lighting will be just the thing to make your patio come to life!

You might see a certain style of paving stones that create just the right focus you want for your patio.  Look for home and garden guides online or magazines that have a directory that gives product manufacturers and details telling you where you can purchase certain item.

If the magazine doesn’t give the information you should still tear out that page and start a folder that you can take with you to various vendors, who can help you match up with the right product for your needs.

Now that you have a sense of the look for your patio, it’s time for more practical considerations.

The functional aspect of your patio landscaping ideas plays a big part in how happy you’ll be with your final design. If it looks like it belongs in a magazine, but doesn’t suit your lifestyle, it doesn’t work.

For example, if you love to entertain, you’ll want to consider the style and placement of patio furniture, including a dining table large enough to accommodate your family and guests.

If you enjoy the backyard barbecues you may want to consider a design that includes an area just for that. Maybe you’re looking for patio landscaping ideas that offer more privacy, with the patio serving as a little getaway spot when you want to kick back with a cold drink and a good book, in this case your patio furnishings might consist of a couple of chaise lounges and a small fire pit.

The patio should also provide some shade for those hot summer afternoons. If there are no mature trees in your location, you might want to construct or purchase an awning or arbor structure.

Plants indisputably bring the patio setting to life, creating a softening effect to an otherwise bare patio. Hanging plants can be filled with bright summer annuals and replanted each spring. If your patio landscaping ideas lean towards the function of a retreat, you might want to partially surround the patio with planter boxes.

Perennials can be a good choice, as they come back on their own each year and are less maintenance intensive than annuals. You might also enjoy a partial surround of ornamental grasses, both as a windbreak and for the soothing effect of the rustling grasses in the breeze. Many of these look spectacular in winter. Pots of bulbs on the patio makes a splendid spring flower display.

In conclusion…as you can see there’s no limit to the best patio landscaping ideas. Choose those that inspire you to spend many happy hours, enjoying your little piece of heaven.

Related information:

Check out our friends over at Backyard Oasis for some Colorful Patio Plant Designs

Garden Seat/Table Plans
Simple blueprints of a unique
combo garden seat table for your patio.