Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

Front yards are very important because first impressions are formed by what people see, even when they are only passing by. Most front yard landscaping ideas are determined by the effect one wishes to present to others. This is determined by the location, size, and other design aspects of the house and what the owner wishes to emphasize. There are many different things that are available to the designer, color, along with size and shape of plants and trees, and texture of the leaves. One can use contrast or other effects that use several different plants and trees.

Front yard landscaping ideas
There are many things that you can do with front yards. They can be as elaborate as one wishes them to be. Let’s begin with a modest residential neighborhood. There are many things that can make a house look much nicer. There are several different methods you can use to manipulate the front yard. Below are some free landscaping ideas that can be used in any yard.

1. Color - The main color differences are warm colors (red, orange, and yellow)-these colors are used to attract attention either to something, an address for example, or away from a plain colored wall. There are also cool colors (blues, and purples). The cool colors relax and are good for meditation gardens. In a front yard these can be used along with "line" to draw attention to a path leading up to the front door along a path or driveway.

2. Line - Straight or "hard" lines direct the eye along a path and emphasize length; this might be good for making a small house or yard look bigger. Curved lines, as in a round or semi-circular garden soften long straight hard lines of buildings.

3. Plant form and texture - There are several plant forms or textures (of leaves and branching trends). There is the columnar (an extreme would be the Lombardy poplar with its branches pointing to the sky), weeping trees (trees like the weeping willow, and Japanese maple tree), that give a luxurious feel and can be very impressive in a yard or garden, and spreading trees, shrubs. Relative size of plants and trees should be kept gradual except in special cases where special effects are desired. In this case extremely tall trees or plants (like the elephant ear) would be placed close to ferns or other plants with small leaves, thus producing a striking contrast.

4. Border definition - Usually created by fences, walls or other borders such as with a rock wall or border. Border definition is necessary around garden areas to give a finished look. In a front yard it is nice to have a small garden next to the house to bring color and contrast to a brick wall or to a color that is not so pleasing to the eye. In this case using a border of small bricks or a small fence is nice.

5. Focal point - This is usually created by color or plant size or both to bring the eye to an entrance way or other area of a house or yard. It can be beautifully created by two shrubs of one or different colors and then in the center a shrub of a third possibly brighter color.

All these aspects of landscape design can be mixed and used together to create an impressive front yard. Large shrubs all of the same color, size, and texture can be used as a backdrop for a small colorful garden that is otherwise surrounded by colorful rocks that have either a complementary or contrasting color scheme.

In addition, having a front yard that is green and needs to be mowed every week is not necessary. Green, mowed lawns are a recent custom in our society. Other yard plans are definitely optional and looking just like the neighbors is not a necessity. One beautiful plan is a desert look. This look takes plants and trees that would be found in a warm dry climate and brings them together to cover a full front yard. This gives a yard a full, unique, and well cared for look if done right.

Sources of landscaping design ideas
There are many other sources for great landscaping design ideas in many different places. The Internet has a lot of information and there are even whole courses and websites for landscaping ideas. Another source for ideas on landscaping yards is the local library or possibly local college courses that might cover landscape ideas. This article is just the beginning of many sources that are available for learning more about landscaping your front yard.