The expectations for a successful front garden are high. It should appear inviting, harmonize with the building and represent a floral reflection of the seasons. Get inspired here by a collection of creative ideas for imaginative front garden design.
Which ideas are suitable for creative front garden design?
An imaginative front garden can be created through coordinated garden styles, selected plants and paths as well as creative design ideas for different lighting conditions and child-friendly concepts. Easy-care, robust plants and consideration of space are important.
Front garden design is spatial art - important basic rules at a glance
To ensure that your front garden becomes a piece of paradise, different premises apply than when designing large-scale ornamental gardens. It is truly an art to creatively combine decorative and functional aspects in a limited space. If you follow the following basic rules for front garden design, you won't fall into the trap of overloading:
- Coordinate the garden style with the architectural style of the building
- Trees that remain small become house trees, such as ball maple (Acer platanoides 'Globosum')
- Use columnar trees to provide structure, such as columnar cherry (Prunus serrulata)
- Small shrubs with long-lasting blooms combine with annual summer flowers
- Include the house facade in the design with flowering climbing plants, such as the climbing rose 'New Dawn'
With a composition of trees, perennials and flowers with different heights, you can create a varied look. Arrange the plants in groups and leave enough space so that the tuffs do not crowd each other. This brings calm to the appearance and prevents a motley mess.
Tips for the route
Plan the entrance to the house through the front garden as narrow as possible and as wide as necessary. So that two people can easily pass each other, calculate 60 cm per person, so a minimum width of 120 cm is recommended. A covering made of natural stone slabs (€41.00 on Amazon) or paving stones guarantees safe access in all weathers and harmonizes with any garden style.
Hill bed makes small front garden bigger - this is how it works
Where building land is limited and expensive, there is little space left for the front garden. With a clever design trick you can make the small area much larger. Proud owners of a semi-detached house also use this gardening trick to impressively showcase their front garden. This is how the plan works:
- In the middle of the bed, pile up a 50 cm high mound of humus garden soil with compost
- Plant silverwort (Dryas x suendermannii) around the border of this island
- Arrange small boulders made of natural stone to loosen things up
Plant the hill with pearl basket (Anaphalis triplinervis), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), small candlestick (Gaura lindheimeri 'Short Form'), verbena (Verbena bonariensis 'Lollipop') and toadflax (Linaria purpurea). The planting plan is rounded off by delicate silver ear grass (Achnatherum calamagrostis). A multi-stemmed star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) with a furious display of flowers in spring serves as an eye-catcher.
Sea of flowers in the shady front garden – this is how it works
If your front garden is on the north side of the house, the shady location does not mean forgoing lavish flowers. In spring, a farmer's jasmine (Philadelphus coronarius) welcomes your guests with creamy white flowers. A blue bench in front invites you to enjoy the scent up close. On the side of the path to the entrance door and in narrow beds, bleeding heart (Dicentra 'Alba'), foam blossom (Tiarella) and monkshood (Aconitum) boast of their abundance of flowers, lightened by two tuffs of mountain riding grass (Calamagrostis varia). Evergreen hazelwort (Asarum) is useful as a ground cover.
Make a sunny front garden easy to care for – ideas for a Mediterranean bed
A location in full sun on the south side of the house presents the gardener with particular challenges when designing the front garden. Drought-tolerant survivalists who don't give up even in the blazing summer sun are needed here. The following 16 plants come together to create a magnificently blooming, Mediterranean front garden with an area of 1.5 square meters:
- 2 Junker lilies (Asphodeline lutea)
- 1 Blue oats (Helictotrichon sempervirens)
- 4 pink feather carnations (Dianthus plumarius)
- 1 Spurge (Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii)
- 2 yellow small irises (Iris Barbata-Nana)
- 1 Torch lily (Knipho a uvaria)
- 1 Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
- 3 Dost (Origanum laevigatum)
- 1 Palm lily (Yucca lamentosa)
Palm lily, Junker lilies, blue oats and torch lily, with their growth heights of up to 100 cm, form the backdrop for the lower plants. In the front row, small irises and feather carnations come into their own, combined with the wonderful torch lily, so that there is no boredom in the appearance. In the middle row of beds, sweetheart and lavender form a decorative transition with blue flowers and shapely leaves.
Ideas for the child-friendly front garden
If the children have their way, things can be colorful and exciting in the front yard. The decorative aspect does not have to be neglected, but actually benefits from the child-friendly concept. The following species and varieties impress with edible fruits, fragrant flowers, curious names, magnificent flower discs or extra soft leaves:
- Indian nettle (Monarda fistulosa)
- Monthly strawberry (Fragaria 'Rügen')
- Perennial sunflower (Helianthus decapetalus)
- Mosquito grass (Bouteloua gracilis)
- Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)
- Forget-me-not (Omphalodes verna)
These plants are all robust and easy to care for. This makes them perfect for involving your children in the planting and care work.
Tip
If prying eyes are not welcome in the front garden, realize your design ideas with a fence as a privacy screen. The multi-faceted options range from an evergreen yew hedge with a wave cut to a wooden fence with flowering peepers and an opaque front garden wall.