Alison Marsden, Gardening by Design

Extracts from a full article on the requirements and design of Front Gardens.

For many houses, particularly in urban or suburban areas, laying out a front garden is quite a different prospect from a back garden. It is true of course that some front gardens are very large and secluded and are used extensively for play or entertaining. However there are thousands of small plots open to public gaze, dominated by a drive and walked through rather than played or sat in. If you have one such, read on……

The type soil you have, the amount of sun the garden gets and your own favourite colours will all influence the choice of plants. But before selecting individual specimens there is work to be done: first to be clear on you want from your front garden and second to understand the dos & don’ts of front gardening that will help you achieve the perfect front garden for your house. And it is these last three words that hold the key to the difference between front and back gardens. A back garden is designed according to the needs of family life and leisure. A front garden is designed to show off the house to best advantage whether greeting your home-coming each day or enticing potential purchasers.

What is special about a Front garden?

Objective A Front garden has the primary objective of showing the house off to best advantage. Every householder wants to walk up the street or swing into the drive and see a garden in harmony with his house, that looks like it belongs, that emphasises the best in the house and is beautiful in its own right.

View and backdrop A Front garden is almost always viewed from the entrance towards the house as you approach up the drive or path. The house is then the backdrop to the entire garden and the focal point will always be a specific feature of the house. For a front garden a single style that complements the architecture of the house is usually the best solution.

Seasonal use The front garden operates all year round. You enter and leave just as many times in winter as in summer so the plants that frame the house and focus the eye need to be present at all seasons.

Functional needs Front gardens have limited functional needs: none of the sheds, greenhouses or washing lines that occupy most bask gardens. This is usually fortunate because a great deal of the space may be dedicated to a drive and parking or turning area. The only other mandates are easy access to the front door and possibly somewhere to hide a dustbin.

Summary

A successful front garden enhances the house at all times of the year and sits comfortably with the style and architecture of the house as a backdrop.

A hint at an appropriate style, historical period or geography means the house and garden really seem to belong together. There is no need to attempt a faithful reproduction (very likely to fail anyway but that’s another story) as few suburban houses are genuine Italian villas, French farmhouses, Tudor dwellings or Frank Lloyd Wright originals. A cottage does not have to have a ‘cottage garden’ nor must every modern house garden be based on stainless steel and coloured Perspex. However a house is enhanced if the plants and/or materials somehow reflect the style. For example modern houses can look great with mixed and colourful cottage planting if the boundaries are of a modern material or there is a limited colour pallet used.