Is the front yard just for show? Are investments in curb appeal landscapes frivolous? Let’s think about this.
Our landscape architects spend a lot of time developing front yard curb appeal landscapes and “arrival experiences” for our Northern Virginia clientele. However, much of the attention we get from the press goes to our back yard landscapes where people can enjoy privacy and special time with family and friends. And, practically speaking, it makes sense to invest in landscape design that organizes a back yard into functional spaces that can be used for play and relaxation throughout three seasons.
So, what about the front yard? The street facing side of your home performs an extremely important, although subtle, function. You don’t live in it the way you might in a backyard, but your front yard can be designed to deliver a positive experience as you move through it. We call that “an arrival experience”.
Here are three examples of landscape curb appeal that show how a landscape architect can create that magic “welcome home” feeling by investing a little or investing a lot in the front yard design. Our three examples, all from Northern Virginia, are located in Herndon, Great Falls, and McLean.
Enhancing landscape curb appeal in a small Herndon front yard
Here’s an example of a small front yard landscape project in Herndon, Virginia where minor changes made a big impact.
The existing front steps and stoop had settled and were crumbling with age. The plants were not doing well and were difficult to maintain. The walkway was too narrow and the surface was uneven. The owners felt the whole look was just tired and past due for a refresh.
The front yard design specified a new walk way, front steps, entry porch and an overhaul of the planting beds.
Now the walk to the front entry is wider and has a gracious curve to it. The effect is that the walkway is longer and more grand.
Keep the best of the old and mix it with fresh and new
I appreciated that they reused some things already on the site. They also recommended better spots for some of the plants I’d never been able to get growing well.
Lisa Narod, Herdon
The landscape design specified the reuse of stones and plants that were on the property. The landscapers moved select plants around so they would be in the best spot for growing and for visual composition.
Overall, the design gave the front yard more depth and visual variety. It spreads out from the house more and invites you toward the front door.
We’ll be outside doing yard work and people we don’t even know will come walking by and compliment us.
Bob Narod, Herndon
Transform Your Front Yard Landscaping Into a Welcoming Arrival Experience
Is your experience of arriving home each day underwhelming? This ebook is for you! Find out how to reinvent your front yard landscape and swap that “blah” experience for a feeling of pride and pleasure.
Balancing Aesthetics and Common Sense in Great Falls
This next curb appeal landscape project required a more ambitious plan in order to remedy all the outstanding issues at this Great Falls, Virginia residence.
- There were serious drainage problems that needed correction. The site sloped to the left (as you face the house) and that caused a wet spot and puddling against a corner of the foundation.
- The walkway was crudely assembled from flat cut slates framed by drab landscape timbers.
- The front entry porch was not quite a porch. An exposed beam structure, open to the sky, it had the appearance of a pergola leaning against the house. It provided no shelter from the weather for a guest waiting to be let in. The homeowner says, “The structure was probably meant to achieve an aesthetic effect, but it was just impractical. It didn’t make sense.”
The owners of this Great Falls residence wanted to resolve functional issues in a way that would enhance the curb appeal of their home. To resolve the drainage and front walkway issues, landscape architect Howard Cohen added fill, built up the front yard, leveled it and held it back with a low retaining wall. With the new curb appeal landscape design, a front walkway now leads directly and gracefully up long shallow steps that cut through the retaining wall and arrive at the new front stoop
Cohen’s porch design added curved detailing to the new front entry. He used synthetic wood for the structural posts and beams but did the porch ceiling in natural pine with a light stain.
What Howard came up with was a surprise. He added woodwork that’s almost sculptural. It’s a really nice entry without being over the top.
Rick Bress, Great Falls
The front of the home is now organized visually. It is a blend of organic and constructed forms presented on a variety of levels that lead the eye to the new front entry porch. And, all the functional problems have been resolved by the aesthetic solutions.
A McLean Front Yard Minus Seventy-Five Truckloads of Dirt
That’s how much earth had to be removed to ease the grade of this McLean, Virginia front yard so it could be built back up into a fully functional and welcoming arrival area.
I knew nothing about landscaping before this. We got a real appreciation for what stone work requires. Seeing people day after day for months doing it. It really is skilled artisan work.
Craig Ellison, McLean
The front yard of this McLean Virginia home was, according to the homeowner, “bland and dated”. The extremely steep grade of the driveway was a serious problem. He says, “I had a Porsche Turbo at that time and I was bottoming out every time I’d pull out onto the street”. Also, there was a small turn around space to the side of the driveway that wasn’t even big enough to easily make a turn. The owner says he had to do a 3-point turn to avoid bumping a tree that had been planted too close.
The landscape architect proposed excavating the entire front yard in order to rebuild the grade. He extended that awkward turn around space to the side of the driveway and turned it into a semi circular drive. This super-charged the curb appeal of this McLean home by reshaping the entire front of the house and creating a smooth alternative approach to the main driveway.
The landscape architect’s design plan specified low curving retaining walls to frame the new driveway design and to define the front entry. He added an entry porch with a curved roof that reflects the curves of the retaining walls.
Originally the homeowners thought they wanted to have walls along the street for privacy. But the architect cautioned them that a fortress-like street presence might alienate the neighbors. They took his advice. Instead, by planting beds and low trees they achieve a softer kind of privacy screening on the street side.
I enjoy just driving up every day when I come home from work to this really nice and tastefully done yard. There’s nothing overdone or garish about it. It just fits the place.
Craig Ellison, McLean
So there are your curb appeal landscape design treatments—small, medium and large. Each resolves a different set of aesthetic and practical problems. But all arrive at the same place: a visual composition that welcomes you home and causes passersby to turn their heads and stare as they walk past.
Front yard landscaping can be tricky because of limited space or awkward grading. If you’d like to talk about making the approach to your home more welcoming, please feel free to schedule a consultation with one of our landscape architects.
And if you are thinking about improving your landscape curb appeal, our eBook: Transform Your Front Yard Landscaping Into a Welcoming Arrival Experience, is full of valuable information to help you get started.