The front yard is a special place in the landscape which provides a feeling of welcome for your guests. In order to achieve this feeling, the landscape should have a few standard features as well as your own personal touch. These changes are designed to make your home feel like the place to be. As you think about your curb appeal and your home’s sense of welcome, your landscape contractor will likely suggest these ideas for your front yard in Blandon, PA.
Downsize the Lawn
Your lawn likely provides a great amount of visual beauty and aesthetics for your front yard and the home. However, it doesn’t need to take up the entire space. As you do a redesign your front yard, consider downsizing the lawn to make room for more dynamic features. These could include more contemporary foundation plantings (instead of a few boxwoods jammed up against the house, modern foundation plantings extend outward to create a beautiful transitional space between the home and the landscape).
A Water Feature
Part of creating a relaxing feeling at the approach to your home is incorporating something beautiful to look at and to listen to. A water feature such as a fountain will provide plenty of sounds and visuals that will create that relaxing feeling. Depending on the intensity of the water flow you choose, a water feature could either promote a zen-like atmosphere, an exciting show, or anything in between. Fountains come in an incredible range of styles and sizes to fit your design aesthetic and the available space. It’s a simple touch that adds serenity and elegance to the front entry.
A Bench with a View
Even though much of the front yard serves as an intermediary between your home and the outside world, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take advantage of the sights - or encourage people to slow the pace of life as they approach your front door. Place a bench or two facing the street (or a particularly beautiful view). You may even come to love this place as a perfect spot to have your morning coffee or watch the sun set, while your front yard becomes more interactive with the neighborhood. Simply placing a bench near your front entry signals everyone that your home is a place to sit down and relax.
Combined Lighting Strategies
As with many other parts of your landscape, the lighting design of your front yard should be focused on safety. The front walkway and the driveway in particular need to be illuminated to make a safe environment for anybody walking or driving. The perimeter of your walkway and driveway should be illuminated using ground-focused lights which focus their energy at the ground, keeping light energy away from eye contact and creating a more appealing atmosphere that doesn’t light up the whole neighborhood or cast harsh shadows. Elsewhere in your front yard, layer your lighting design to create a visually interesting environment. Various lighting strategies could include spotlighting, moonlighting, backsplashing, or silhouetting.
Prioritize Native Plant Life
Keeping the plants in your landscape healthy and looking beautiful can require a great deal of maintenance if you don’t have the right plants to deal with. Exotic plants in particular require constant watering and care. Meanwhile, native plants are much better adapted to your specific environment. These plants will hardly ever need additional watering or maintenance. Best of all, they will look amazing in your landscape. Ask your landscaping contractor about replacing part of your lawn with native plants that will achieve a high level of beauty and function in your front yard.
Make the Front Door A Focal Point
The front door is already a destination, but make it more welcoming with an interesting walkway and by creating sight lines using your landscape features to draw the eye to the front door.
Related: 4 Ways Landscapers Can Create an Inviting Feel With Your Front Yard Landscaping in Wescosville, PA
