Landscape Design Ideas for Your Front Yard in the Hummelstown, PA, Area
A great front yard achieves maximum curb appeal and expresses your personality at the same time. To get started planning your perfect welcoming vibe, here are five landscape design ideas for your front yard in the Hummelstown, PA, area.
Simple Elegance
Simple does not have to mean boring. A warm welcome can be achieved with carefully sized and placed landscape elements. By keeping these in scale with the home, the landscaping will complement the home, under a “less is more” approach. A well-manicured lawn, a few appropriately sized plants, a decorative feature such as a mini rock garden or simply a beautiful paver walkway could be all you need.
In terms of scale, keep your landscaping in proportion to the home: Consider planting a Japanese maple or fruit tree instead of towering spruce trees near the entry of a ranch-style home. Avoid drowning the home in greenery or making it feel like it’s behind a curtain. An unkempt look could feel creepy and unwelcoming.
Warm Welcome
A cottage style front garden is very welcoming with its riot of colorful flowers. However, even if it’s a casual and somewhat wild English-style garden (as opposed to a formal garden) you want to keep it well-maintained. A white picket fence, roses, a cobblestone walkway with a painted wrought-iron bench and a birdbath top off this charming look.
A Formal Hello
A formal courtyard with a fountain in the middle is the epitome of elegance. The fountain doesn’t have to be ornate, with cherubs and multiple tiers, unless you want that classic look. A fountain can be a minimalist bowl with a bubbler and a few river rocks, or a grouping of stone monoliths with water trickling down the sides. Another idea is a copper or rusted metal water wall. The area around the fountain needs to match the elegance: Sophisticated pavers are a versatile way to upgrade your front yard. The design choices for pavers and fountains are virtually endless! Surround this entry courtyard with low retaining walls and formal plantings for a stunning effect.
Natural Minimalism
Carefully placed large boulders, flowy ornamental grasses, low-maintenance plants, and pebbles interspersed with ground cover can take the place of a lawn if a great expanse of green is not your cup of tea. Add a garden sculpture and a flagstone paver walkway, and you have a sophisticated, natural welcome.
A Welcoming Aesthetic
A more unexpected approach is to put a fire pit and seating in the front yard, or add a covered porch. With the decrease in front porches, fewer people hang out in the front yard anymore. This results in less of a neighborhood feel, making even a charming neighborhood more of a bedroom community where people disappear into their homes and rarely interact with their neighbors. You can buck that trend by putting a gathering space in front of the house and spending more time there. Before you know it, your home can become the place to be!
Whatever your choices for your front yard, make sure they complement the home as well as express your personality. For inspiration or to get started on a front yard makeover, give us a call.