Tasty Front Yard Landscaping Ideas
For Your Front Yard Edible Gardens

When it comes to front yard landscaping ideas, many people draw a blank. It can be intimidating to think that everyone will see what you've made. And so people make their front yard like everyone else's, all up and down the block.

We're going to break free from that! Not only will our front yard landscape ideas be edible, but new and stylish as well.

Let's do a little exercise ... walk up and down your street one day and look what other people have done with their front yards. (Most of these front yard landscaping ideas will have been installed by professional landscapers, by the way.)

Which do you like the best? What stands out in a good way and what stands out in a bad way?

Take notes about what you saw:

• Were there any nice color combinations?
  
• Which homes made you feel welcome?
  
• Were there any front yard landscaping ideas you saw that you know you don't want?

Now stand out by your mailbox and really look at your front yard. Take pictures. Look at it from the street, the driveway, and the walkway, as if you were visiting for the first time.

Here are some things to look for and some front yard landscaping ideas to go with them:

Are parts of the yard worn down by people tracking over the lawn? Consider adding a walkway or stepping stones along there, or change your current walkways to fit the real traffic flow of your landscaping.

• Are there areas of standing water in your yard after storms? These might be good areas for ponds or other water features, or great areas to place edible plants that need extra water.
  

The alternative might be to fill those areas in to make them level with the rest of the yard.

• Do you need to change anything about your driveway? Build one, tear part of it out, expand it, seal or clean it, fix it? Now's the time!

(If you don't have contractors you use on a regular basis, you really should learn more about Angie's List, which gives you unbiased reviews of local contractors.)

• How about the strips of land next to or up the middle of the driveway? Often these are barren and boring, too hot or with poor soil. Plant low-set, heat-loving edible landscaping plants that need little care (like creeping thyme) on these strips to improve your yard's look.
• Are there other areas of the yard that are too hot? Planting a tree on the south side of the yard (or north, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere) can change your family's whole summer experience.
• In cases of too much shade, pruning or removing the offending tree may open up a whole new area of your yard.
  

• Do you have a strip of land that you maintain on the street side of your sidewalk? (some people call this the "hellstrip") Look for worn areas, poor soil, or other issues that you can address.
  

Remember, the city often owns this area, so make sure you check city codes before starting.

• Look at your current plantings, especially along the foundation. Do you really like them, or are they just things left there by a previous owner? Sometimes pruning or shaping an overgrown or unsightly plant is all that's needed. If that doesn't do the job, you can always dig it up and exchange it for something else.
• Invite someone over who hasn't been there before and, from inside your house, watch the path they take. Is it easy for guests to get to your front door? Are there clues as to where the front door even is?

• Look at your front porch and front door. Do they need repainting? Is it time to replace your door mat to fit your new front yard?
• Is there anything about your home that you want to hide? Anything that you'd like to draw attention to?
  

Remember, you must allow room for workers to safely access utility boxes, water mains, and other necessary (but sometimes unsightly) fixtures. Hide these from the street if you like, but save the spiky or thorny plants for a different area of the yard.

• How does being in your front yard make you feel? How would you like to feel? Focus your front yard landscaping ideas on what feels right for you and your family.

Another place to see many front yard landscaping ideas is in home magazines. While you can't significantly change your existing house, you can adapt what others have done to fit your home.

Try these garden style design sheets from LandscapingNetwork.com, which have a lot of good landscape design ideas for many different home and garden styles. (Just be aware that most of their plant recommendations are not edible!)

Specific front yard landscaping ideas

• How about a theme garden? Some popular themes: desert plants, tropical plants, rose garden, herb garden, "country" garden, or a garden in a specific color or set of colors.

• If you don't have a front porch, could you create one? Building a covered porch in front of your home is one option, using awnings is another, or you could create a small "porch" area using hedges, fencing, or by placing a gazebo or pergola to one side of the house, accessible perhaps by a garden gate.

• Garden features such as small bridges (to cross swales, creeks, or areas where water always accumulates), bird baths, and lanterns are great for the front yard too! Make sure they're placed in natural traffic spots so they can be seen and used regularly.
• A seasonal garden can be gorgeous if you plan it right, with brilliant displays that change depending on the season: bright spring flowers, a different set of (perhaps more intensely toned) summer flowers, fall foliage and winter evergreens.

• Consider special plantings at the entrance to your driveway, near your mailbox, at the start of your walkways, and around the front of your home (especially near the front door). These are places that people first encounter when they visit your property: make them look their best.

You don't want to overdo. Too many different front yard landscaping ideas put together can end up looking cluttered and messy. So keep your design simple and elegant. But don't be afraid to do something different!

More ideas and inspiration can be found at exterior home improvement ideas. (opens a new window)

Would you like to learn more front yard landscaping ideas, share your ideas, and discuss how to do edible landscaping in the front yard?

Join the Tasteful Landscape community, a free email list for people who love edible landscaping as much as you do. Just fill in the form and follow the instructions:

What would you like to read about now? Here are some popular pages:

Flower gardens - Garden hedges - Perennial gardens

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