Front Yard Landscaping on a Budget

When people pass by your house, one of the first things they'll see is your front yard. It's not only the architecture of your home and the state it's in that gives passersby a good impression, it's also the appearance of your yard and the steps you take to keep it in order.

In fact, a good landscape job doesn't just increase favorable opinions. The health and design of your lawn and garden can boost the value of your property. Landscaping companies say an attractive yard - complete with a designated foot path along with trees and flowering plants and grass - can increase your home's value by nearly 30 percent.

Your front yard isn't just another way to express yourself and show off your green thumb, it's also an investment. With that said, you want to get the most out of your money and not every homeowner can afford to pay a professional landscaping service on top of monthly mortgage payments. There are, however, some budget-friendly projects you can do around your yard to beautify your property without breaking the bank.

Front yard landscaping can help you guide visitors to your front door.

A How-To for Front Yard Design

Creating a great-looking yard might seem easy at first, but getting the look and feel that you want out of your garden and having it mesh with a property's surroundings takes careful planning. Let's take a look at some things you should consider.

Add in Some Order
When coming up with ideas, consider an appealing yard must have some semblance of order to it. Before you start planting or trimming, you need to have an overall landscape design in mind - or else your trees and other plants could clash. Think of the big picture instead of just buying multiple types of flowers and shrubs. You want to catch people's eyes but not overwhelm their senses. Therefore, have a plan in place for the design you want before you make the trip to your local garden or home improvement store.

It's smart to view your house and yard from the street or curb. This way, you will understand the perspectives of neighbors and potential home buyers, allowing you to better determine what to add to your landscape and what to remove. Taking a look at your home from the sidewalk can give you a better picture of how to design your yard and where to put a path up to your front door or around back to your patio.

Consider the Size of Your House
While you're still in the planning stages, make sure you acknowledge the size of your home. Is it a one-story or two-story house? Is it a craftsman, ranch or Victorian-style structure? It's best to look at the size and style of your residence and then look around your neighborhood, on home and garden websites, in landscaping magazines or on Pinterest for examples you can use before starting your project. 

Ensure that whatever landscape style you pick harmonizes with your house and its surroundings. For instance, if you have a single-story home, don't plant large shrubs or other plants that can grow too high and make your residence look smaller in comparison.

Blaze a Trail
In order to have a welcoming front yard, you need a walkway or path that visitors can easily find and navigate. Whether you decide to pour in a concrete walk or use stepping stones, make sure the trail is visible and leads directly from your yard to your front door. Good residential landscaping design always includes a walkway so neither you nor your visitors have to trample the grass. When coming up with your walkway design, ensure the materials you use for the path complement the type of plants you plan to grow.

If you really want to create an enchanting space, consider planting your more colorful plants, such as perennials or azaleas, along the walkway to your house to direct visitors. Adding flower beds on either side of your path all the way up to your door can spruce up the look of your entryway and threshold by adding to the geometrical harmony of your front yard.

Large-Scale Considerations

There are many other landscaping elements you will need to either work around or incorporate into your front yard design scheme.

Trees
Before you put that new tree in the ground, remember the seedling you're planting now will be your yard's anchor in approximately 12 to 15 years. With that said, be cautious about where you place it. While having trees can add some much needed shade to your yard and boost the appeal of your property, don't plant one too close to your house. Once the tree reaches its full height, its branches could fall on your home and damage your roof or cause other serious issues if there's inclement weather. Also, ensure you don't plant it close to your concrete path or the tree's roots could end up cracking your walkway.

Besides tying the whole yard together, trees can also help maintain the health of the other plants in your front yard by taking in runoff water from storms and providing some protection from direct sunlight.

Trees can also save you money on your energy bill by blocking the sun's rays during the summer and cold winds in the winter. Instead of just planting an oak or maple, consider adding a flowering species of tree in your front yard, such as a Sassafras or Pink Dogwood. Once they bloom in the springtime, these smaller, more ornamental trees can provide beautiful contrasting colors to the green of your grass. Search images online to see which type of flowering trees would work best in your front yard. Also be sure to research which ones will work best for the climate in your region.

Fences
Another feature you might need to work around is your fence. Adding a nice wooden fence that starts in your front yard and extends to your back patio can add value to your property and help you keep pets and other animals from digging through your gardens. Along with planting hedges and shrubs of differing heights, a fence can also add more privacy to your home.

Lighting
Keep in mind that not only will your plants and pathways welcome visitors in your front yard, but so will the kind of lighting you choose to install. If you have a raised or flat lawn, think about what type of lights you'd like to use to illuminate certain plants and the walkway to your front door at night.

What Not to Do

There's a lot you can do to form a great landscape design for your front yard, but just as important is what not to do. If you want to save time and money, make sure you avoid these landscaping blunders.

Planting non-native plants
If you live in the Southwest, you might want to plant species of grass or plants that require a lot of water. While there's nothing wrong with introducing non-native plants to your front yard, they can drain you when it comes to time and money. Maintaining non-native plants requires extra time and attention in order to grow them in an environment they aren't accustomed to and your water bills are sure to rise.

With that said, check the status of your plant hardiness zone with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to see which species thrive in your area's climate. If some plants are not native to your zone, then they could die prematurely or require covers to protect them during the winter.

Too much of a good thing
Everybody wants a great-looking front yard, but one that's too busy or overgrown with many of the same types of plants may not only be an eyesore but also be bad for your yard's health. Plant your shrubs and flowering bushes in clusters but also far enough apart so they don't crowd one another. They need room to grow, otherwise your plants may have to compete for water and fertilizer. It's safe to keep your landscaping design clean and simple.

Money-Saving Tips for Landscaping

While landscaping takes time, it doesn't have to be expensive. Here are some tips and tricks to beautify your yard on a budget:

• Make sure you rid your yard of any dying plants and use them as compost to enrich the soil around the rest of your vegetation. Make your own compost from dead plants, used coffee grounds and other kitchen scraps.
• Consider buying your plants second hand. Scour for ferns or flowering plants at garage and yard sales.
• Don't tear down your fencing if it's old. Instead, repair it and give it a fresh coat of paint.
• Check for any weeds and pull them out on a regular basis. Weeds can harm the rest of your plants by siphoning water from them.
• Pick the best type of grass for your region and make sure not to cut your lawn too short. You want the grass' roots to grow.