17 Small Front Yard Landscaping Ideas Sure to Boost Your Curb Appeal (2024)

17 Small Front Yard Landscaping Ideas Sure to Boost Your Curb Appeal (1)

Your front yard welcomes you home every day and is the first impression you make on guests, neighbors, and—someday down the road—prospective buyers. Why not make sure it's always a good one?

Extend your favorite interior design ideas all the way out to the street and add joy and personality to your home's exterior with a few small changes. Whether you want to do a full-yard overhaul or just make some simple tweaks, bookmark these small front yard landscaping ideas to add major curb appeal to your home.

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Work with Different Depths

17 Small Front Yard Landscaping Ideas Sure to Boost Your Curb Appeal (2)

Make a small front yard seem bigger than it is by working with layers of varying depths and heights. Planting fuller shrubs at the top of your yard next to any trees you may have will add a sense of lushness, and it allows you to go smaller and simpler right next to your home. We also love how the terra cotta pots by the door echo the home's roof.

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Frame a Walkway

17 Small Front Yard Landscaping Ideas Sure to Boost Your Curb Appeal (3)

Make a yard more visually interesting by framing your walkway with mulch and a thin border, then adding small plants, solar lights, and stones. Your mulch beds don't have to be perfectly straight or symmetrical, and this walkway project can help you revamp your front yard in just a weekend.

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Use Bold Plants

17 Small Front Yard Landscaping Ideas Sure to Boost Your Curb Appeal (4)

Even if you don't live in the desert, where you can get the instant 'wow' factor with large cacti, you can still create a unique hedge by crowding large plants in a row. For colder climates, try mixing Weeping Norway Spruce with Dwarf Globe Blue Spruce or Siberian Carpet Cypress for a similar, structural look.

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Use Propagated Plants

Laura Genevieve of Blanco Bungalow gathered all of these plants for her front yard without going to a store—and she did it mostly for free, too. She used the gardening section on NextDoor to find neighbors who were giving out clippings of plants that you can propagate and then, transformed the exterior of her 1920s Spanish bungalow on a budget.

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Plants Rows of Shrubbery

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For a clean, traditional look, layer rows of shrubbery. Your front yard will look great year-round, and your only maintenance will be grabbing the shears every so often. You can play around with what shrubs you use, but just notice how the variations in shade provide contrast here.

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Create Clusters of Plants

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If you want to add flowers but don't want to mess with your hedges or your lawn (or your landlord's hedges or lawn), clusters of short ceramic pots will mimic the effect of a flower bed and can hide any dead patches of grass.

Putting more delicate plants in pots allows you to bring them inside for the winter or even just in the shade if you won't be able to water them for a few days.

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Double Up Your Statements

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You can't go wrong with two sculptural shrubs framing your front door. Notice how these shrubs go above the highest point of the archway and are also taller than the wall sconce, which maximizes the impact of this exterior's multiple layers of landscaping. For faking height, a tall pot (with good drainage) is a quick cheat.

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Go Moody

17 Small Front Yard Landscaping Ideas Sure to Boost Your Curb Appeal (9)

If you're working with built-in planters and you're planting low-moisture greenery, you can get creative and paint your brick. Just do a little research beforehand, as you need to use a breathable primer and paint on exterior brick to prevent mildew buildup.

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Keep It Tiled and Tight

17 Small Front Yard Landscaping Ideas Sure to Boost Your Curb Appeal (10)

For a super tight yard, a more natural look adds intimacy. Let your shrubs get shaggy, encourage climbing plants, and don't fuss too much. Lean into the weathered look with your planters and tile.

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Opt for Sand

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For coastal homes, make every day a beach day and opt for sand over rocks or mulch. The tan looks beautiful with bright succulents, and the sand will provide great drainage for everything you plant. Even better, you'll never have to mow the lawn.

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Think Vertically

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Sometimes, we have big dreams but not a lot of space to work with—or flexibility in our rental agreements. This home makes use of a tall built-in side planter to add greenery to a tight concrete driveway. You can copy the look with hanging box planters, too.

20 of the Best Flower Box Ideas to Try in Your Garden

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Break It Into Zones

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This modern, minimalist home shows how to make less into more. The driveway, walkway, and front yard are all separate squares and rectangles that match the home's face, and sticking to one plant on the porch let's the pink door take the spotlight.

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Stencil Your Front Steps

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Stenciling your steps is a great way to add personality to a tiny front yard. If you don't have a porch, it will make your entry look personalized as opposed to unfinished.

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Skip the Grass

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Grass can be fickle, even more so with our constantly changing weather patterns. If you're already working with a lot of stone, just skip it entirely and fill in empty areas with mulch and hardy plants.

8 Must-Know Mulching Tips, According to the Pros

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Channel Modern Organic Vibes

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If you do have great green grass though, let it shine. Leaving strips of grass in-between stone pavers gives a modern organic look to this front yard, and it can keep a short yard from looking cramped.

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Create Space for Flowers

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This yard shows once again that a small strip of plants goes a long way. These tiny but mighty flowers add pops of color to the white exterior and don't distract from the cheekiness of the pink flamingos.

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Plant Hydrangea Bushes

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Filing your front yard with overflowing hydrangea bushes will make your home look like a fairytale cottage or seaside bed and breakfast. Plus, these plants can withstand cold winters and will come back to delight you year after year.

20 Midcentury Modern Landscaping Ideas to Inspire Your Exterior

17 Small Front Yard Landscaping Ideas Sure to Boost Your Curb Appeal (2024)

FAQs

How can I improve my front yard curb appeal? ›

A small garden with drought-tolerant plants around a mailbox is the most visible way to improve curb appeal. A bench that's visible and accessible creates a visual point that beckons visitors into your yard. Place containers along paths or steps for a big boost of color.

What adds the most curb appeal? ›

The color and condition of the exterior, the landscaping and the overall maintenance of the property all contribute to its curb appeal. This crucial first impression has a big impact when you list your home for sale.

How to make your front yard pop? ›

A well-manicured lawn with established trees, shrubs and plants will always boost a home's curb appeal. Start small with a few fast-growing trees and remember to water them often in the first year or so and fertilize them in the spring and fall.

How do you level a small front yard? ›

How to Level a Yard
  1. Make a Topdressing Mix. Before starting this process, mow and dethatch the lawn. ...
  2. Lift the Sod in Problem Areas of the Lawn. ...
  3. Fill the Holes and Fix the Bumps in the Yard. ...
  4. Spread the Soil Mixture Across the Yard. ...
  5. Water the Lawn. ...
  6. Reapply Soil Mix as Needed.
Jan 24, 2024

How do you landscape a small sloped front yard? ›

Individual rocks or boulders can be arranged along a hillside to help prevent soil erosion. For steeper grades, choose angular boulders that can dig into the soil rather than smooth rocks that are more prone to rolling or washing away.

What is the easiest outdoor plant to grow? ›

10 Easy-to-Grow Outdoor Plants for Gardening Beginners
  • Sunflowers. An annual plant, cheery sunflowers are sturdy, tall fellows who enjoy six to eight hours of direct, daily sun and flourish as long as their soil is not waterlogged. ...
  • Black-eyed Susans. ...
  • Coneflowers. ...
  • Marigolds. ...
  • Daylilies. ...
  • Nasturtiums. ...
  • Lavender. ...
  • Snapdragons.

What plant makes calm? ›

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)

With over 200 species worldwide, the most widely utilized species of valerian is Valeriana officinalis. Valerian has been used from time immemorial to treat restlessness, sleep disorders, and insomnia. The part of the plant used medicinally is the root or rhizome.

What is the flower that grows facing down? ›

Hellebore Blooms

Older varieties of hellebores have nodding blooms that face downward.

How can I make my front yard look rich? ›

10 Ways to Make Your Outdoor Space Look Expensive
  1. Mow Your Lawn. A free and quick way to increase your curb appeal is simply keeping your lawn mowed, shrubs trimmed, and yard clear of leaves. ...
  2. Pick A Decor Style. ...
  3. Coordinate Furniture. ...
  4. Create Distinct Areas. ...
  5. Add Lighting. ...
  6. Make a Grand Entrance. ...
  7. Add Decor.

How can I make my yard look amazing? ›

Check out these simple strategies for beautifying your backyard.
  1. Light It Up. ...
  2. Introduce Formal Edging. ...
  3. Keep It Flexible With Container Gardening. ...
  4. Find a Focal Point. ...
  5. Paint Your Fence. ...
  6. Tidy Up Your Lawn. ...
  7. Power-Wash Your Pavers, Deck, or Patio. ...
  8. Pick the Right Perennials.
Feb 3, 2022

How to landscape your front yard yourself? ›

Plant Garden Beds

Garden beds are an easy and inexpensive way to add new features to a front yard. Separate these gardens from the rest of the yard with edging and then fill with plants, shrubs, flowers, and even trees. You can put these flower beds up near the house, around trees, or even right at the curb.

How do you increase kerb appeal? ›

Ways to improve your property's kerb appeal:
  1. Refresh your door colour. Your front door is one of the main features of your home that buyers will see first. ...
  2. Spruce up your fence. ...
  3. Tidy up the lawn. ...
  4. Clean the path and driveway. ...
  5. Create feature lighting. ...
  6. Spruce up the windows and frames. ...
  7. Gutters and roofing. ...
  8. Brighten things up.

How can I improve my front yard privacy? ›

Opt for trees and hedges that are evergreen so you'll have privacy during all four seasons. Next, add in bushes and shrubs to add more color, depth to the privacy and create visual interest. Finish with flowers either planted in the landscaping or in raised boxes for additional height and to fill in any gaps.

How to increase street appeal? ›

Here she shares some cost-effective home exterior ideas that will improve the kerb appeal of your house.
  1. Fix your fence. 'A broken fence or front gate can be a turn-off and let the property down. ...
  2. Frame the front door. ...
  3. Plant a feature tree. ...
  4. Give your lawn some love. ...
  5. Clean your driveway. ...
  6. Perfect the path. ...
  7. Forget fads.
Sep 25, 2023

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