Front yard low maintenance landscaping ideas

If you want a nice-looking front yard, but low maintenance is important to you, then here are a few landscaping ideas.

Unless you want a cactus garden surrounded by a cement slab, you will probably have at least some landscaping maintenance to do, but there are ways to limit the amount of work required. It is possible to have a beautiful landscape and enjoy it too without giving up every weekend to yard maintenance.

Designing a front yard for low-maintenance

First, before designing a front yard for low maintenance, here are a few things to consider:

Are there large trees at the location?

The fact is, if you have trees, you will have falling leaves, seeds, needles or cones. Removing and replacing large trees is the only way to reduce the constant clean-up that they require.

Is the terrain flat or hilly?

If your front yard is a steep hill, you will need to first design for hill stabilization. It will be important to strategically place large rock outcroppings, terracing, and specific plants as part of your front yard low maintenance design.

What is the purpose of the front yard?

In most cases, the front yard is generally and extension of the home's face, appearance, and style. When looking for front yard low maintenance landscaping ideas, keep in mind whether you want your front yard to offer privacy for the home, provide color, showcase a particular feature, frame the home, etc.

Do you prefer hard surfaces or plants?

Generally, hardscapes are more of a low= maintenance option than plants. Although horizontal surfaces may need to be cleaned once or twice a year, this is usually less work than plant that need to be water, fertilized, trimmed, and make messes.

Is the location sunny or shady?

If you are wanting more plants than hardscapes, keep this landscaping idea in mind: Many of the plants that grow well in sunny areas also need more pruning than their shade-growing neighbors. You can create more shade by planting a low-maintenance hedgerow or installing garden structure.

Other front yard low-maintenance landscaping ideas...

• Decorative rock does not compost into the soil or need to be replenished each year. This is an attractive and suitable alternative to cedar bark. Red lava rock is another alternative to bark that also deters the slugs.
• For low-maintenance plants, search for slow-growing evergreen bushes such as heather or rhododendron. We can provide you with many other choices, depending on the location.
• You might think planting groundcover is a low-maintenance option, but we find that very few ground covers block all the weeds and grass. If you want your groundcover area to look pristine, then choose carefully. For low maintenance landscaping, look for a dense ground cover. If it says it will accommodate foot traffic, it might be dense enough to block the weeds as well.
• Adding greenery with the use of potted plants is a good low-maintenance landscaping idea. Sedums are especially low maintenance and require less watering than most plants. They grow best in the sun, but like pots or rocky areas.
• Some hardscape materials require more maintenance than others. If installing a walkway, a solid cement or gravel spread over a weed barrier might provide the lowest maintenance. Red brick or cobblestone walkways set in sand will require a fair amount of upkeep as weeds and moss grow in the crevices and are difficult to remove. One way to avoid this is to purposely grow moss between the bricks or stones, if you like that appearance; however, if the walkway is in a shady area it will be difficult to kill the algae that grows on the walkway without damaging the moss.
• A fountain or pond is a nice feature for the front yard. It enhances the look of the home and provides a focal point. Although we would not call these "low maintenance" as they do require yearly cleaning and occasional repairs, they may require less maintenance than some fast-growing bushes.

We hope these front yard low maintenance landscaping ideas are of help to you. Please request a consultation from Environmental Construction Inc. if you need help designing a front yard for easy care and low-maintenance. We are specialist in fine landscape design, installation, and garden stewardship.

Category: Landscaping Ideas