How to Landscape for a Driveway by a Split Foyer

Keep any plants leading from the driveway to the entryway short to avoid blocking windows. Some split foyers do not have garages, or else they have the garage off to the side. The driveway may go past or stop at windows for a room on the lower level, and you do not want the view from that room obscured.

Plant a line of low shrubs or other greenery running from the door down the side of the driveway to the street. The Dakota County Community Development Agency in Eagan, Minnesota, suggests adding this and a retaining wall down the side of the driveway as a way to “link” the entryway and the street.

Make the view of the stairs and entry to your home visible, either through using low plantings or no plantings, especially if the stairs leading up to the front door run sideways down to the driveway. If visitors walking up to your house from the street can’t tell where the path to the front door is, they may end up trampling your lawn in search of the stairs. Obscuring the stairs with plants also creates hiding places for criminals. The Topeka Capital-Journal notes bushes create “ambush points” and should be kept well-trimmed for safety’s sake.

Slope the dirt on the plantings down and away from the walkways and adjacent rooms. Rain will run off the driveway pavement into the dirt, and you don’t want water pooling next to the house. This creates a leak risk for any lower-level rooms.