How to Add Value and Beauty to Your Front Yard Landscape
Brian Campbell
Friday, April 26, 2024
If you’re like most homeowners, you’re squeezing more out of your outdoor space but overlooking a
key area: the front yard. We’ve packed our backyards with outdoor kitchens, play and lounging
areas, firepits, and gardens. In the process, we’ve unintentionally missed out on front yard
landscaping improvements. Both the numbers and the experts support the value of upgrading your
front yard landscaping.
For starters, those improvements can add curb appeal and value to your home. More than half of
homeowners — 57% — believe that beautiful landscaping and exteriors can increase a home’s
resale value by at least $20,000, and 16% say the increase can be more than $50,000, according to
a 2023 survey by Thumbtack and Nextdoor.
An outdoor landscape upgrade provides an estimated return of 100% wheoutdoorn you sell,
according to the National Association of REALTORS® 2023 outdoor “Remodeling Impact Report.”
The survey defined an upgrade as adding a natural flagstone walkway, two stone planters, several
flowering shrubs, a deciduous tree, and mulch.
“The front yard creates the first impression of your home,” says Janet Loughrey, a contributor to
“Garden Design” and a garden photographer. “There are many ways to repurpose a front yard into a
beautiful and functional space for relaxing, entertaining, or recreation.”
12 Ways to Upgrade Your Front Yard Landscaping
Here are ideas to inspire a new and improved view of your front yard:
#1 Spotlight the Front Porch
Potential home buyers rank the front porch as one of the top home features they want in their next
home, according to a 2024 survey from the National Association of Home Builders. Showcase it as a
place to relax or connect with neighbors by providing seating areas, such as Adirondack chairs, a
bistro set, a lounger, or a porch swing, Loughrey suggests.
Embellish the porch with flowery hanging baskets and use potted flowers in bursts of color next to
the front door to “guide people’s eyes to the core of the home and in providing a welcoming look,”
says Jackie Mosher, co-founder of Dzinly, a Royal Oak, Mich.-based company that helps
homeowners and real estate professionals digitally design exteriors.
#2 Play Up Pathways With ‘Entangled Design’
An on-trend front yard idea is to channel “entangled design” with grass in-between pavers. “Whether
driven by aesthetic requests or as a byproduct of maintaining onsite drainage, we’re seeing
increased interest” in this, according to the “2024 U.S. Houzz Home Design Predictions” report from
the home remodeling site Houzz. The design offers a more natural look that softens up pathways by
breaking up large expanses of a hardscape.
#3 Move the Firepit to the Front
Firepits aren’t just for the backyard. Homeowners are moving them to the front. Carve out an area
that can be surrounded by a group of low shrubs or a stone wall feature. “Anytime you add height
around a space of at least 24 inches tall, it provides a sense of containment and natural coziness,”
Mosher says.
#4 Light Up Walkways
Add lighting along walkways for safety and nighttime ambience. Accent both sides of the porch, for
instance with boxed lanterns in a black or antique bronze, Mosher suggests. Use spotlights pointed
up at the house to highlight the architecture and up-lights on your favorite plants or trees. (Tip: Use
solar-powered spotlights to bypass extra wiring costs.) Also, hang an oversized hanging pendant or
chandelier above the front door. Pick a fixture about one-third or one-fourth the size of the front door,
including the trim, Mosher recommends.
#5 Decorate Window Boxes
Dress up your home’s colors and architecture year-round with boxes filled with seasonal flowers,
fitted along the bottom ledge of outside windows. Use three different types of flowers: greenery, a
taller plant in the center, and a colorful accent flower, Mosher says. Not every window needs a flower
box. Maybe it’s just the large picture window or the windows on a second story, she notes.
#6 Consider Waterwise Landscapes
With water shortages growing, particularly in drier climates, more homeowners are ditching all-grass
lawns. “We’ve seen many homeowners incorporate a mix of paving stones and artificial turf to create a clean, polished look that’s modern and easy to maintain,” says Aaron Brundage, landscaping
expert and director of operations at System Pavers in Syracuse, N.Y.
There has been an uptick in xeriscaping, which is designed to reduce or eliminate water needs — for
example, by using rocks, gravel, and native plants, reports The Plan Collection, a home and floor
plan company. They are also seeing more wildscaping, which focuses on native landscaping that
creates a habitat for bees, birds, and small animals.
#7 Add a Get-Together Space
No front porch? No problem. You can still create a porch feel. Pave a stone courtyard to
accommodate patio furniture and for entertaining, Brundage says. “A walkway with a small pergola
creates an instantly inviting feel that will make guests feel welcome.”
#8 Balance Privacy and Curb Appeal
With a front yard, “there’s a desire for privacy, yet an opposing desire to allow some of the home’s
architectural elements to remain visible from the street,” says Jeremy Martin, CEO at Willow Gates
Landscaping in Mohnton, Pa. Decide on any areas you want to shield. To block car traffic, consider
placing trees in the corner of the front yard. “This allows the home to remain visible, but the viewing
window is so short that passersby really can’t observe many details,” he says. “If the primary need is
privacy from foot traffic, a more continuous hedge may be needed. A fence may work, but in the front
yard is often limited to three feet or four feet high by local codes and ordinances.”
#9 Get Creative With Front Yard Garden Ideas
Don’t just tuck everything into a front yard flower bed. Use vertical planters, especially for a
vegetable or herb garden. Lush greenery can comprise a living wall, dressing up an otherwise
ordinary wall and adding privacy. Metal trellises and arbors can add height to a landscape. Consider
a trellis or arbor covered with plant climbers like roses, clematis, or fragrant honeysuckle, for a
welcoming front entrance, Loughrey says.
Spruce up a front yard garden by adding seating areas, like a bench. “These seating areas add
dimension to a home and provide a charming look,” Mosher says.
#10 Incorporate Rocks (but Not Too Many)
River rocks or crushed gravel are lower maintenance alternatives to mulch. However, they’re pricier
to install, don’t enrich the soil, and create a “hard” surface look, Martin says. Avoid using too much river rock and consider using plants with soft, flowing foliage, he adds. Also, boulders nestled within
a landscape can “complement the home. “Boulders also work well to ease grade issues without
using a block retaining wall.”
#11 Weave in Water Features
“Adding a water feature can boost curb appeal while bringing an upscale feel to front yard get-
togethers,” says Brundage. “Water fountains also are great for blocking background noise, such as
traffic or noisy neighbors.” You could install a large, two-tier fountain with cascading water as a focal
point or incorporate a cast stone fountain as a small landscape accent. But think about added
maintenance and electrical costs (the change could add $20 to $150 a month to household bills,
according to Angi estimates. For low-cost options, consider solar-powered outdoor water fountains.
#12 Choose Plantings With Multiseason Appeal
“Choose plant varieties that have multiseasonal attributes such as colored leaves, flowers, berries,
bark, and fall color,” Loughrey suggests. “Use evergreens and plants that bloom at different times for
year-round color.”
Martin’s picks for trees: dogwoods, redbuds, and crab apples for their colorful blossoms. He also
likes magnolias, such as the stellata (which tends to form as a large shrub rather than a tree,
reaching about 15 feet tall); saucer magnolias (with vibrant colorful, spring blossoms); and the
sweetbay magnolia, with fragrant, white flowers in the summer and large, red fruit in the fall.
Evergreens add greenery and privacy. Beware white pines and Norway spruce, though. They can
reach up to 50 feet and overwhelm a yard, Martin says. Choose more-compact varieties, like the
Vanderwolf pine (about 20 feet tall); the Red Beauty (about six feet wide and 10 feet tall); the Dragon
Lady (about 12 feet wide and 20 feet tall); and the Nellie Stevens and Thuja Green Giant (both up to
15 feet wide and 25 feet tall).
6 Front Yard Landscaping Mistakes to Avoid
We all want to avoid having to undo any landscaping missteps or living with an unhappy choice.
Here are common mistakes and tips to steer clear of them:
1. Overpacked design: “Too many features or sculptures can make a space feel
chaotic,” says Joe Raboine, vice president of design at Oldcastle APG in Atlanta.
Choose your focal area (for example, the front porch, the garden, or the firepit), and
build your front yard around it.
2. Too close to home: Avoid placing tall shrubs or trees near the home, Martin says.
“This can lead to issues with walkways heaving, blocking light to windows, and leaves
ending up in roof gutters.”
3. Blocking views: Avoid tall continuous plantings across the entire front property
boundary, Martin says. “While this may offer a private front yard, it often detracts from
the home’s appearance. When it’s time to sell your home, you don’t want prospective
home buyers to think they’re entering an overgrown jungle that will cost thousands of
dollars to control.”
4. Off-scale: “When adding plants, seating, water features, and accessories, keep them
in scale,” Loughrey says. “A small bistro table and chairs are more in scale with a front
yard than a large patio set, which is more suited for the back yard.”
5. Too much of the same thing: Avoid solid hedges of a single plant. “If one plant in the
hedge dies, it can be very tough to get a matching plant that’s a similar size,” Martin
says. “A mixed hedge will be more forgiving and flexible in the long term.”
6. Beware the rules: Check if your neighborhood’s homeowner’s association or city has
any rules for lawns, structures, or other features that can be viewed from the street. A
landscape is costly to install; you don’t want to have to rip it out.
If you really want to use every inch of your home’s outdoor space, give your front yard some extra
love and attention. Your efforts will pay you back immediately with more beauty to look at and
experience and prepare you for more curb appeal and returns when it’s time to sell.
key area: the front yard. We’ve packed our backyards with outdoor kitchens, play and lounging
areas, firepits, and gardens. In the process, we’ve unintentionally missed out on front yard
landscaping improvements. Both the numbers and the experts support the value of upgrading your
front yard landscaping.
For starters, those improvements can add curb appeal and value to your home. More than half of
homeowners — 57% — believe that beautiful landscaping and exteriors can increase a home’s
resale value by at least $20,000, and 16% say the increase can be more than $50,000, according to
a 2023 survey by Thumbtack and Nextdoor.
An outdoor landscape upgrade provides an estimated return of 100% wheoutdoorn you sell,
according to the National Association of REALTORS® 2023 outdoor “Remodeling Impact Report.”
The survey defined an upgrade as adding a natural flagstone walkway, two stone planters, several
flowering shrubs, a deciduous tree, and mulch.
“The front yard creates the first impression of your home,” says Janet Loughrey, a contributor to
“Garden Design” and a garden photographer. “There are many ways to repurpose a front yard into a
beautiful and functional space for relaxing, entertaining, or recreation.”
12 Ways to Upgrade Your Front Yard Landscaping
Here are ideas to inspire a new and improved view of your front yard:
#1 Spotlight the Front Porch
Potential home buyers rank the front porch as one of the top home features they want in their next
home, according to a 2024 survey from the National Association of Home Builders. Showcase it as a
place to relax or connect with neighbors by providing seating areas, such as Adirondack chairs, a
bistro set, a lounger, or a porch swing, Loughrey suggests.
Embellish the porch with flowery hanging baskets and use potted flowers in bursts of color next to
the front door to “guide people’s eyes to the core of the home and in providing a welcoming look,”
says Jackie Mosher, co-founder of Dzinly, a Royal Oak, Mich.-based company that helps
homeowners and real estate professionals digitally design exteriors.
#2 Play Up Pathways With ‘Entangled Design’
An on-trend front yard idea is to channel “entangled design” with grass in-between pavers. “Whether
driven by aesthetic requests or as a byproduct of maintaining onsite drainage, we’re seeing
increased interest” in this, according to the “2024 U.S. Houzz Home Design Predictions” report from
the home remodeling site Houzz. The design offers a more natural look that softens up pathways by
breaking up large expanses of a hardscape.
#3 Move the Firepit to the Front
Firepits aren’t just for the backyard. Homeowners are moving them to the front. Carve out an area
that can be surrounded by a group of low shrubs or a stone wall feature. “Anytime you add height
around a space of at least 24 inches tall, it provides a sense of containment and natural coziness,”
Mosher says.
#4 Light Up Walkways
Add lighting along walkways for safety and nighttime ambience. Accent both sides of the porch, for
instance with boxed lanterns in a black or antique bronze, Mosher suggests. Use spotlights pointed
up at the house to highlight the architecture and up-lights on your favorite plants or trees. (Tip: Use
solar-powered spotlights to bypass extra wiring costs.) Also, hang an oversized hanging pendant or
chandelier above the front door. Pick a fixture about one-third or one-fourth the size of the front door,
including the trim, Mosher recommends.
#5 Decorate Window Boxes
Dress up your home’s colors and architecture year-round with boxes filled with seasonal flowers,
fitted along the bottom ledge of outside windows. Use three different types of flowers: greenery, a
taller plant in the center, and a colorful accent flower, Mosher says. Not every window needs a flower
box. Maybe it’s just the large picture window or the windows on a second story, she notes.
#6 Consider Waterwise Landscapes
With water shortages growing, particularly in drier climates, more homeowners are ditching all-grass
lawns. “We’ve seen many homeowners incorporate a mix of paving stones and artificial turf to create a clean, polished look that’s modern and easy to maintain,” says Aaron Brundage, landscaping
expert and director of operations at System Pavers in Syracuse, N.Y.
There has been an uptick in xeriscaping, which is designed to reduce or eliminate water needs — for
example, by using rocks, gravel, and native plants, reports The Plan Collection, a home and floor
plan company. They are also seeing more wildscaping, which focuses on native landscaping that
creates a habitat for bees, birds, and small animals.
#7 Add a Get-Together Space
No front porch? No problem. You can still create a porch feel. Pave a stone courtyard to
accommodate patio furniture and for entertaining, Brundage says. “A walkway with a small pergola
creates an instantly inviting feel that will make guests feel welcome.”
#8 Balance Privacy and Curb Appeal
With a front yard, “there’s a desire for privacy, yet an opposing desire to allow some of the home’s
architectural elements to remain visible from the street,” says Jeremy Martin, CEO at Willow Gates
Landscaping in Mohnton, Pa. Decide on any areas you want to shield. To block car traffic, consider
placing trees in the corner of the front yard. “This allows the home to remain visible, but the viewing
window is so short that passersby really can’t observe many details,” he says. “If the primary need is
privacy from foot traffic, a more continuous hedge may be needed. A fence may work, but in the front
yard is often limited to three feet or four feet high by local codes and ordinances.”
#9 Get Creative With Front Yard Garden Ideas
Don’t just tuck everything into a front yard flower bed. Use vertical planters, especially for a
vegetable or herb garden. Lush greenery can comprise a living wall, dressing up an otherwise
ordinary wall and adding privacy. Metal trellises and arbors can add height to a landscape. Consider
a trellis or arbor covered with plant climbers like roses, clematis, or fragrant honeysuckle, for a
welcoming front entrance, Loughrey says.
Spruce up a front yard garden by adding seating areas, like a bench. “These seating areas add
dimension to a home and provide a charming look,” Mosher says.
#10 Incorporate Rocks (but Not Too Many)
River rocks or crushed gravel are lower maintenance alternatives to mulch. However, they’re pricier
to install, don’t enrich the soil, and create a “hard” surface look, Martin says. Avoid using too much river rock and consider using plants with soft, flowing foliage, he adds. Also, boulders nestled within
a landscape can “complement the home. “Boulders also work well to ease grade issues without
using a block retaining wall.”
#11 Weave in Water Features
“Adding a water feature can boost curb appeal while bringing an upscale feel to front yard get-
togethers,” says Brundage. “Water fountains also are great for blocking background noise, such as
traffic or noisy neighbors.” You could install a large, two-tier fountain with cascading water as a focal
point or incorporate a cast stone fountain as a small landscape accent. But think about added
maintenance and electrical costs (the change could add $20 to $150 a month to household bills,
according to Angi estimates. For low-cost options, consider solar-powered outdoor water fountains.
#12 Choose Plantings With Multiseason Appeal
“Choose plant varieties that have multiseasonal attributes such as colored leaves, flowers, berries,
bark, and fall color,” Loughrey suggests. “Use evergreens and plants that bloom at different times for
year-round color.”
Martin’s picks for trees: dogwoods, redbuds, and crab apples for their colorful blossoms. He also
likes magnolias, such as the stellata (which tends to form as a large shrub rather than a tree,
reaching about 15 feet tall); saucer magnolias (with vibrant colorful, spring blossoms); and the
sweetbay magnolia, with fragrant, white flowers in the summer and large, red fruit in the fall.
Evergreens add greenery and privacy. Beware white pines and Norway spruce, though. They can
reach up to 50 feet and overwhelm a yard, Martin says. Choose more-compact varieties, like the
Vanderwolf pine (about 20 feet tall); the Red Beauty (about six feet wide and 10 feet tall); the Dragon
Lady (about 12 feet wide and 20 feet tall); and the Nellie Stevens and Thuja Green Giant (both up to
15 feet wide and 25 feet tall).
6 Front Yard Landscaping Mistakes to Avoid
We all want to avoid having to undo any landscaping missteps or living with an unhappy choice.
Here are common mistakes and tips to steer clear of them:
1. Overpacked design: “Too many features or sculptures can make a space feel
chaotic,” says Joe Raboine, vice president of design at Oldcastle APG in Atlanta.
Choose your focal area (for example, the front porch, the garden, or the firepit), and
build your front yard around it.
2. Too close to home: Avoid placing tall shrubs or trees near the home, Martin says.
“This can lead to issues with walkways heaving, blocking light to windows, and leaves
ending up in roof gutters.”
3. Blocking views: Avoid tall continuous plantings across the entire front property
boundary, Martin says. “While this may offer a private front yard, it often detracts from
the home’s appearance. When it’s time to sell your home, you don’t want prospective
home buyers to think they’re entering an overgrown jungle that will cost thousands of
dollars to control.”
4. Off-scale: “When adding plants, seating, water features, and accessories, keep them
in scale,” Loughrey says. “A small bistro table and chairs are more in scale with a front
yard than a large patio set, which is more suited for the back yard.”
5. Too much of the same thing: Avoid solid hedges of a single plant. “If one plant in the
hedge dies, it can be very tough to get a matching plant that’s a similar size,” Martin
says. “A mixed hedge will be more forgiving and flexible in the long term.”
6. Beware the rules: Check if your neighborhood’s homeowner’s association or city has
any rules for lawns, structures, or other features that can be viewed from the street. A
landscape is costly to install; you don’t want to have to rip it out.
If you really want to use every inch of your home’s outdoor space, give your front yard some extra
love and attention. Your efforts will pay you back immediately with more beauty to look at and
experience and prepare you for more curb appeal and returns when it’s time to sell.
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