Simple front garden ideas

A front garden is your home’s calling card, so it should look great year-round. A well-kept front garden will add “kerb appeal” and value, which is important should you ever want to sell your home. So, if you’re ready for the makeover, explore our top tips in this guide.

Key Takeaways

• Unlike back gardens, front gardens are a snapshot of your home
• A well-kept front garden adds “kerb appeal” and enhances your home’s value.

• Observe other gardens in your development for design ideas.
• Attend flower shows, read gardening magazines, and explore online resources for inspiration.

• Balance hard landscaping (e.g., gravel, block paving) with planting.
• Consider adding low-maintenance plants like Bugle and Creeping Jenny between parked cars.
• Hedges or climbing plants provide greenery and privacy.

• Opt for symmetry, straight lines, and minimal clutter.
• Start with two or three colors in your planting scheme.
• Consider adding fragrant Winter Sweet shrubs against walls or fences.  

Top tips to design an impressive front garden 

Discover our top tips for designing a unique front garden. 

1. Get Inspired

A good place to start is walking around your neighbourhood and taking inspiration from other people’s front garden designs. Are there any that you particularly like? What elements could you incorporate into your garden? You could also visit a flower show or browse gardening magazines and online resources, such as Pinterest. 

2. Keep it simple

If you want a low-maintenance garden, you could have a lawn and a few flowerbeds to add colour. Alternatively, opt for gravel or artificial grass and add shingle to prevent weeds from appearing.

3. Consider the season

Your front garden should look great year-round, so consider adding perennials that will last from early spring to late autumn. These include lavender, geraniums and rudbeckias. You could also plant winter shrubs and flowers, such as winter aconites, heavenly bamboo and scarlet willow. Brighten the space up with colourful camellias, coronillas and pansies.

4. Think about parking 

There are many hard landscaping options for your driveway, from gravel and natural stone block paving to concrete and asphalt. Whether you want to add a modern touch with turf or keep it traditional with cobblestone, your driveway will benefit from a modest planting scheme. 

For instance, you could carve out a corner bedding arrangement to include seasonal flowering shrubs. Plant hydrangeas, camellias, weigelas and mahonias for a splash of colour. Play around with different plant heights and colours to create an impactful design. You can even install a trellis to extend the planting vertically.

5. Use complementary colours

Create a coordinated front garden by adding plants and flowers in similar shades. For instance, lavender, English bluebells and Jack Frost have different shades of purple that will complement each other. You can paint the pots and add path tiles to elevate your garden design. 

6. Hide bins 

If you don’t have space for your bins but don’t want them to be visible in your garden, you can easily hide them. Use a wooden bin store or place them behind some trellis while still enabling easy access. This way, they’ll be out of sight, and your garden will look clutter-free. 

7. Decorate with hanging baskets

Hanging baskets can give your front garden an authentic feel. Opt for lively bedding plants for a short-term project or evergreens for a long-lasting display. If you’re planning a summer makeover, your best picks are geraniums, creeping Jenny and petunias. Alternatively, add ivy, pansies, violas and sedges for a winter look that will wow.  

Hanging baskets dry out quickly, so consider installing an automated watering system to keep them hydrated.

8. Use a variety of pot sizes 

Mixing and matching different pot sizes can add texture and interest to your front garden. Choose terracotta vases and plant your favourite bulbs to create a striking display of colour. 

9. Define your garden with straight lines  

Another brilliant front garden idea is arranging your flowerbeds in straight lines. Start with uniform planting, choosing two or three plants with similar colours and positioning them in straight lines. 

10. Add solar lights

Add solar lights to your front garden to help it stand out day and night. Choose colour-changing lights to enhance the look of your flowerbeds, or opt for solar string lights for a sophisticated touch. If you have extra space, consider installing solar lampposts to brighten your garden.

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