While your back garden is all about comfort, privacy and the place where you can let loose with your unique design ideas, a front garden needs to offer a little more of a subtle and manageable look.
Creating a fabulous front garden lies with keeping the look fairly tamed so as not to stand out too much within your row of houses, and this applies to the design as well as the care you take to keep it maintained. A front garden that looks neat, welcoming and well cared for will certainly add kerb appeal, adding value to your home and providing a welcome sight for visitors and residents every time they approach it.
Whether you have a blank canvas and you are looking to give this outdoor space a complete overhaul or are looking to up your aesthetic appeal with a few tweaks, we have some ideas that might just be what you’ve been looking for.
Exposed aggregate
There are many wonderfully positive ways of using exposed aggregate within your garden that may just surprise you. Durable, slip-resistant, easy to clean and maintain, and available in many styles as well as for a range of uses, this material is a top choice for creating a sophisticated welcome to your home.
Perfect for a pathway to your front door, back garden or for covering an entire driveway, this material provides textured flooring that works well with any landscaping design. The mixture is ready to pour, so there’s no need for cutting blocks, it’s resistant to the elements, and a sealant adds a layer of protection to help it last longer. You could also create a patio area out the front or use it to provide some visual appeal to decorative retaining walls to tie the look together.
Add colour
Whether that colour is green, you will want to add plenty of it to create a living, breathing space that is ever-so welcoming. Try planting up some shrubs that are simple to maintain as well as flower beds that you can use to edge pathways and to create a pretty border to your house. Lavender works well as it takes little maintenance and provides a pop of colour.
If you have a lawn or are looking to add one, then keep it small and neat and border with plants or pebbles to keep it looking really tidy. Head over to WiredShopper.com to see their round up of some of the very best corded electric lawn mowers you can get your hands on and you’ll never need to have a messy lawn again. We advise against painting your house a garish colour but matching a calmly toned shade within the front door, window boxes, garage door and railing or fence can make for a really polished look.
Lighting
Whether you are thinking of solar powered, ground level lights, trees that have outdoor fairy lights entwined in them or a lamp that comes on automatically as you approach your door, lighting is a great way to not only add atmosphere but, literally, guide you home on darker evenings. They are also handy for security purposes too as intruders may be put off by a motion sensor-triggered light.
Unleash a little creativity
Although we advised of keeping the design fairly tame, this definitely shouldn’t stop you from unleashing a little creativity with your front garden project. Get creative within the layout and structure as when winter arrives and those once thriving blooms have disappeared for a while, here is where the personality will remain. Consider a gently winding path to your front door, bordered with some low shrubs, pop in some lollipop trees with low level shrubs below and surround with gravel or opt for a statement cherry blossom as a centrepiece or wisteria to climb up your house for that gentle, yet, welcoming wow factor.
