Any planting scheme I’ve thought up seems completely unbalanced. We’ve added blue with the Nepeta, which is pretty, but is a little more work. Painting the front door is arguably the quickest and easiest way to give your home a fresh look, but there are other ways too. And they’ll need replacing every 5-6 weeks. In cold climates, plant in ground, though they will do fine in pots in warmer climates during winter. Definitely a great idea to have a tree, they are so good for the environment and add scale and vertical interest to a front garden. Let’s explore the numerous benefits of the front garden revival: 1. If you’re on a budget or looking for a quick fix, push solar-powered stake lights into flowerbeds or planters for a soft glow after dark. But climbers aren’t ‘low maintenance’. I found several posts advising you to plant hardy perennials because they’re easier to look after. In terms of design, it’s difficult to say, but one idea would be to use taller plants along the boundary and reducing the height of the plants as they get closer to the drive. Plants that support positivity give your home a karmic boost when placed in your wealth or prosperity corner. Don’t plant perennials, annuals or bedding plants. Ivy grows more slowly and needs very little attention, but it can pull down guttering if you let it get out of hand. I have been debating the crucial issue of what colour to paint my shed. It's also particularly important if you're looking to sell your property as you only get one chance to make a first impression on potential buyers. They really have a presence, and I have spotted Instagram posts of them framing the front door. Many of these front door flower pots use up-cycled items to make a display that is truly unique. Colour theme it. The blue flowers above show the Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’ we planted. Trees provide privacy and a sense of enclosure, absorbing noise pollution and helps to keep the house and driveway cool in the summer months. If you want a climber, just choose one. So stone is expensive but long-lasting. This Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ flowers throughout the winter and looks so beautiful in snow. My neighbour (who we are attached to) is planting flowering perennials but I’m not sure that’s the right thing for a low maintenance garden. Top of the content. The back wall of our house is covered in summer with Parthenocissus Henryiana or Chinese virginia creeper. But it can also take a couple of years before they really show off, so give them time. Fellow blogger and vlogger Lee from Garden Ninja has done an in-depth look at fake turf. 3 top garden privacy tips – how to make your garden look and feel more private! I’ve got a completely empty bed in my front garden having removed a large holly tree last year. Only one or two colours as well as green. Gravel, for example, gets very weedy after a few years, even if it laid over weed-suppressing membrane. January 4th, 2020 Posted In: Garden trends & design, Gardening know how. However, a solid continuous driveway or path also means that water has nowhere to go when it rains. It’s triangular in shape. 2. Perfect for providing autumn colour. But we now know that’s not necessary. This front garden is planted with low-maintenance plants in various shades of … Many houses had climbers and creepers growing up them but by the 1990s, people had mostly taken them down. Marigolds, petunias, … If you forget (we did), then it’s very hard work to dig up a huge clump. A more affordable option could be using window film; it's a great alternative to frosted glass, providing privacy without blocking sunlight. If you do want pots in your front garden, it has some good suggestions. MORE: HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR HALLWAY. It’s fine without them, I think. It was created by our predecessors in this house. You can increase the greenery in your front garden with a climber. As you approach the front door the level rises with trees and hanging baskets that match the border plants. It’s all a question of balance. MORE: NEW PLANT IDEAS FOR FABULOUS HANGING BASKETS. And do join us every Sunday for garden tips, ideas and inspiration – see ‘follow by email’ box near the top right of this page. Like many perennials, it does need to be lifted and divided every few years or it starts to sprawl. Other perennials may need staking (delphiniums), protecting from slugs (hostas) or lifting to protect from frost (dahlias). It’ll cheer up the neighbourhood, too – your front garden is part of everyone’s walk home. In late spring, there are plumes of spirea blossom. If you are interested in designing a front garden for your home, but don’t know where to start, we’ve put together a step-by-step guide to help you. Find out how to plant sedums. Choose just five or six different plant varieties for an easy-care front garden. Once again, all surfaces will need some maintenance. Test Garden Tip: A lot of common pests love angel's trumpet; be on the watch for aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, and whiteflies. No perennials, annuals or bedding plants. During a heat wave, the rooms protected by the creeper are noticeably cooler than those without climbers on the outside walls. Gravel is NOT low maintenance. Mr Middlesize also takes a dandelion weeder to the lawn before he mows it. My own drive has a low wall along half of it and the other half is open to use as a driveway. But you can still have an environmentally-friendly front garden parking space –  The RHS has lots of advice on how to combine parking areas and planting. You could punctuate this with a few taller, ‘see-through’ plants dotted throughout, such as grasses. But you’ll only have to do that once a year or even less often. A friend planted them from a pip in 2010 and gave them to me in small pots. But you’re still going to have more water running over your hard surface, encouraging algae and perhaps making it slippy. They offer habitat to wildlife. I think you perhaps shouldn’t worry about ‘balance’ or symmetry as it’s not possible. Acid shade plant combination (1) Acid sun plant combination (2) Agastache and Angelica plant combination (2) Agastache and Echinops plant combination (1) Aquilegia and Anemanthele plant combination (1) Astrantia and Dryopteris plant combination (1) Astrantia and Geranium plant combination (1) Blue and silver plant combination (4) You can even get numbered designs to display your house number in a glazed panel above or beside the front door. And people often believe they’ll damage the house in some way. And yes, fake turf, if you’re prepared to put up with the disadvantages, will be lower maintenance than real grass. Subscribe to the Good Housekeeping newsletter. We let fallen leaves break down as there aren’t very many of them. There’s always a blackbird family and the sparrows argue over space in the spirea and viburnum. The only element we planted here are the two Malus hupehensis crab apple trees on either side of the gate. Nature is very determined! For example, getting rid of your wall and having a hedge instead will improve air quality, help prevent flash flooding and offer a wildlife habitat. I’m often asked for recommendations, so I have pulled together the products I use on the Middlesized Garden Amazon store. Required fields are marked *, Please answer the sum below... True climbers take up little ground space, and are excellent choices for smaller gardens, whereas wall shrubs require more ground space. It’s much happier in a border on its own. Neither seem right. Our house is East-facing and gets very hot on summer mornings. Located right on the porch’s side corners are wheeled ceramic pots that home a variety of ornamental plants like daisies, miniature evergreens, geraniums and vine plants. This alone creates a valuable resource for bees or pollinating insects. We have two small squares of lawn on either side of our front path. At 38.1 - 50.8 cm tall, these hardy reblooming daylilies are perfect for edging borders and walkways as well as for patio containers due to their compact growth habit. Climbing plants and wall shrubs cover walls, fences, unsightly features, arches, obelisks and pergolas. We weed around the pavers two to three times a year. You will get fewer weeds that way. And many of these shingle, slate and pebble front gardens are only just being installed. The best evergreen for your home is consistent with the street theme, is easy to maintain and is low growing. He points out that anything that lands on it will have to be cleared away by you. Choosing a plant for front entrances, as well as other ornamental accents, should be done carefully and with much forethought. And they make great sense of a slope. When you choose the right tree, you save yourself the future headache of roots damaging your home’s foundation or fallen leaves constantly at your front door. Good Housekeeping participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Dragonflies and Red Admiral butterflies flutter across our front path in summer. MORE: 10 WAYS TO ADD VALUE TO YOUR HOME ACCORDING TO EXPERTS. How close can you plant trees to a house, anyway? Your front garden is so beautiful, I can see why other people take photos of it. It’s south facing with a low wall along the pavement and a large area for parking. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. Don't neglect the exterior walls of your house; a fresh lick of paint can make all the difference and will also protect your home against weather damage. I hope that helps. Purple d'Oro Reblooming Daylily Compact habit is great for edging. Beneficial for your well-being– The calming effect of vibrant colours and vigorou… Since the front entryway is the most focal point of your house, care in utilizing specimen plants should be taken. Annuals. But a paved-over front garden will be lower-maintenance. We do often think about whether there is a lower maintenance option. We have added some plants. Standing on the doorsteps’ sides are topiary posts while standing against the doors are black ceramic pots planted with greenery. Some spread too far too fast and others require training. Always find out what that involves. 3) Pick a colour theme Trees make a street look more elegant. And if I paint my shed, it’ll also last longer…. If we had gravel, stone, pebbles or another hard surface all over our front garden, it would retain and reflect the heat. In a few years time, we shall find out if they have significant long-term disadvantages. They can get slippy if you let leaves or algae hang around on them. Good for the environment– Trees, shrubs and other plants in your garden control the rise of urban temperatures and absorb rainwater better than hard surfaces. A row or group of the same plants looks really effective and is easy to look after, provided you choose the right plants. Fake lawn is lower maintenance but does require some care. Both House Beautiful’s and Ideal Home’s posts on low maintenance front gardens start with saying you should limit your plant choice. Thank you. We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. Just realise that it won’t be no-maintenance. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. If you're not feeling brave with your front door, consider painting plant pots and window boxes instead. Georgia Indian Hawthorn is also considered one of the best flowering shrubs that can be placed in front of the house to enhance its appearance and give welcoming vibes to others. They also have good rose hips in winter. A frame of blossom round your front door may annoy you, but early January visitors will love it. Limiting yourself to just one or two colours in the front garden looks great. They added nerines along the front of the house. There is no such thing as a no-maintenance surface. They don't grow like crazy, are low-maintenance and evergreen. Our predecessors chose pink. Look for newer hybrids which bloom all season, don’t need deadheaded, and are more disease-resistant. Our home is sometimes referred to by locals as ‘the house with the roses’. They maintain color in all seasons and look great for curb appeal. Apart from this clipping, the only other treatment they need is an application of well rotted manure or compost around the roots in autumn. Many parking areas and driveways are paved over as one continuous surface, with concrete or with cement pointing between the pavers. Cultivars of Sedum spectabile and Sedum telephium are ideal for growing at the front of borders. We have to clip our Virginia creeper back two to three times a year. First impressions are everything, and what your home looks like from the outside could say a lot about what it may look like on the inside. From old milk cans to fruit baskets to antique chairs, anything can be turned into a planter with a bit of creativity and gumption!These designs look great all year long; just switch out the plants to change your home’s look with the season. Sometimes it’s a question of trial and error and you may find some plants do surprisingly well in shade, but others don’t. I think it’s a good idea to look for plants that say that plants will do well in shade or partial shade as North-facing means your drive will get less sun than most gardens. Shrubs and trees also create habitat for birds. Don’t plant perennials, annuals or bedding plants. You’ll end up with a tangle of climbers all needing to be pruned at different times. A lawn or border is cooler in summer than a hard surface. Keeping the outside of your house looking clean, neat and manicured will not only send off a positive message to neighbours, guests and visitors, but your property will also be somewhere you're proud to come home to. Builders and decorators don’t like working around them. Tiny Front Garden It makes buildings look more beautiful. They also seem to stay fairly healthy – check whether the roses you choose are reasonably resistant to black spot, mildew or rust. And they’re not as picky as you think! My last post about planting things in front of the house that grow way too big angered many of you. It is also worth thinking about your weather, climate and which way your house faces. Trees are very low maintenance. Everything, of course, does need some care. Today, we present 12 ideas to help you to create a lovely garden in front of your home. And I think it has also been beautiful. Our garden path is stone, probably laid in the 18th century. But if you’re really short of time, no pots. https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=879, No more than five or six different types of plants, Choose small trees, shrubs, roses and bulbs. Inexpensive annuals are easy to establish, and they make good fillers when your bulbs, perennials or flowering shrubs stop blooming. All our flowering shrubs, with the exception of the spirea, are pink. That includes leaves in autumn and pet poo from foxes or neighbourhood cats. These repeat flowering Rosa ‘Bonica’ have a lavish first flush in June, followed by a steady second flowering between August and Christmas. February 23, 2016 Your installers will add a drainage bar at the bottom of your path or driveway. Don't be afraid to branch out with other plants – from potted palms or banana trees to potted bright and colourful flowers like hydrangeas, it's easy to create something striking. I would like to know what kind of plant to plant in front, side, or back of my house. And how are you going to get fallen leaves or pet poo off them? They are reasonably low maintenance, but adding them has increased the work in maintaining the front garden. We underplanted the roses in the front with Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’ and along the path with a pink Teucrium. They also planted some daffodils, which I have since replaced with tulips. But they need very little care and put up with a…. Make the stress-free choice by learning about the best and worst trees to plant near a house below. The only truly successful plants we have added to our front garden is two Malus hupehensis (Crab apple trees) on either side of the front gate. They can be tricky in mixed borders. Ours are ‘Bonica’ and they have flowered with regularity. There is some interesting advice from the RHS on planting up front gardens which have parking: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=879 and I also think it’s worth taking a notebook or smartphone round your neighbourhood and either noting down or photographing front gardens you like. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. If you only have five or six different types of plants in your front garden, make sure they all flower at different times. The plant is a heavy feeder, so fertilize regularly in spring and summer with a general-purpose plant food. People used to think that wildlife gardens or environmentally friendly gardens had to look untidy. These will need less maintenance than a small patch of lawn, but they will need some care. For fast curb appeal, pop them into containers, hanging baskets or window boxes for splashes of color. But now there’s increasing evidence that the right climbers, grown properly, can help protect the house from heat, cold and wind. Berberis thunbergii Buxus sempervirens (box) Carpinus (hornbeam) Lonicera nitida Thuja plicata (western red cedar) Taxus baccata (yew) To provide contrast with other plants, consider growing a purple-leaved cultivar like ‘Purple Emperor’ or ‘Karfunkelstein’. Fake turf is permeable, but water can get trapped, leading to outbreaks of mould. If you have a low maintenance front garden, the chances are that you’ll hardly ever do any digging, so it’s a brilliant spot for nerines. It is worth saying that you can do a lot to look after your lawns. And these need mowing in the summer. I introduced a hardy perennial (Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’) to our front garden. Not completely environmentally friendly. Choose the size you need to … Water will pour over your driveway and into the drainage system, increasing the likelihood of localised flash flooding. Equally, a completely hard-surface front garden could make a West-facing house hotter in the evenings or overnight. House plants are easy to grow, long lasting and can add a lovely aroma to your home. Having removed the holly we were thinking of putting back in a flowering tree (such as Prunus x Subhirtella and perhaps an Acer Palmatum but after that I’m stumpted. And if it spreads across your walls, it can provide valuable insulation. Or you can do what we do. 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