Even when we saw the house for the first time I knew once the front yard landscaping ideas came together, it would be just what I needed to call it the classic southern landscape that I never knew I desired.
The Vision for Our Front Yard
Imagine driving up to your home on a long day after work being greeted by the sunlit hydrangeas, azaleas, and ornamental grasses lining your driveway as you pull in to park. The beautiful lawn with the mini botanical garden whose flower beds whose scent filled your lungs with their fresh smell as you walk toward the front door. That was my (Joshua) goal – to give this property the landscape that it deserved. A colonial classic brick, flanked by small pastureland, leading up to the distant focal point of a lake behind the home; this property deserved a newly planted landscape just as timeless as its natural surroundings.
The Importance of Landscaping Planning
Starting in the front yard will make a dramatic impact to your home to add curb appeal and possibly overall home value. But to start anew you will definitely need a well-thought-out plan for your project, especially if you intend on doing it yourself. In our case, this meant stripping back the land from the overgrown monstrosity in some areas. I wanted the front yard landscaping ideas to have a lot of character that didn’t include labor-intensive maintenance while keeping budget-friendly and cost-effective strategies in mind. The next installment to the series will explain more in-depth, but as I was daydreaming about the yard landscaping, there were factors that I kept top of mind:
1. Consider Your Maintenance Needs and Budget
There’s no need to plan an extravagant front yard landscape full of garden beds and a fancy water feature if you don’t plan to be outside of the house as much as a full-time gardener. The landscape design should take into account what you would like your workload to be, and since there is so much work to be done here to maintain the grounds as is, I would need as little maintenance as possible as there are many opportunities for focal points around the site. Maintenance costs are also taken into consideration here while trying to keep a tight budget. Landscaping plans can easily creep and start to get excessive, either for the space or the overall costs. Sticking to a well-thought-out plan will allow you to stay on budget and create the effortless landscaping for your yard.
2. Creating Cohesive Curb Appeal
Front yard landscaping needs to have a cohesive look to add curb appeal. I wanted to fill in bare spots around the front yard with grass and surround front yard landscaping areas like the porch. Whether that was adding more grass to the lawn or adding mulch to the ground around the trees, I needed the space to look well put together while using a super easy layout that allowed plants and flowers to have color year-round. Each fall, as the seasons change from summer, the plants would continue to show life as we await the next spring.
3. Budget-Friendly Landscaping Tips
Now this doesn’t mean that the landscape design will need to be a cheap, simple layout. There are tactics like using native plants, outdoor lighting, and maybe even the placement of rocks that will create the beautiful front yard that you never knew you could have. If you have been planning ahead for this, strategies like plant propagation or splitting can help save money here. With a little extra time, you can save money by splitting off from other plants that you would like to use in multiple areas or instead of using larger shrubs, opting for a smaller or younger size option can cut costs.
Starting the Cleanup
I started the cleanup by breaking it into areas and completing the task in phases. The side yard uncovered a small cement patio covered by overgrown thorny shrubs and seedlings. I was able to start here by cutting as much of the stems of the brush as possible and using the tractor to create burn piles that would eliminate the need for hauling as soon as each pile was dry enough to burn. Whenever there was time to facilitate a burn, I’d start there and complete more cleanup in the yard after I was sure each fire was contained.
Tackling the Overgrowth
There were many overgrown rose bushes, tree seedlings, and shrubs that had overtaken areas around the home. It turns out that the areas immediately around the home would prove to be a walk in the park compared to the pastures and fence lines that flanked the front yard. Preparing the pastures would take chemical and mechanical means to tame the grassland that the woods had already reclaimed.
Side Story: A Father’s Day Surprise
Allow a little time for a sidestory…
We initiated the cleanup in time enough for my wife to plan the perfect Father’s Day gift. Since we’d started and I love the outdoors, I would bore my wife for days on end about the next task I was looking to complete outside. I was busy doing research for the new tool or item I needed to get to make the job go a little bit easier the next time around. Among all my monologues, she gathered on a key piece of equipment that would make the cleanup a bit more enjoyable and easier on the back – a chainsaw! While I had already had one that hadn’t been used since the last time it was in the repair shop, she would surprise me on Father’s Day 2024 with a Stihl MS 271 Farm Boss! What a day! This monster made the budget purchase chainsaw I’ve had for years pale in comparison (the sprocket actually never turned after I tried it post “repair”). Needless to say, the new chainsaw took its place and now has a permanent home in my warehouse.
Clearing the Fence Lines
I would spend the weekend mornings going down each fence line cutting away and hacking at the thorny vines, weeds, and seedlings that had grown in between the fence panels and barbed wire. With the chainsaw, sawzall, and shovel in tow, I would continue to chop down each section and spray with herbicide to start manicuring what would soon become grazing pasture for the coming cattle. I was also able to get familiar with the new chainsaw here as some of the seedlings were able to grow so long that they matured into full-size trees. Some whose trunks were 2-3 inches in diameter had been allowed to grow along and through the fence. Those that were too thick for the sawzall got the chainsaw treatment. In those precarious areas that wouldn’t allow safe operation of a chainsaw, I was able to use the sawzall.
Revealing What’s Underneath
After many late evenings and weekend mornings, a beautiful landscape would start to emerge – even without the addition of new plant life. Removing the dead, overgrown, and woody plants revealed the grounds’ natural beauty. New ideas of what could be started to show.
Stay Tuned for DIY Front Yard Landscaping – Part 2!
Check out our next entry in the series where we go into the planning for the flowers and shrubs we looked to add later!
If you want to see the patio pavers we installed in the backyard, we’ve got it linked for you right here!
