Front Garden Design - Why is it important to invest in this space?
With many front gardens turned into mini car parks - without even a solitary plant, and smaller gardens housing bins and bikes, scattered into the wind, with possibly a pot housing a malnourished and struggling plant, these approaches are barren, unwelcoming and, well let’s face it, unattractive
Green is the most restful colour for the human eye. Green suggests stability and safety. It signifies renewal, abundance and nature and is a balancing colour. Fill your front garden with green to encourage a sense of calm and security as you walk in and out of your home.
Front gardens are your welcome home. They are the first thing your visitors will see. They also offer your property the potential for valuable kerb appeal.
They also have to work hard, needing space allocation for multiple purposes including bins, bikes, cars and log storage. They require a path or paths to the front door and any side doors or gates that are required, with special attention to the main entrance to prevent confusion. Parking for multiple cars with turning areas, location for garages….etc…
It is also well recognised that a house sells within minutes of the viewing. Start selling the house before they have even set foot inside it by making those minutes start from the time the viewer turns towards the entrance gate. Of course we aren’t all sorting our front gardens to simply sell a house, and the value of investing in a well designed front garden far outweighs the financial outlay..
A small sloping garden design working hard for the clients; this includes an area for bins, a bike store, parking for two cars and a path and steps to the front door, and side gate. A small secure garden also is sited off the garage, now converted into a home office.
Designing front gardens is not easy and requires significant thought and a clear design brief. A garden designer is able to do this as they have the experience and knowledge of how to make a relatively small space work hard AND look stunning at the same time.
Once all the specific needs are recognised, which, let’s face it are all hardscape and structures, it is really important to soften the space to create the garden. A garden without plants is simply just a yard!
A really greened entrance to a city garden to maximise connection with nature 375 days a year, improve kerb appeal and provide the clients a warm and friendly approach to their front door.
Interacting with plants is known to be good for the health and wellbeing of people. Every day we enter and leave our homes and so this is the first and last interaction we have with plants within our day. For some this may be the only interaction.
Screen trees, feature trees, hedges, lawns and borders are all features that can lift a space, and create that beautiful welcome and inviting entrance to your home.
Front garden design using existing gate entrance, open lawn, hedging, a feature tree and parking area for maximum kerb appeal.
It is important to recognise too that softscape is generally cheaper than hardscape (some specimen trees aside!). There is no need to pave your entire front garden because,
1) it creates dead space,
2) it creates a barren space, and
3) it’s expensive.
For the larger front garden, considering parking and turning, incorporating key design principles and geometry, a usable and beautiful front garden can be created. If your front garden is large enough for a tree or three then it should be incorporated. The height creates balance, and the benefits of trees in the urban environment is well documented. And all gardens should have softening of the junction between house and hardscape. This will make a HUGE difference to the aesthetics of the space.
An arrival garden for multiple cars with a turning space, wide grass verges, borders including hedges framing the parking area. The design also borrows from adjacent trees that balance the design and the house.
Even the smallest garden can have a well considered design. Victorian front gardens that make up a lot of the London and Brighton housing stock can be very shallow, but a well proportioned and designed bin store, a nice clipped hedge, with a climber and some beautiful paving can make your house stand out from the crowd.
New build gardens are often neglected financially by developers. Ugly concrete paving, an unsightly concrete paving ramp and some sorry looking shrubs are not very appealing. Settling for what the developers have provided you is not necessary. Have the garden designed and built so the ramp is pleasing, a natural stone or beautiful brickwork is laid, and plants billow over the path edges, with a beautiful gate to effortlessly clicks open and that swings gently closed behind you can only provide pleasure that will lift your mood and ensure your day starts and ends restfully and easily.
And if you having your house remodelled and extended to the front, do remember to include the front garden in the project. Why invest significant amounts of money in the house renovations, then forget the space immediately outside. The garden is another room, and an extension to your home. Make the most of this space.
Wildlife in the garden is known to enhance the mood as we as humans try to connect with nature - a hypothesis known as biophylla. A beautiful, well planted front garden will ensure we have this connection every time we walk in and out of our house.
There are many planning rules regarding the development of front gardens, and a garden designer can help advise regarding these. Should you require planning then they can also apply for these permissions on your behalf.
Essentially, when allocating the house renovation budget, don’t leave the front garden off the list. Ringfence some monies to make this part of your home enhance and lift your property and as well as your mood!
If you would like to discuss your front garden project and discuss your design brief, then please get in touch. We are happy to provide a free phone consultation to help answer your questions.