Before and After: 3 Welcoming Front Yards That Invite Lingering
Designers transform underused, lackluster front yards into inviting outdoor destinations for gardening and relaxing
There are plenty of ways to make the most of your front yard, whether it’s by enhancing curb appeal, creating more gardening space or adding an outdoor seating area to take in the neighborhood. Browse the following before-and-after photos and discover how landscape designers turned three lackluster front yards into welcoming destinations for outdoor lingering.
After: The once-dominant lawn is gone, replaced by plants and a courtyard of California Gold gravel that blends with the colors of the house. Low walls that are offset and partially open define the courtyard and allow some privacy while still maintaining a connection to the street and passersby.
The interior walls of the courtyard are lined with a rich palette of plants. A fountain serves as a focal point while helping to block noise from the street. Lead designer Isara Ongwiseth added an L-shaped built-in bench overlooking the fountain and a Buddha statue, which has become a favorite spot for the homeowners. “We love to have morning coffee on the bench in the meditation garden,” Bea says.
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The interior walls of the courtyard are lined with a rich palette of plants. A fountain serves as a focal point while helping to block noise from the street. Lead designer Isara Ongwiseth added an L-shaped built-in bench overlooking the fountain and a Buddha statue, which has become a favorite spot for the homeowners. “We love to have morning coffee on the bench in the meditation garden,” Bea says.
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A paver sidewalk leads to the courtyard and front door. Planting beds next to it proved to be the perfect place to showcase the homeowners’ almost forgotten rose collection, which Ongwiseth preserved. Now the roses “are glorious and delight everyone who enters the garden,” he says.
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2. Modern Meets Natural
Front Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: Maggie Farrar and Clayton Kenney
Location: Denver
Size: 875 square feet (81 square meters)
Designer: Dustin Farmer, owner of Stems Garden Design + Maintenance, which also maintains the garden
Before: This Denver home belonging to Maggie Farrar and Clayton Kenney has a striking contemporary style, but the sloping front lawn and straight-line concrete walkway did nothing to show it off. “We almost never used the front yard before,” Kenney says.
After living in the home for a year, he and Farrar turned to Dustin Farmer of Stems Garden Design + Maintenance for help. They wanted a design that would complement the home’s architecture and that could be admired from the street and from inside the house.
Also on the wish list were plantings that would thrive in Denver’s climate. “We wanted to get rid of the lawn and use as many native, low-water plants as we could,” Kenney says.
Front Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: Maggie Farrar and Clayton Kenney
Location: Denver
Size: 875 square feet (81 square meters)
Designer: Dustin Farmer, owner of Stems Garden Design + Maintenance, which also maintains the garden
Before: This Denver home belonging to Maggie Farrar and Clayton Kenney has a striking contemporary style, but the sloping front lawn and straight-line concrete walkway did nothing to show it off. “We almost never used the front yard before,” Kenney says.
After living in the home for a year, he and Farrar turned to Dustin Farmer of Stems Garden Design + Maintenance for help. They wanted a design that would complement the home’s architecture and that could be admired from the street and from inside the house.
Also on the wish list were plantings that would thrive in Denver’s climate. “We wanted to get rid of the lawn and use as many native, low-water plants as we could,” Kenney says.
After: The new front landscape design mixes straight-lined contemporary planters and walls with loose, natural plantings. The large asymmetrical planters are filled with low-maintenance grasses and native plants, which add beauty and privacy while not blocking the house completely. Farmer worked with Lauren Bloom of Bloom Concrete & Landscape Design, who demolished and then built the garden, including installing the paving, decking and board-formed-concrete retaining walls.
Read more guides about gardening with native plants
Read more guides about gardening with native plants
The poured-in-place concrete entry path seen here is new, and the location was changed to accommodate the planting beds. The path takes a turn after the first paver, creating an opening to showcase the new 8-by-12-foot Cor-Ten steel planter, which was fabricated and installed by Landwise Colorado.
The top edge of the planter unexpectedly slopes down toward the house, giving the homeowners a private green view from the street while screening the large front window. “I wanted to bring an element of surprise,” Farmer says.
The top edge of the planter unexpectedly slopes down toward the house, giving the homeowners a private green view from the street while screening the large front window. “I wanted to bring an element of surprise,” Farmer says.
A small cedar deck greets guests at the end of the walk. It helps pull more of the home’s architecture into the landscape, and the cedar softens the mostly concrete hardscape. The deck also functions as a step between the entry path and the concrete entry stoop, and gives the homeowners a place to sit outside.
“In the summer, we drink our morning coffee and occasionally an evening cocktail on the front deck,” Kenney says. “We have also gotten to know many of our neighbors better just by sitting out there.”
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“In the summer, we drink our morning coffee and occasionally an evening cocktail on the front deck,” Kenney says. “We have also gotten to know many of our neighbors better just by sitting out there.”
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3. Colorful Perennial-Filled Entry
Front Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A retired couple who frequently host their children and grandchildren
Location: Cazenovia, New York
Designer: A J Miller Landscape Architecture
Before: The front yard of this home in Madison County, New York, consisted of lawn, run-of-the-mill foundation plantings and overgrown shrubs crowding the sidewalk. It felt out of place among the deciduous woods surrounding the home and gave no hint of the beauty of Cazenova Lake, which touches the property’s edge on the other side of the home.
The homeowners spent about four months in the home before hiring AJ Miller Landscape Architecture, owned by landscape architect Mariane Wheatley-Miller and her husband, Anthony Miller, to redesign the landscape. They wanted to remove the ordinary foundation plantings and create a stronger sense of arrival with more color, plant diversity and seasonal interest. Wheatley-Miller responded with a dynamic, pollinator-friendly perennial border.
Front Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A retired couple who frequently host their children and grandchildren
Location: Cazenovia, New York
Designer: A J Miller Landscape Architecture
Before: The front yard of this home in Madison County, New York, consisted of lawn, run-of-the-mill foundation plantings and overgrown shrubs crowding the sidewalk. It felt out of place among the deciduous woods surrounding the home and gave no hint of the beauty of Cazenova Lake, which touches the property’s edge on the other side of the home.
The homeowners spent about four months in the home before hiring AJ Miller Landscape Architecture, owned by landscape architect Mariane Wheatley-Miller and her husband, Anthony Miller, to redesign the landscape. They wanted to remove the ordinary foundation plantings and create a stronger sense of arrival with more color, plant diversity and seasonal interest. Wheatley-Miller responded with a dynamic, pollinator-friendly perennial border.
After: Wheatley-Miller removed the existing shrubs along the sidewalk and expanded the planting beds from 4 feet to over 6 feet wide. This allowed her to layer perennials by height in the beds, creating create a tiered effect.
She chose a watercolor-inspired palette of deep purple, pale lavender, soft yellow, rose pink, silver-green and zingy magenta. The space is now filled with color and features an abundance of nectar- and pollen-rich blooms to attract bees and butterflies. Wheatley-Miller notes that hyssop (Agastache spp.), beebalm (Monarda spp.) and knotweed (Persicaria spp.), among others in the border, are particularly effective pollinator magnets.
Read more about gardening for butterflies
She chose a watercolor-inspired palette of deep purple, pale lavender, soft yellow, rose pink, silver-green and zingy magenta. The space is now filled with color and features an abundance of nectar- and pollen-rich blooms to attract bees and butterflies. Wheatley-Miller notes that hyssop (Agastache spp.), beebalm (Monarda spp.) and knotweed (Persicaria spp.), among others in the border, are particularly effective pollinator magnets.
Read more about gardening for butterflies
The foundation beds have been expanded as well, and now range from 6 to 12 feet wide. Wheatley-Miller took a similar approach as with the beds along the sidewalk, layering plants by height; they add both color and interest.
She reused a number of perennials, dividing and transplanting them to other areas of the garden. This helped save the plants and her clients’ budget. A specimen dogwood and a few 5- to 7-gallon-size shrubs planted along the home were the project’s main splurges.
The lake may be the property’s biggest draw, but the new front garden also entices the homeowners to spend more time outdoors.
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She reused a number of perennials, dividing and transplanting them to other areas of the garden. This helped save the plants and her clients’ budget. A specimen dogwood and a few 5- to 7-gallon-size shrubs planted along the home were the project’s main splurges.
The lake may be the property’s biggest draw, but the new front garden also entices the homeowners to spend more time outdoors.
Read more about this makeover
More on Houzz
Tour more landscapes
Browse landscape photos
Find a landscape contractor
Shop for your outdoor spaces
Front Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: Bea and Tom Schumacher
Location: Pasadena, California
Size: 4,500 square feet (418 square meters)
Design-build team: Isara Ongwiseth (lead designer) and John Cook (landscape installation manager), both of FormLA Landscaping
Before: Homeowners Bea and Tom Schumacher wanted their front yard to feel like an outdoor room where they could relax, meditate and take in neighborhood activities while still maintaining a sense of privacy. But it was completely open and nodded to traditional suburban landscapes, with a large expanse of lawn punctuated by a row of roses that almost disappeared into the sea of green.
The Schumachers tapped FormLA Landscaping to handle the yard’s transformation. “The goal was to create a welcoming entry using a series of paths and a rich combination of plants that are enjoyed by both human and beneficial wildlife,” lead designer Isara Ongwiseth says.