Fabulous Front Yards!
Front yards are all about first impressions! Landscaping can make a huge difference in how your house is presented and received.
Often times it is not how much landscaping is done, but that the elements that create the landscaping of the front of your house are in the exact right place and are in proportion to the house and its surroundings. I have had numerous clients tell me that the front yard landscaping helped sell their house.
Home Staging Companies
have become successful for just this reason.
They help you present or redesign your home with resale in mind. Again, good first impressions always make a difference!
This house says “hello, come in”! An old walk was removed to make room for a stone walk that brings visitors in at an angle that shows off the front of the house. The stone walls look natural in this wooded setting and finishes off the edge of the driveway. The recessed area is a welcoming entrance to the walkway and is a place to have colorful plantings.
Special considerations need to be taken when working on this aspect of your landscaping. Follow these suggestions to accomplish great results:
- One of the most important things to consider when landscaping the front of your house is that the house is the focal point. Other parts of your home grounds may focus on the view out a window or making a comfortable swimming pool and entertainment area. This is the one part of your property where the house should shine! My philosophy for landscaping the front of the house is to create an overall beautiful scene. There has to be a balance between the landscaping and the architecture. When that balance is met, wow! One should not overpower the other. I do not like to see a landscaping job where all you notice is the landscaping. The reaction I want as a designer is for people to say “What a gorgeous home!”
- You have to compliment and accent the architecture of the house! All too often I see plants that grow too tall and hide important architectural details of a home. To avoid this problem know what the plant’s size is going to be at maturity.
- The front door needs to be visually and physically accessible. When your house is approached by a visitor, it needs to be clear how to get to the front door. This means having a walkway that leads your visitor from a driveway or if in an urban setting a city sidewalk to your front door. Planting should frame the front door which brings the eye to it. Do not block it with trees, not even small flowering trees.
This house could not be more impressive! Not only does it look beautiful from the street and when you approach it, but the driveway easily leads a visitor to the front door. The front door entrance is prominent, yet access is provided on curving walkways that go to the two side doors. The fountain in the center of the driveway becomes a lovely focal point that accents the architecture and gives the property a formal, yet welcoming appearance.
- Driveways are a major element of the front yard. Design them wisely to take visitors easily to the front door. If the
driveway
also goes to the garage, design the driveway so the garage area is the family’s private parking. In most cases, I can design a driveway so the approach focuses on the front door, then carries a car beyond the guest area to the garage.
This house has such nice street appeal that it stands out in its community! The concrete paver driveway is easy to navigate, takes visitors to the front door and gives access to the garage, all in this small space. It works so well and creates an elegant and finished approach to the house. The cobblestone edge keeps the mulch off the driveway and adds a finishing touch. The plant combinations are unique and add color and interest that is different than the neighbors. A white brick house is striking and also such a nice backdrop for plants.
Your house needs to say “welcome”! Landscaping does this for you! Imagine what it would look like without beautiful plants that integrate it with its surroundings. In Virginia our winters are not too severe, so the shrubbery is seen all year. Clients love evergreens for the front yard. The skeleton of my front yard landscape designs consist of evergreen shrubs that may have space forward of them for other types of plants. Depending on each individual situation, I may use a combination of evergreen and deciduous trees away from the house that add shade, color and interest. Trees are the plants that help frame the house and bring your eye to the front door. Stand away from the house and consider the overall area surrounding the house to create the best planting scheme.
Water front homes offer a unique set of circumstances. They have two front yards. When landscaping remember you want to also create a beautiful view of your house to folks cruising by.
Please
contact me
for further information or to talk to me about my design services.
Nancy Dransfield
Landesign of Virginia, Inc.
P.O. Box 15582
Richmond, Virginia 23227
Office: 804-261-6773
Fax: 804-264-7253
E-mail:
n.dransfield@verizon.net
Are you working on improving the street appeal of your house? Want some help? Please
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