PDF Landscaping Ideas For Front Yards
Flower gardens make a beautiful addition to yards of all sizes and shapes. Adding a flower garden to your yard is a great way to accent your property and boost curb appeal. The design possibilities are endless, from simple square beds to ornate, complicated layouts. Although the overall design is important, when brainstorming your front yard landscaping ideas there are numerous things that you must keep in mind because if your plants cannot survive, even the most carefully designed bed will look terrible.
- Location, location, location: First choose your location! Do you want to put the flower bed in front of an existing structure or create a space that stands alone? Select your location carefully. Avoid very shady locations with mature surrounding plants that may compete for water supply. Also choose a flat or gently sloping location. You can place your flower garden around the base of your house, lining walkways, or you can create attractive island beds anywhere!
- Size: If using your flower bed as a border, typically a space that is a minimum of 2 feet wide will accommodate most plants. If you wish to create a large perennial garden, avoid beds smaller than 6 feet wide. There is no upper limit to the size of your flower garden but do consider that you may need to access the plants for weeding and pruning.
- Separate the space: Consider different types of edging to give your new front yard garden a distinct border. There are several ways to edge your front yard flower bed. If you are looking for an inexpensive, natural look consider digging a trench around your garden or lining the perimeter with stones to contain the flowers. Home improvement stores and garden centers have a huge variety of edging materials available in plastics, wood and blocks. They may also suggest landscaping ideas for front yard that accent certain edging materials nicely.
- Prepare the Soil: Plants typically prefer well drained, nutrient rich soil. Ask your garden center to help you choose items to improve your soil quality.
- How much sunlight does the area receive? Plants have different light requirements ranging from needing full sun, partial sun or full shade. If your flower bed receives at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day then you will need to plant flowers that require full sun. Be sure to check the instructions before purchasing a plant as plants will not perform well if they get too much or too little light.
- Consider plant height: You may wish to put taller plants toward the back of your border plantings or in the center of an island planting. Consider how a tall plant may cast a shadow over the flower bed and choose smaller flowers accordingly.
- Consider blooming times: For continuous color, choose plants with a variety of blooming times. The easiest way to insure a complete growing season full of color is to plant annual flowers.
- Mix and Match: There is no need to limit yourself to one type of flower. You can plant a mixture of shrubs, bulbs, perennials and annual flowers to keep your planter interesting and colorful all year long!
If you need ideas for landscaping the front yard, check out your local library or plant nursery websites. These sites often will have flower bed examples and suggest plants for sunny and shady locations. They will also often offer pre-designed flower beds where you can purchase all of the correct plants directly. For example, With a combination of trees, shrubs and flowers the possibility of ideas for front yard landscaping are endless!
