New Landscape Makes a Yard Feel New Again

Curb appeal is partially achieved though beautiful landscaping. Those with larger yards can afford to have lovely trees, boulders, shrubs, and flowers, as well as nice walkways leading to the front of the home. When your house is closer to the street and when you have little lawn space, landscaping options become more limited. If you are hoping to improve your front yard, but are worried you don't have much space to work with, here are some ideas that can help.

Make A Statement

Larger yards can have several landscaping focal pieces, from bright flowers to ornamental statues. You should not follow this example, as it will make the end result more busy than beautiful. Instead, choose one aspect of the landscape that you want to highlight. If you want flowers, for instance, choose one or two brightly colored specimens, and use neutral colored shrubs and rocks to provide a backdrop. Similarly, if you want a bold rock color, like white or red, it's best to choose more subdued shrubs and flowers.

Avoid large or grand features. For example, forgo large water fountains, ponds, boulders, or flower beds that will reduce lawn space. Flower beds should act as borders to make the space look larger, or flowers should be featured in window boxes or pots to prevent them from taking up a large amount of yard space. Additions like wind chimes, bird baths, and statuettes can also make a yard look over-burdened, so less is more is this area. Choose small trees, like hawthorne or flowering crabapple, instead of large specimens like maple, oak, or ash. 

Use Texture

Just because you need to compromise by choosing only one or two focal points for your yard, doesn't mean it needs to look boring. Colors and shapes can be replaced with texture to give interest to the design. For example, a winding path to the front door creates movement in the space and can help a small front yard to look larger. Feathery bushes or tall grasses are better options than hedges, as hedges have a walling-off effect, while the feathery leaves or spaces between grass blades help to expand the yard space visually. 

Create Vertical Designs

You can also add interest to a small space by adding vertical elements that allow the yard to make a big statement. For example, you can soften the look of a neighboring privacy fence by planting columnar aspens in front of the fence. This softens the harsh border of the fence and extends the green space vertically as the column trees mature. Other vertical options include planting ivy or climbing roses along a stretch of wall. 

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