hello everyone! I need your expertise on what to do with this front yard. As you can see it is not big at all. I have changed to front door paint from off white to blue. Added some plants and stones as well. But right now i feel like it made the space smaller. I am thinking of just cementing the whole front or maybe pavers and then a short fence. Please advise. I wanted the small front yard to look bigger, more usable and attractive. I also thought about adding fake shutters and a planter box on the top window. Help please 🙏
Hi @Rachsplace! What a charming house. You've already made some really lovely updates. I do think you're onto something with wanting a bit more cohesion though. I'd absolutely go with pavers over concrete. They'll help the space feel more open and intentional. For the planting, I'd consider fewer, larger-scale plants instead of lots of smaller ones. That shift alone will make everything feel calmer and more pulled together. Love the low fence idea to make it feel more your own, and I REALLY love the idea of adding a planter box to the upstairs window
Here's a rendering to show your ideas together. It's a bit exaggerated, but it's helpful to see it come together. Hope this helps!
omg this looks so beautiful!!!! Thank you so much😍
This is a lovely and charming house. My first order of business would be to make it stand out from the neighbors' properties. Remove the window AC unit. Paint the door a solid color (not sure if the blue and white door is a rendering or the real thing) that is agreeable with the stone, brick, and slate roof colors. Paint the wrought iron handrail in black, to make it recede into the background. Consider a window box for both upper and lower windows. Plant appropriately-sized shrubs in front of the wrought iron. Find a gray paint that is pleasing with the stone colors and use it on the door trim and tiny arched window trim. Live with it a while. If it looks good, replace all of the white on the facade with the new gray. I really like Daniela's walkway (not aligned with the front door, which adds so much appeal) and low, decorative fence, as well as the landscape lighting. Consider a couple of small flower beds. There is SO much you can do with this little front yard area - I would be tempted to have it all planted, in lieu of a lawn. Good luck to you.
I like Daniela's rendering…but window boxes are hard to maintain…2nd story window boxes are twice as hard. Also no fake shutters, otherwise it looks very nice!
My word, you have a beautiful home! I had a bit of AI fun with it. Here is what I was thinking (and I had AI downplay the color of the electric cord by painting it a mottled red).
I thought maybe a weeping redbud would be just the right size to anchor the cottage garden plants with a touch of height.
I kept the curved flagstone steps to respect the gorgeous curved entry, and put in pops of yellow plus coral drift roses. For the planters flanking the door, I wanted a rich royal blue, and I have no idea why AI didn't keep the perfect curved front door but eh...imagine it, too, remains curved. Lol.
I put in two small garden-sized teak chairs with blue canvas outdoor friendly covers and a small mosaic table to hold morning tea or coffee.
While I know some people only like authentic shutters, however, in this case, they beautifully pull your house together. I went with a deeper blue to match the cushions so the blues pull across, and included some blues in the flowers.
The pictures you uploaded seemed like there was a small basement or other necessary feature to the left near the house, so I left room for it in the plantings so it can be accessed. They disguise it, but acknowledge that it is a feature that likely can't be removed.
I also put the right side wrought iron where I think the actual property line may be. It is quite narrow on the right hand side, so I created a small circular flagstone seating area that I think did not encroach on the neighbor's property.
I live in an 1880 single story historic home in East Texas that we lovingly renovated over 2 years before we could move in (it was collapsing when we purchased it). I have a 125 foot long cottage garden in the front yard that is my pride and joy. People drive to photograph it. And here's the kicker: I used to not be able to keep plants alive in front of our prior home! This time I hired a master gardener to tell me how to make it work. (She only charged me $380!). The key is DEEP, rototilled gorgeous well-amended soil and drip irrigation lines (I YouTubed it and ran them myself). Then she suggested native plantings and a few super hardy non invasive things like knockout roses.
With that in mind, I tried to select plantings for yours that would have showy flowers at many times of the year and some green all year long and a few elements for late fall and winter.
The master gardener program for a city is a volunteer program usually run by the city's extension office and often will give you free advice through a hotline or email. If you have gardening questions in general, they can be a great resource. If the consultation is through the master gardener's program, the fee would go to the extension office/program but not the gardener themselves as it's a volunteer program. They pay for a course to be trained as a master gardener but everything they do is on a volunteer basis for the program.
That said, I like the shutters (fake or real). Advice on plants, try to keep them to native plants and flowers as much as possible to save on water. Xeriscaping is really important.
wow what a beautiful design 😍 Thank you so much!!! Im sure you have a gorgeous home . I love older homes as it has so much character. Thank you for taking the time and showing me how I can also get my house to have that curve appeal. I love the pop of colors. Your right, there is a small entry way on the right side of the property for the basement. I love love love the royal blue. The pop of colors from the plants made it look even more lovely. I like the pavers/stones used for the path ways as it ties with the colors of the authentic roof of the entryway. My dilemma is I need to also replace the screen door , maybe this time with glass as it can get really cold in the winter. Not sure what design would not interfere with the beautiful color of the door. The shutters really appeals to me. I have to measure if I have enough space to add on the sides as I really want them. As for the box planter I will install one but will only be using almost real looking faux plants as it will be hard to maintain since we put our AC in that middle window during summer ( although its only few inches that goes through the window for exhaust as it is one of those portable AC so it wont show much after i place the box planter with the faux plants). as for the plants, we had some
Problems with some not thriving specially by the left side of the property as we think because the gas line runs there. This is why I have mostly potted plants right now in that area. I like the chairs and small table. I may do something like that or maybe a bench. And then lastly the lighting by the door I wanted to replace with 2 larger lighting. Im so excited to start this project. Thanks again 🙏
Thank you for this. I will inquire with the city about the program.
