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Front garden ideas

1985blonde1985blonde Posts: 10
in Garden design
Hi all, our front garden is east facing so gets the sun most of the day. We currently have a small border against the front wall and another against the house. The border in the middle is shared. The soil is a little dry so we’ve mixed in compost and mature ready.
I’m happy to expand the borders or change the shape of the lawn, but not sure what do to. I’d like low maintenance, with some evergreen colour, maybe some height to soften the brick work. I’m looking to add bulbs in the Autumn and some window boxes for annual colour.
any advice from you lovely lot would be really helpful. Thanks in advance!

Posts

  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783
    English yew, taxis baccata, grown all round the edges would eventually give you low maintenance height and a cosy feel to your front garden.  I’ve planted dogwood (cornus albums and sanguinae) which give foliage in summer and colourful stems in winter.

    That would give you a simple but green garden.

    For flowers I would take up another meter if lawn and plant a variety of rudbeckia, simple perennials that will come back and spread each year and doesn’t require much effort.

    Then, next year, if I liked the progress I’d think about taking the rest of the lawn out and planting it all up :smile:
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    It depends how much lawn you want to keep, but you could sweep a curve right round alongside your neighbour's boundary (are those your plants or theirs ?). Hardy geraniums are always a useful filler plant.

  • fizzwhizzfizzwhizz Posts: 94
    We inherited a curved front border with roses peony aquilegia and various bulbs when we bought last autumn and now spring has sprung and everything flowering I think it’s definitely worth giving up the space for flowers! Makes me happy every time I come home.... so I also vote sweeping curved bed 😁 We are also east facing hence shady photo... no evergreens in ours though unless you count the weeds!
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I would go for a curve too.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I'd widen the wall bed by about 3 ft and then curve it around, as the others advise and widen the shared border your side, curving it round in front of the house to incorporate the house border. You need a minimum of 3 ft in width for it to look good. You might need to talk to the neighbours first. Alternatively you could erect a trellis fence alongside the shared middle border and plant up your side. Once you've decided on the shape you prefer, come back to us for more plant ideas.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
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