I have raised beds for my herb garden in my back yard. I can see them out my kitchen window so I look at them a lot. We're also 5b so during the winter they are covered with snow. All the snow is gone now and some herbs are coming back up, and some of the stockier stuff hasn't started growing yet. It looks no different than the rest of my yard. I'm very glad I put them in.

Thank you. That’s a good point about the snow. We got so little this year, I need to remember most years they would just get covered and blend in!

IMO raised beds will look bad in the front yard, just kind of....junky. I'd consider some snazzy large pottery instead, something that compliments the color and style of your house and looks like an intentional design choice.

You could put some trailing euonymus in the corners. It's tough, evergreen and a bit invasive, so you'd have to keep it in check.

A nice coat of fresh mulch will keep them looking tidy during the winter, Since tomatoes and dahlias both usually need staking, the beds may very well look worse in summer than winter. If that doesn't matter to you, go for it!

You could include a few more decorative year-round plants like the euonymus that Sigrid suggested. Also, in the fall you can often get small cheap Alpine Spruce plants from Home Depot or Lowe's. You could plant a few of them in there just for the winter. You could even put little Christmas lights on them. For my window box and two small front planters (normally used for flowers) I cut small branches from my evergreens and stick them in, along with some pine cones on sticks.

We don’t get as cold as you, so I cover all my vegetable garden space with black weed preventer to keep the weeds and my barn cats out. You could do the same, and maybe sprinkle a light layer of mulch over it to make it look nicer.

I'm late to this conversation but two things I wanted to mention. I know most people don't put either raised beds or vegetable gardens in their front yards, but hey, I know what it's like to have limited sun, so I say go right ahead and do so. Google images of raised bed gardens - there are some out there that are just gorgeous.

Secondly, as far as winter, perhaps you can put in a few small evergreens - some dwarf thujas like Tater Tot or Anna's Magic Ball, or dwarf ilex like Gem Box. Depending on the layout of your raised beds, you can place maybe one in each bed, so when winter comes there will be at least one green thing in each bed. For instance, if you have four equal raised beds in a square, one centered evergreen may look nice. A few longer, narrower beds? Then perhaps one evergreen at each long end of each bed. Or if your beds are large, you could even have the small evergreens all around the perimeter of the bed. Whatever looks good to your eye.

And as Sigrid suggested, some trailing euonymous could look nice. I'm thinking Gold Splash but that does get quite large. I have some groundcover sedum that stays somewhat evergreen in winter,and some ajuga too; perhaps something like that trailing off a bed might work. You'd have to keep it in check but it's not difficult to just rip out what you don't want.

Not sure if you are worried about theft where you live but some small piece of garden art may work in the winter as well - small statuary or small metal sculpture/artwork or such. Even tuteurs or fancy trellises that could be used for summer vegetables can look nice without anything growing on them in winter. Or perhaps some nice pots with evergreen greenery and/or berries.

Lastly, depending on what material you use, you can paint or decorate the walls of the beds, either with solid colors, patterns, artwork, and other materials besides paint (mosaics, etc.)

Good luck!

:)

Dee

I’m really late to this conversation which caught my eye. First I would say it’s your property and do what works for you. If you have sun in front then certainly put your garden beds there and don’t worry about what others may think.
I have raised garden beds on the side of my backyard because I have lots of sun there. They can be seen by passerbys, but I don’t care. It actually blocks the view of the rest of my backyard . People have given you some nice ideas, except I don’t recommend ajuga….. it’s tough to get out as it spreads by underground rhizomes. Also if you’re a holiday person, you could put some LED lights and evergreen branches.

debra