Ideas for Beds in the Front of Houses

Location

• Randomly placed beds in the front yard serve more as a distraction than an eye-catching landscape. The landscaping beds need careful placement to attract attention to your home's features, as well as pull attention away from any potential eyesores. Traditionally, landscapes beds in the front yard line walkways and fences, and fill in space under windows, in front of porches, and under trees where grass doesn't perform well. Plants placed strategically in beds soften corners and hide unattractive items, like utility boxes. The landscape beds should also invite your visitors to the entrance of your home by framing the entryway and providing a sense of flow that pulls visitors toward the door.

Design

• The beds should harmonize, creating a sense of symmetry. Sometimes an off-symmetrical bed provides a focal point, highlights a specimen plant or makes a statement. Depending on the house architecture, you can choose curved beds or squared beds. In larger yards, island beds break up the monotonous green of a lawn.

Elements

• Different elements of your landscape will serve to give your front yard beds the proper look for your home. Some elements to consider adding include borders or retaining walls of stone, wood, concrete or metal. Bordering the beds separates them from the lawn, keeps grass from encroaching, defines the spaces, provides consistency and retains mulch in the bed. Mulch is another important element, whether you use shredded wood, rock or pine needles, that tops off the landscape. It helps prevent weed growth, retains water in the soil and gives the landscaped beds a finished look.

Plants

• Plants in the landscape beds should match the size of the home and yard. Very large plants, shrubs or trees in small front yard beds of a cottage home will make the whole area feel small and overpowered by the landscape. The opposite is true, as well. Small trees and shrubs look out of place in large yards unless as a part of a specifically themed bed. Color choices also play a role. Use plant colors to contrast or highlight areas, such as bright hostas in a shade bed.