However, some landscaping and decorating choices are best avoided. Among them: anything highly personalized, valuable, potentially offensive, or associated with hoarding. Look at it this way: a front yard should be an entry garden that is pleasing, goes with the architectural style of a house, and uses plants that are native or indigenous to the region and are well maintained. The entry and front door should also be easy to access, unless you live in a gate-guarded home or community. Think about that concept called curb appeal: does your house look its best? Does it enhance the neighborhood? Let your backyard be your personal outdoor space, where you can let your creativity, hobbies, passions, and favorite ways to relax all happen, privately.
No, They Can’t Take That Away From Me. Or Can They?
Many cities and residential communities enforce or ban what you can and can’t do with your front yard, which includes landscaping, decorating, and even operating something as innocent as a lemonade stand. Before you build something, make plans, or invest time and money in your personal front yard project, check with local codes and ordinances. To make it easier, consult this list of things that should not be happening in your front yard. Consider getting a space in a nearby antique mall or co-op, or selling online through Etsy, eBay, or CraigsList. And please get the stuff off the driveway or front lawn. Think this is harsh? Some cities have banned frequent yard sales. Check with your local government offices for rules. So even though that plaid velour couch is comfortable and just happens to fit on the front porch doesn’t mean it should be there. Do everyone in the vicinity a favor: donate the sofa, sell it on CraigsList or Facebook Marketplace, or post it as a “curb alert” freebie and get yourself some real porch furniture that is as pleasing to look at as it is comfortable. The same goes for a couch sitting somewhere in the yard. Indoor sofas should stay inside. You don’t want the place to look like a run-down frat house. Look around the yard: there might be other things you can also discard or donate. peterspiro / Getty Images Things to consider:
Mismatched landscaping: The house’s architectural style doesn’t go with the landscaping, like a Mid-century modern house with an English cottage garden in front. A lawn and nothing else. Incompatible plants: Different types of plants are battling in your front yard for the proper shade, sun, and space. Plan what should go where. Traffic: Is there a way to smoothly and safely walk through your yard to the front door, like maybe a path? Overgrown landscaping: When was the last time you picked up a pair of hedge trimmers or pruners?
9 Smart Ways to Add Curb Appeal You are literally airing your laundry in public. Yes, it’s clean, not dirty, but it doesn’t belong in the front yard. The air-drying movement is a good one when it’s confined to a side or back yard. Consider this: If we all had tropical landscaping, traveling to far-off locales to enjoy balmy evenings sipping exotic drinks out of coconuts and watching the palms sway in the breeze wouldn’t be such a special and unique experience. Love the one you’re with. Not everyone loves the idea or look of a little library. Check with your city or township for regulations on home- or neighborhood-based libraries before building a little shelter, only to see it get shut down by local code enforcers. However, those interruptions may not be the other people’s fault. If you have a house with a front and backyard, just why, exactly, is your patio table sitting there, smack dab in the middle of your gravel landscape, four feet from the sidewalk? Sure, it’s nice, rustic, and kind of lends a Mediterranean vibe to your home’s exterior, but who wants to see you chomping a burger in your front yard, sauce running down your chin? Really? Pick up that table now and relocate it to your nice, private backyard. Your neighbors will survive without seeing what you eat and drink every evening.
The Exception
Of course, if you live in an urban environment, where front and back yards are blurred, and everything is communal, forget this advice. Ditto for parties and large gatherings where you need to use every foot of outdoor space. Ingunn B. Haslekaas / Getty Images Yes, you argue, it’s easier to keep an eye on the kids when the play gym is in the front yard, plus it might attract future friends. But plastic, wood, or any kind of children’s play set is safer and more private in a backyard. Soft material can be laid underfoot, to prevent or soften falls. You or another adult can watch over them safely from the confines of a fenced-in yard. And if a ball rolls away from the game, it won’t be in the middle of a busy street. grbender / Getty Images
