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Fabulous Front Yards!
Front yards are all about first impressions! Landscaping can make a huge difference in how your house is presented and received.
Often times it is not how much landscaping is done, but that the elements that create the landscaping of the front of your house are in the exact right place and are in proportion to the house and its surroundings. I have had numerous clients tell me that the front yard landscaping helped sell their house.
Home Staging Companies
have become successful for just this reason.
They help you present or redesign your home with resale in mind. Again, good first impressions always make a difference!
This house says “hello, come in”!
An old walk was removed to make room for a stone
walk that brings visitors in at an angle that shows
off the front of the house. The stone walls look
natural in this wooded setting and finishes off the
edge of the driveway. The recessed area is a welcoming
entrance to the walkway and is a place to have colorful
plantings.
Special considerations need to be taken when working on
this aspect of your landscaping. Follow these
suggestions to accomplish great results:
- One of the most important things to consider
when landscaping the front of your house is that the
house is the focal point. Other parts of
your home grounds may focus on the view out a window
or making a comfortable swimming pool and entertainment
area. This is the one part of your property where
the house should shine!
- My philosophy for landscaping the front
of the house is to create an overall beautiful scene.
There has to be a balance between the landscaping and
the architecture. When that balance is met, wow! One
should not overpower the other. I do not like
to see a landscaping job where all you notice is the
landscaping. The reaction I want as a designer is for
people to say “What a gorgeous home!”
- You have to compliment and accent the
architecture of the house! All too often I
see plants that grow too tall and hide important
architectural details of a home. To avoid this problem
know what the plant’s size is going to be at maturity.
- The front door needs to be visually and
physically accessible. When your house is
approached by a visitor, it needs to be clear how to
get to the front door. This means having a walkway
that leads your visitor from a driveway or if in an
urban setting a city sidewalk to your front door.
Planting should frame the front door which brings the
eye to it. Do not block it with trees, not even small
flowering trees.
This house could not be more impressive!
Not only does it look beautiful from the street and
when you approach it, but the driveway easily leads
a visitor to the front door. The front door entrance
is prominent, yet access is provided on curving walkways
that go to the two side doors. The fountain in the
center of the driveway becomes a lovely focal point
that accents the architecture and gives the property a formal,
welcoming appearance.
- Driveways are a major element of the
frontyard. Design them wisely to take
visitors easily to the front door. If the
driveway
also goes to the garage, design the driveway so the
garage area is the family’s private parking. In most
cases, I can design a driveway so the approach focuses
on the front door, then carries a car beyond the guest
area to the garage.
This house has such nice street appeal that
it stands out in its community! The concrete
paver driveway is easy to navigate, takes visitors to
the front door and gives access to the garage, all in
a small space. It works so well and creates an elegant
and finished approach to the house. The cobblestone
edge keeps the mulch off the driveway and adds a
finishing touch. The plant combinations are unique
and add color and interest that is different than
the neighbors. A white brick house is striking and
also such a nice backdrop for plants.
Your house needs to say “welcome”!
Landscaping does this for you! Imagine what it
would look like without beautiful plants that integrate
it with its surroundings. In Virginia our winters
are not too severe, so the shrubbery is seen all year.
Clients love evergreens for the front yard. The
skeleton of my front yard landscape designs consist
of evergreen shrubs that may have space forward of them
for other types of plants. Depending on each individual
situation, I may use a combination of evergreen and
deciduous trees away from the house that add shade,
color and interest. Trees are the plants that help
frame the house and bring your eye to the front door.
Stand away from the house and consider the
overall area surrounding the house to create the best
planting scheme.
Water front homes offer a unique set of
circumstances. They have two front yards.
When landscaping remember you want to also create
a beautiful view of your house to folks cruising by.
Please
contact me
for further information or to talk to me about my
design services.
Nancy Dransfield
Landesign of Virginia, Inc.
P.O. Box 15582
Richmond, Virginia 23227
Office: 804-261-6773
Fax: 804-264-7253
E-mail:
n.dransfield@verizon.net
Are you working on improving the street
appeal of your house? Want some help?
Please
submit a question
and you will get a quick response and a page
on the site to discuss and share the topic with
friends and readers. I hope to be hearing from
you!
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