Low-Maintenance Landscaping Ideas To Transform Your Front Yard
The front yard of your property is the first thing that people see when they drive past. It reflects your style, enhances your home’s curb appeal and creates a personality for your home. A well-designed and maintained front yard is how people will perceive your home and create a welcoming atmosphere for your visitors.
Landscaping your front yard can be a crucial way for you to add value to your home if you are looking to sell. That’s why we’ve put together some fantastic landscaping ideas that help you transform your front yard.
Overview
Front Yard Low-Maintenance Landscaping Ideas
Tips Before Landscaping
Creating a beautiful front yard feature takes time and thorough planning. Here are some key tips to remember before you begin:
- You will have plenty of mixed waste – hiring a skip bin can help you clean up as you are going
- Envision exactly how you want your front yard to look so you can create a plan on how you can make it a reality.
- Landscaping your front yard will take time, so you may want to dedicate an entire weekend.
- Prepare yourself with sunscreen, a hat, old clothes (you will get dirty) and plenty of water to stay hydrated.
Create a Garden Bed
A fantastic way to elevate the look of your front yard and give it personality and character is to add a garden bed. Your front yard will be thriving once you add some lush greenery and local native plants. If you are removing and disposing of any old plants to replant new ones, make sure you dispose of the plant waste responsibly.
Steps To Create A Garden Bed
1. Prepare the area and clear out where you want your garden bed to go. This includes any digging, levelling, soil preparation or installing any metal sheets if you want to create a raised garden.
2. Remove any weeds or grass from the area.
3. Assemble the metal sheets (if you are creating a raised garden bed) or add pavers around the edges.
4. Add a drainage layer using organic materials like sticks, leaves or logs.
5. Fill the base of the area with premium, nutrient-rich and well-draining soil mix.
6. Plant your garden with stunning flowers and plants to help add colour and vibrancy to your front yard.
7. Add mulch to retain moisture and prevent weeds from growing. Research how much fertilizer your selected plants and flowers need.
8. Throw any unused or garden waste into your green bin and any additional waste can go into your skip bin to keep your garden area clean.
9. Maintain the garden by watering every couple of days, and daily if it is a hot day.
Add Hedges For Privacy
If you do not want to add gates or fences but want some extra privacy from the roadside, then hedges can be a fantastic addition to your front yard. Hedges can grow up to 3 metres in the first 18 months after being planted, which provides a perfect natural fence to prevent any visibility to the front of your yard.
Adding hedges to your front garden requires a little ongoing maintenance. When the plants are first put in, you will need to water every few days, then weekly. As the plants take shape, you will need to trim them occasionally to maintain the desired shape.
Once the hedge has grown, you may need to trim the top of the hedge and level out the height of the hedge to give it a satisfying look for your garden.
Plant Trees For Extra Shade
Planting trees will take a long time to grow, however, once they have matured and fully grown, these trees will provide extra shade for your front yard. When you plant your trees, consider how close to your house you plant them as the roots can extend and potentially cause issues. It is recommended that you plant the trees 15-20 feet from the house to prevent any potential damage from roots or overhanging tree branches.
Some minimal-maintenance that trees need:
- Pruning and trimming
- Regular watering once the tree has just been planted – requires less as it gets mature.
- Use compost in the soil around the tree to give it the nutrients it needs to grow.
- Remove any tree pests or diseases.
Create A Path For Access
A feature of a front yard garden is choosing the right path that leads to your front door. Creating an effective path will make people feel welcome as they approach your house.
A paved path
Adding a basic paved path to your front garden is a fantastic way to add some character to your garden. Add flowers on the side and some basic LED solar lights to further enhance your path.
Around your path, you can add flowers or create garden beds on either side of the path to create an organic and inviting feeling for your visitors. Finish off your feature walkway by adding arbours that visitors can walk through.
Use large flat rocks as a path
Purchase large rocks that are flat on the top to use as a feature path. Bury these rocks, leaving the flat side of the rock as a path towards your house. Fill the surrounding area with grass or white pebbles that create a feature as visitors walk over the rocks. To further enhance your path, add LED solar lights to either side of the walkway for finishing touches.
Add A Water Feature
Adding a water feature such as a small pond or fountain is a fantastic landscaping idea that can create a calming and welcoming atmosphere in your front garden. A water source will help attract wildlife like butterflies or birds, which will give your front garden natural beauty and a relaxing spot.
Choose The Right Plants For Your Garden
The plants and flowers that you choose for your garden should depend on different conditional factors such as:
- The type of soil your front yard has: for example, your soil may be clay-heavy, sandy or nutrient-rich.
- The type of weather your plants will be exposed to: you may live in a hotter environment, or you may live in a cooler environment.
- Rainfall levels: You may experience constant rain, so less need for watering the gardens.
The type of plants you choose when landscaping your gardens needs to be appropriate for the climate of where you live.
Plants for hotter climate:
- Succulents
- Native Grasses
- Drought-tolerant flowers (olive tree, lantana, gazania)
Plants for cooler climates:
- Native cold-hardy trees and shrubs (snow gum, lilly pilly or banksia)
- Perennials and flowers (lavender or hellebores)
Plants for sand-rich soil (coastal locations):
- Coastal Banksia
- Pigface
- Rosemary
- Lomandra
Plants for clay-rich (urban locations):
- River red gum
- Callistemon
- Blackwood
Landscape Your Front Yard Responsibly With Just Skips
Now that you are ready to landscape your front yard and transform your front yard into a beautiful oasis, you may want to consider getting a skip bin for the clean up.
At Just Skips, we offer three convenient-sized skip bins which means if you are adding a garden bed or landscaping the whole front yard, we can help you clean up responsibly. Before you start your landscaping project, feel free to give us a call or contact us for a free quote!
Front Yard Landscaping FAQ’s
What is the most low-maintenance landscaping?
For low-maintenance landscaping in your garden consider:
- Lay artificial turf rather than real grass.
- Plant easy-care plants such as aloe vera, lavender or lomandra that require less watering.
- Add gravel paths that require little maintenance.
What landscaping adds most value to home?
Landscaping the front of your house is a fantastic way to transform the appearance, and add character and extra value to your house. Some of the best landscaping ideas you can do include:
- Add a path, LED solar lights, flower gardens and arbours that invite people to your front door.
- Add a water feature such as a small pond with fish or a fountain. This will attract wildlife like birds and butterflies and help with the serenity of your garden.
- Add hedges or garden beds to add character to your house.
What is the best thing to plant in front of house?
The best things to plant in front of your house are plants or flowers that are bright and complementary to your garden. You can take this further by landscaping your front yard and adding flower beds or gardens that add to your front yard.
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