17 Front Yard Landscaping Secrets That Boost Curb Appeal (2024)

Add value to your home by increasing curb appeal with attractive, functional front yard landscaping ideas. Opt for traditional front yard landscaping such as foundation shrubs, add a more modern architectural look with specimen plants, or choose a breezy cottage plan. Check out these gorgeous entry gardens to find the secret to putting your best front-yard face forward.

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Walkway Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

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Transform your front walk into a stylish statement by edging it in easy-care plants such as variegated hosta and boxwood. Conjure even more magic by putting a slight curve in the path, giving your walkway a soft, gentle look.

Test Garden Tip

Choose an interesting material to make the trip to your front door even more memorable. Bricks, flagstone, and pavers all lend more charm than traditional cement.

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Fill Your Yard with Flowers

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Planting colorful bloomers is a surefire way to make your yard feel more welcoming. Use bold, bright hues to create a significant impact even if you don't have a lot of space. A cottage-style plan can include various perennials in a small yard.

Test Garden Tip

Check your municipality's rules for planting on the parking strip (that patch of ground between the street and the sidewalk). Some communities may have restrictions on how tall plants can be or how far away you should plant from a fire hydrant.

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Leave Space to Entertain

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Another great front yard landscaping idea that feels welcoming is adding a patio. As with the front porches of days gone by, you can sit back and wave to neighbors while enjoying a cold glass of lemonade on a summer evening.

Test Garden Tip

Decorate your front yard patio with a skirt of flowers or a small hedge to help it seem more intimate and enclosed— without making an unfriendly barrier.

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Beautify a Slope

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Grassy slopes can be hard to maintain, so a front yard landscaping idea for a hilly property is to turn it into a beautiful display of foliage and flowers. Keep it easy to care for by covering the slope with your favorite plants. The plantings rising to the house make it appear grander.

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5 Easy Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

Try these tricks to boost your front yard landscape in no time.

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Let Nature be Your Guide

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Embrace nature's instincts in your yard simply by following its lead. Select plants and other landscape materials native to your region. The birds and butterflies your front yard attracts will enchant you and your guests.

Test Garden Tip

Incorporate a birdbath or bird feeder in your yard to attract even more birds.

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Green Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

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Plant a variety of evergreens to keep your yard looking classically beautiful through all the seasons. Choose from groundcovers, dwarf shrubs, and large trees. Plus, evergreen foliage offers a wealth of textures and colors.

Test Garden Tip

Be sure to select evergreens that mature at the size you want, so your yard won't end up an overgrown mess.

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Create a Buffer

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Pack a small front yard with medium-sized plants to help shield the home from street noise. Growing a variety of plants makes the yard look larger by giving your eye more textures, colors, and shapes.

Test Garden Tip

Spend time looking out from your windows as you design. That way, you will enjoy the view looking out as much as passersby enjoy looking into the garden.

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Use Containers

A container garden provides a riot of color even if your front yard is primarily paved. A handful of large pots filled with bright or fragrant flowers transforms your front landscape into a work of art.

Test Garden Tip

Install a simple drip irrigation system to make containers easier to maintain.

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Break It Up

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Many homeowners think of their front yard as one band of land between the sidewalk and the home. However, you can make landscape magic by breaking it up with perpendicular plantings. A curved border, for example, adds a note of grace and elegance.

Test Garden Tip

If you have an unattractive driveway, use a border such as this to partially hide it from view.

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Use Space Smartly

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Small city properties aren't limited to foundation shrubs and postage-stamp lawns. The front yard landscaping idea here features a layered look with a variety of sizes and shapes for an eye-catching landscape.

Test Garden Tip

Repeat an element to bring continuity to the design and keep the landscape from looking helter-skelter.

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Emphasize the Entry

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Lacking height or grand proportions, small ranch-style homes can sometimes be lost in the shuffle. However, good landscaping gets them noticed. For example, use an ornamental arbor or fence to call attention to the house and mark the entrance.

Test Garden Tip

White structures stand out even more against colorful flowers and a nonwhite home.

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Blend Nature and Art

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Blend natural and artificial elements to give your yard an established, comfortable look. For example, place boulders near the path and use groundcovers such as pachysandra. Flowering shrubs, such as azalea, rhododendron, and pieris, soften the look of the stone.

Test Garden Tip

Look for features from your home to guide your design. Small trees can echo pillars on a porch, for example, or use a water feature based on the shape of one of your home's architectural elements.

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Play Up the Drama

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Select bold elements that call attention to themselves to help your landscape make a statement. For example, spiral-pruned junipers flanking the front walk create a sense of grandeur and formality.

Test Garden Tip

Be sure your house fits in with the drama you build in your landscape. The example shown here might have been overpowered if not for the bright blue front door.

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Plant a Tapestry

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Elements of your home sometimes provide clues about where to take the landscaping. In this case, the intricate brick-and-stone detailing calls for a similarly decorative landscape. The lines of the low boxwood hedge echo the architecture of the porch and lend an air of formality.

Test Garden Tip

Play off colors, as well. Try a garden that contains the same colors as your home—or create contrast by going to the opposite side of the color wheel.

Front Yard Landscaping Ideas to Boost Your Home's Curb Appeal

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Create a Fork

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Give guests an enticement to walk through your garden by splitting your path. That way, more sections of your landscape are accessible for inspection.

Test Garden Tip

Be sure to include some fragrant varieties to add to your landscape's sensory appeal.

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More Great Ways to Boost Curb Appeal

Watch for high-impact ways to make your landscape the best on the block!

17 Front Yard Landscaping Secrets That Boost Curb Appeal (2024)

FAQs

How can I make my front yard garden look nice? ›

Use a large container as a focal point. Add color with baskets, a window box, flower beds, a bird bath, or other decorative touches for visual interest. Create a welcoming entrance. The front door is the centerpiece of your front yard, marking the transition from outdoors to the inside of your home.

What landscaping adds most value? ›

10 Lawn, Landscape Features That Increase Home Value
  • Tidy garden. ...
  • Landscaped pathway. ...
  • Lighting. ...
  • Fresh mulch. ...
  • All-season deck/outdoor kitchen. ...
  • Pop of color through container plants, garden bed. ...
  • Automated irrigation system. ...
  • Professional landscape design.
Sep 20, 2023

How do I make my landscaping look professional? ›

Layer for Height and Contrast

Using plants of different heights is one of the best ways to get a professional look. Two layers could work, but ideally, you want three. You can use taller and broader evergreens to create a backdrop and will still have room for planting bushes, such as some mid-sized flowering shrubs.

How do I landscape my front yard on a budget? ›

Keep Things Contained. Instead of planting out an entire yard, you can save thousands by using planted containers and pots. In drier regions, use rock, sand, or pebbles as a landscape filler and use groupings of containers to add splashes of color and flare.

What color has best curb appeal? ›

Blue-gray

While there are various shades, the best blue-grays to help sell a house are pastel colors with gray undertones. In contrast to darker options, these have a lighter, softer appearance, which can keep the appeal of your home broad and make it feel welcoming.

How can I improve my kerb appeal UK? ›

Ways to improve your property's kerb appeal:
  1. Refresh your door colour. Your front door is one of the main features of your home that buyers will see first. ...
  2. Spruce up your fence. ...
  3. Tidy up the lawn. ...
  4. Clean the path and driveway. ...
  5. Create feature lighting. ...
  6. Spruce up the windows and frames. ...
  7. Gutters and roofing. ...
  8. Brighten things up.

What are the best plants for front yard? ›

Notable trios for a small front garden include: Allium 'Purple Sensation', Stipa tenuissima and English lavender; shrubby Rosa glauca, silvery artichokes and hardy geraniums; or a deep red rose with pink Geranium psilostemon and an underplanting of golden marjoram.

What decreases property value the most? ›

It's best to be aware of what hurts property value so you can protect your home and get the most ROI when it comes time to sell.
  • 1) DIY projects gone wrong. ...
  • 3) Unsightly interior wall paint. ...
  • 4) Lack of upkeep. ...
  • 5) Carpet everywhere. ...
  • 6) Excessive clutter. ...
  • 7) Unpleasant smells.
Oct 19, 2023

What makes a successful landscape? ›

An effective landscaping scheme is, first and foremost, an attractive and visually appealing one. Because your landscaping is often the first thing customers see from your business, you want to make sure everything looks well together and speaks to your overall tone as a business.

Should you spend money on landscaping? ›

Landscaping can add tremendous value to your home. It not only adds entertainment value, allowing you to enjoy your property more, but it also adds tangible value to your resale value. Knowing this, you don't want to skimp on your landscaping budget. But you also might have no clue what you can expect to spend.

How do I fix my uneven front yard? ›

Step-by-step guide: Step 1: Prepare your topsoil mixture by combining equal parts of topsoil and sand. Step 2: Spread the prepared soil mix over the divots and sunken areas in your lawn. Step 3: Use a shovel to remove excess soil and create a level surface for high spots or bumps.

What type of maintenance keeps the property looking good with good curb appeal? ›

Pressure Wash or Replace Your Siding

Depending on the type of siding you have, you can refresh your home's curb appeal by pressure washing, repainting, or replacing your siding. Refreshing your home's siding by power washing is a great way to breathe new life into a tired-looking exterior.

How can I update my front yard? ›

Renew Your Landscaping

Trim your hedges, water your lawn, sweep the leaves off your front porch, and if your home needs some trees, plants, and flowers, enlist the services of a landscape designer or landscaping company to help you come up with a plan that works with your climate and the architecture of your home.

How can I make my house exterior look expensive? ›

  1. Add Exterior Window Shutters. ...
  2. Replace Front Door Hardware And Lights With Modern Fixtures. ...
  3. Upgrade Or Add A New Address Marker. ...
  4. Install Soft Lighting Along The Entryway And Walkway With Modern Fixtures. ...
  5. Revive your lawn with new grass or a fresh mow. ...
  6. Replace Or Paint Your Garage Door.
May 30, 2023

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