
Everything in this slideshow
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Zen Oasis
Take a chill in this peaceful, Asian-inspired garden.
- Hardscape elements reinforce the style — and keep down the maintenance — of a garden. A restrained wooden fence with a minimalist detail at the top emphasizes the Asian influences in this garden.
- Carefully selected varieties reinforce the clean lines of this garden. Bonus? Fewer plants also equal less daily tending of the garden.
- Mulch isn’t finicky, retains water, and keeps down weeds, which reduces the need for upkeep.
- Once established, evergreens, including the mid-height versions at the back of the fence and the dwarf varieties closer to the pathway, tend to need very little regular care.
- Front-Yard Landscaping Tip: In place of hard-to-please plants, garden ornaments fill in gaps in a landscape, as this graceful statue does. That’s a great solution for front yard landscaping.
- Learn how to create a water-wise front yard.
- Find more drought-tolerant ideas.
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Video: Front Yard Design Tips
See five secrets to a gorgeous front yard landscape, as well as inspiration for your front yard landscaping project.
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Grand and Graceful
Shrubs and trees combine for a striking, expansive back or front yard landscaping.
- A smattering of river rock provides an informal but distinct edging between garden bed and lawn.
- Gracefully arching shrubs such as willow and cryptomeria keep the garden’s vibe distinctly low-key.
- Reliable shrubs and trees can provide more than just a basic green color palette; here, vibrant autumnal tones liven up the landscape.
- An investment in trees and shrubs pays off in more ways than just landscape interest: The two also offer visual interest during wintertime when perennials have died back.
- Front Yard Design Tip: Shrubs such as willow can be formally shaped, or left to grow at will, eliminating the need for constant trimming.
- Dress up your front yard with a mailbox garden.
- Discover more front yard landscape secrets.
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Brilliant Canvas
Vibrant colors belie the ease of care behind the plants in this front yard landscaping.
- Ornamental grasses such as Japanese forest grass are steadfast when it comes to low-care gardens. They offer amazing foliage, need little handholding, and withstand harsh weather.
- A flagstone path — which requires no care except a good sweep — flows from one end to the other of the narrow side yard.
- To create a truly low-maintenance garden, limit plants to those that need little TLC and can take the conditions of the space’s microclimate, such as these coral bells.
- After the first year or two, large deciduous trees, such as this maple, offer structure without demanding garden addition.
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5 Front Yard Landscaping Secrets
Follow these five tips for your best front yard ever.
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A Little Nook in the Woods
Carved out in a corner, this landscaping idea for a front yard garden showcases fuss-free plants and trees.
- Larger plants and trees occupy more space in a garden, effectively decreasing the number of plants needed to fill a space. Here, a white pine dominates against a wooden fence.
- Transitioning between tall plants and groundcovers is essential for any landscape, and low-maintenance gardens are no different. A globe blue spruce bridges the divide between path and trees behind it.
- Choose accents that involve little effort, too, such as solar-powered landscape lighting.
- A mostly monochromatic color palette is soothing to the eye and easy to create for nearly any gardener.
- Landscaping Tip: Lungwort and ferns offer hardy growth patterns with little TLC.
- See ideas for the backyard.
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Bountiful Bed
A congenial grouping of perennials and annuals dresses up a narrow flowerbed in this landscape idea for a front yard.
- Easy-care doesn’t mean boring. If you reserve your garden efforts for a few extra touches, you can make a distinct impact, such as adding canna or other heat-resistant, summer-flowering bulbs.
- Annuals provide pops of color during the summer without having to worry about prepping the plants for winter. Begonia and lantana both fit the bill in this narrower bed.
- — Structural plants such as ornamental grasses provide a play of color and maintain visual interest during autumn and fall.
- Maintenance is easier with garden beds that are accessible from both sides. Otherwise, add pavers through the bed at regular intervals to make weeding and deadheading easier.
- A defined edge that uses materials (even simple rubber tubing) to prevent grass and weeds from entering the garden bed can save hours of tending.
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The Grass Is Greener
A front yard landscaping nook relies on a soothing and low-key setup.
- While the lines and shapes of plants offer visual interest, hardscape materials provide a decorative element, as evidenced in the curving edge of this gravel walk.
- Multiple materials supply varied layers in a landscape; try mixing a solid-surface with loose gravel.
- In place of plants that overwhelm with color, two sleekly-styled chairs and accent pillows offer a focal point.
- Striking leaves from canna and New Zealand flax pop against the otherwise green plants.
- Plant and go: That’s one of the primary reasons to love ornamental grasses and sedges, including sedge; they grow vigorously in summer and maintain their shape during winter.
- Get ideas for small front yards.
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Beyond the Garden Gate
A front yard landscaping full of grass may seem like less effort than adding ornamental plantings, but this pretty yard proves otherwise.
- Research is important when it comes to plant selection; choose hardy varieties that won’t mind being close to heavily-trafficked areas, such as these daylilies lining the sidewalk.
- Containers add bright pops of color, and, if the blooms fade, plants can easily be replaced with another round of annuals.
- A fence provides a tidy border between the single row of daylilies and more diverse plantings closer to the house.
- A lush, planted front yard requires less care over the long term than lawn. No weekly mowing!
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Pebbles and Plantings
This landscape idea for a front yard relies on no-fuss design and pretty plant accents.
- Dark gray pebbles surround paving stones for a no-mow, easy-care landscape accent.
- A series of irregularly placed, large-scale pavers offers a minimalist path.
- Instead of relying on edging such as mulch that needs to be replaced every season, slim stones provide a solid boundary.
- Large swaths of a few carefully selected native plants such as coneflower, liatris, and black-eyed Susan, as well as ornamental grass keep the planting uncomplicated.
- Front Yard Landscaping Tip: Conifers at the back edge of the yard offer year-round color and visual interest.
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How To Tie Your Front and Back Yards Together
Learn easy ways to create a cohesive look with your landscaping.
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