Front yard landscaping
Every front yard may become the perfect place to plan an interesting landscaping project that may impress neighbors and visitors. The front yard of the house is a first place to test a great variety of different landscaping ideas. So if you really need to change the look of the house without touching it inside (like spruce it up before a sale, win the homeowners association award) then all you have to do is to combine a drop of creativity with a few days work.
The majority of front yard landscaping projects fully depend on the house. And that is normal, because usually he house is the prominent element, and everything including plants, driveways, fences, and other items needs to complement it. Plants like shrubs and trees unite the house with its surroundings and make the building seem a natural part of the terrain.
The main things you have to pay attention on is two major front yard landscape design areas - the corners and doorway of your house. Front door actually is your house's unique focal point, so various short plantings would be quite appropriate. And vice versa - for the corners much more suitable would be taller plants. It must look like they tunnel the viewer's eye toward your doorway. There are plenty of small secrets related to this. For example tall houses may seem shorter if the corner plantings extend like wings on each side. That could be achieved by placing tallest plants at the corners. Another tip is to plant the trees that are in scale with you house, because their goal is to focus interest on the desired features of front yard by framing it. Anyway you should select only those trees that match the design of your house.
Shrubs act a little but different than trees. They play a role of a connector between house walls and lawn. If the combination of shrubs and the front wall is good enough, then you may reduce the apparent height of a tall building, for example. There is no need to search for fancy shrubs or trees or plant as many plant types as possible. Remember - the simpler a planting near the house, the better. Use only a few kinds of shrubs, but plan for some variety in size, form, and texture.
Flowers element of the front yard landscaping is most appreciated in the places where you usually spend time relaxing. However in modern homes this place is the backyard, so only in older homes you may meet the lay out beds with a combination of straight lines and bold, sweeping curves. The good choice would be to make a big color splash using large masses of single color flowers. For example go and plant a group of twenty red tulips next to twenty white daffodils. That would be much more interesting, effective and work for the look of your front yard, than planting a checkerboard mixture of various colors.
Front yard landscaping is like clothing. You have always to keep an eye on it, because as years pass, many elements need renewal and improvement.