Design Ideas For Small Front Yards

1
Design Ideas For Small Front Yards
2
How to make even the smallest front yard beautiful

• Drive through any Mississauga neighbourhood, and
  in many cases, youll see some large, beautiful
  homes with wide driveways and just the tiniest
  bit of a front yard.
• Thats pretty standard, particularly in newer
  developments.
• The other standard is the fact that most people
  dont know what to do with this little patch, so
  they throw down some sod, get a city tree planted
  and call it a day.

3

• The thing is, the curb appeal of the front of
  your house is everything its the first thing
  you and others see when you drive up to your
  home. Does it leave you underwhelmed or are you
  happy with what you see?
• And lets not forget resale value! Even though
  the front yard isnt typically a living space
  (you arent likely to BBQ right out front!), it
  can be inviting and pleasing to the eye, with
  little effort.
• Keeping your front yard low maintenance, which
  is desirable for many of us, is how we end up
  with the sod and tree combination. But low
  maintenance need not be boring, and while we love
  sod (yes, Toemar sells a ton of sod each year!),
  we also believe that its tip of the
  iceberg/garden!

4
Bring On The Rock Garden

• Getting beyond sod has a couple of advantages,
  right off the bat
• There is no lawn to try and keep green and free
  dog pee spots. Urine spots, created by your own
  pets or your neighbor's wandering mongrel, are a
  pain to deal with. In the aim of keeping your
  small front yard low maintenance, no lawn means
  no yellow spots.

5

• A lawn-free front yard is also racoon
  un-friendly, which is a good thing! Racoons like
  to feast on grubs that they pick out of lawns,
  wrecking your hard won green carpet in the
  process. Squirrels have been known to dig up a
  fair patch of sod too, in the aim of getting to
  something underneath. Either way, by skipping the
  lawn, you can keep the beasties at bay. Since
  racoon droppings are particularly unsanitary for
  both humans and pets, the less you have on your
  yard, the better off youll be.

6

• Instead of placing sod or planting grass seed,
  opt instead for a beautiful pathway made of
  interlocking stones, with a rock garden laid out
  beside it. There is some lovely local rock that
  you can get including Blue Mountain rock, Orillia
  limestone and Bobcaygeon rock. Ontario has some
  fabulous rock quarries, including some very close
  by in Milton, that produce gorgeous pieces.
• Hire a professional hardscaper to plan and put
  your rock garden and pathway in place for one
  simple reason run off. You want to make sure the
  grading is managed in the design so that water,
  whether rain or melting snow, runs off your
  property and away from your neighbours lawn too!

7
Add A Mixture Of Perennials And Bushes

• Once youve got your rocks and path in place,
  you can plan to add some plants and bushes, to
  add texture and colour to the space, with minimal
  maintenance.
• You can create height and a little bit of
  coverage for the front of your home, that might
  otherwise be a blank canvas, with bushes or small
  cedars. Mix in some colourful flowering
  perennials to punch up the look and break up the
  grey, white and green of your background rocks
  and bushes, to create a visually appealing look.

8

• Some people even add water features, within the
  rock garden, to enhance it further. Do remember,
  however, that at the front of your home, youre
  less in control of the space and run the risk of
  someone tampering or playing with the water
  feature, as in the case of a small child who
  absolutely wants to touch it but trips and falls
  in. Keep that in mind when choosing your feature.

9
Top 3 Tips For A Small Front Garden Design

• Grass is not always greenerWeve covered this
  pretty well, above, so suffice it to say that
  grass isnt always the better option on a front
  yard. In fact, ill maintained grass in a small
  space looks worse than it would in a larger
  space. You dont want your curb appeal ruined by
  weeds or dead grass. Once installed, a rock
  garden requires so much less effort. So yes, it
  will take some money and time up front, but it
  will be smooth sailing after that.

10

• Blow out the coloursImagine someone driving down
  your street. Your home has a rock garden with
  beautiful yellow, orange, red and pink flowers
  blooming throughout it. The house next door has
  grass and a bush. Whose do you think will give
  the best impression? While curb appeal might not
  seem important to you, it really makes a
  statement about how much you care about your
  home.

11

• Think proportionallyRocks come in many
  different shapes and, for a small yard, you dont
  want to choose overwhelming sizes, to the point
  where people see the rocks and nothing else!
  Everything you put in front of your house should
  be on a complementary scale to the size of your
  house. So if youve got a bungalow, you might
  want to skip the tall trees and bushes right out
  front, which will bury everything, including the
  house! Instead, choose smaller bushes or tall
  grasses, which look lovely and require little
  help to thrive.

12

• However you choose to beautify your front yard,
  remember that first impressions mean a lot,
  whether its a potential buyer for your home, or
  your future mother-in-law. Either way, put your
  best foot forward without breaking a sweat and
  youll enjoy the look of your home as you
  approach it, every single day.