These front yard patio ideas are sure to get you excited about spending more time out front! While some people go all out with their front yard patio design, we’ll show you how you can create a magazine-worthy space on a budget as well. We’ve also included plenty of photos and designs to help you spruce up your new hang-out spot with some front yard landscaping ideas below! Let’s dive in!
Mulch Patios Are Ideal For Front Yards
While it may be tricky to add a large patio in the front yard, you can easily turn a flower bed into a mulch patio like this. With a simple bench seat and a few stepping stones, they’ve created a cozy patio area on a budget. Lining it with blue and pink flowers helps to further define the space. They’ve completed this front yard garden design by incorporating evergreens with a variety of heights, shapes, and foliage colors.
Round Patios Can Create A Grand Entrance
The round patio these homeowners installed makes this entrance feel grand! I love the small circle they left in the center which allowed them to add a nice focal feature with a planter and shrubs! The border of shrubs along the outside of the walkway complements the shrubs in the center. They continued the round theme from the stonework into the shape of the landscape shrubs and even the small trees in the background. They’ve also significantly reduced their lawn maintenance by filling most of the front yard with shrubs and mulch. While you do have to prune plants to maintain their shape a couple of times a year, it’s nowhere near as much work as mowing a large lawn every week.
Flowers Add Color And Charisma
This beautiful front yard landscape design has a variety of desirable features. The large Norway spruce provides shade and a little extra privacy on the front patio. It also works along with the hedgerow and flowers to add dimension to the design. The gorgeous spring tulips in front provide a burst of color, keeping the overall look from feeling drab. Using a hedgerow of arborvitaes as a privacy fence is a great idea if you’re working on a budget. Installing shrubs that will grow into a hedgerow is much cheaper than building a wooden privacy fence.
Water Features Make Outstanding Focal Points
If you want to add a water feature to your landscape, why not make it front and center? In person, this water feature will enchant you with the soothing sounds of the cascading water that sparkles with the sun’s reflection. The bountiful border of colorful shrubs and flowers further highlights the tiered waterfall as the star of the show. You’re sure to like sitting on this front yard patio where you can enjoy the sights and sounds of this lovely landscape design.
Stones Help Anchor Large Flower Beds
These large flower beds are the ideal border for this stunning walkway leading to the patio. The small stone boulders throughout are reminiscent of a rock garden and help break up brown mulch by adding texture and color. A row of boxwoods on the right adds an element of elegance and they balance out the perfectly pruned tree on the left. I adore the use of the pink dogwood to add color to the landscape which also contrasts well with the blue house. Having a diversity of plants in a front yard garden, from ornamental grasses to showy flowering shrubs, helps turn your design into a work of art!
Boxwood Shrub Topiaries Evoke Sophistication
I love using boxwood shrubs because of how versatile they are. It’s difficult to think of another plant that can be used alone and still create a visually interesting design. Here they’ve created a sophisticated English-inspired garden using boxwood shrubs. Adding a scalloped corner to the brick walkway’s boxwood borders is more unique than simply having them squared off. The topiaries in the center of each section add height and character to the design. By placing a tall tree in the center they’ve created a lovely focal point that doesn’t detract from the amazing design below. And the quaint little seating area on the patio provides the perfect spot to relax and enjoy the view.
A Front Yard Pond Provides Serenity
Adding a pond is a wonderful choice if you want to create a more tranquil landscape around your front yard patio. This placid water feature brings a sense of peace and serenity to the yard. It also creates a luxury entrance to the property that is sure to impress visitors. I appreciate the use of the boulders and pebbles around the pond which makes it look natural in the landscape. The use of landscaping here makes this Tudor-style home feel like a countryside cottage right out of a storybook.
Arbor Gates Accentuate A Patio’s Entrance
Arbors are one of my favorite landscape elements. They can be used to add height, support vining flowers, and accentuate walkways. This black arbor ties in perfectly with the black railing of the porch and rooftop deck. The boxwoods line the sidewalk beautifully and draw your eye up to the arbor and porch. As the wisteria vines grow across the arbor, they’ll add a delightful amount of color when their showy lavender flowers emerge in spring. They’ve also used similar plants on either side of the yard without making them identical. This helps them balance each other nicely but still allows the landscape to look more interesting and natural.
Use Stonework For Low Maintenance Landscaping
A low-maintenance landscape can still be breathtaking when you use stonework correctly. Instead of a simple brick retaining wall, these homeowners have used boulders which create a more unique and rustic look. They’ve incorporated the boulders into the landscape by adding an attractive dry river bed of large pebbles. The riverbed will also help direct water runoff from the yard during heavy rain which is a bonus. To keep things easy to maintain, they’ve added small conifers which make the stonework feel warm and inviting. Other than mowing the small lawn, these homeowners won’t have to lift a finger to keep this landscape looking gorgeous from the patio above.
Grass Between Bricks Looks Expensive And Elegant
Using grass between bricks for a driveway or front patio creates a custom look on a budget. It adds some color and accentuates the pattern of the brickwork. Passersby will think you’ve spent a ton of money and time to create the look. However, this landscape feature is affordable and fairly easy to maintain. The diamond pattern they’ve used here looks wonderful in front of this Spanish-style home. The clean lines of the patio also balance out the lush flower beds of the grassless front yard nicely.
Roses Are Alluring Landscape Plants
Roses are one of my preferred perennial landscape plants. They provide season-long color and an enticing aroma. Here they’ve lined this inviting walkway to their front yard patio with white roses that complement the home’s white trim and columns. They welcome guests by delighting both their visual and olfactory senses. Roses also make great cut flowers so you can easily bring a handful in to enjoy their beauty and fragrance indoors too!
Paved Doorways Provide Privacy
This paved doorway creates a breathtaking entrance to the private patio garden beyond. The border of shrubs along the flagstone pathway adds some uniformity to the patchwork of stones. They’ve also added a splash of color with the pink azaleas and hanging planters overflowing with flowers. Based on the beauty surrounding this walkway and gate, I can only imagine the breathtaking garden that must be hiding just inside!
Gravel Is Perfect For A Rustic Design
This home is surrounded by woods which pair with this rustic landscaping flawlessly. Rather than using an abundance of flowers, they’ve used a variety of foliage with different shades of greens and yellows to create texture and interest. The gravel paths define the various landscape beds without taking away from the rugged look. The home literally looks like it was dropped into the middle of a magical forest. Rustic design ideas are all about incorporating natural colors and materials which is exactly what they’ve done here.
Boxwood Borders Are Classic And Timeless
This front patio walkway lined with boxwoods has a classic feel that won’t go out of style. Boxwoods have been a cornerstone for creating elegant garden designs for centuries. You can incorporate them with flowers if you want to add color as they’ve done here. The boxwoods give the design clean lines which balance out the more unruly growth of the surrounding flowers for an overall well-maintained, polished look. The concrete bench and birdbath add an inviting element to the design.
Tall Shrubs Create An Irresistible Entryway
The tall shrubs lining this front yard patio add height to the landscape without covering up the lovely architecture of this ranch-style home. They frame the sidewalk while highlighting the entryway making it feel inviting. They’ve added even more height and style by incorporating the spiral topiaries beside the arched windows. I’m loving how the symmetry of the landscaping matches the symmetry of the home’s architecture!
Sloped Front Yards Offer Unique Landscaping Opportunities
Some people see a sloped front yard as a negative home feature that’s difficult to landscape. However, I see a unique opportunity to add landscape features that don’t work anywhere else. You can choose between using boulders or terraces with retention walls to support your landscape plants.
Using boulders looks more natural and also adds character to the landscape since each boulder acts as a one-of-a-kind sculpture in the design. The boulders will help prevent any soil erosion and they complement the color of the house really well. By combining the sleek glass and black metal railing with the natural stone, they’ve created a modern rustic vibe. I adore how they incorporated stone pillars into the lower level’s glass railing to help tie in the boulders on the slope below.
For a more contemporary, polished look you can remove some of the soil from the slope and create terraces instead. The terraces create level planting areas that are easier to maintain. They added height to accentuate the top terrace by adding a row of arborvitae shrubs along the front edge. The pink flowers add a warm pop of color that works well with the warm colors found on the house and walkway.
Plants Add Character To Monotoned Brick
While I typically prefer a brick with a bit more character, these solid-colored bricks work perfectly for this design. This whimsical front yard patio is packed with textures and colors. They’ve used just about every type of landscape plant including ground cover foliage, shrubs, trees, flowers, flowering shrubs, potted flowers, and hanging flowers. With so many landscaping features all crammed together, the simple solid colored bricks keep the design from becoming overwhelming. Alone the solid red bricks might seem a little boring, but there’s nothing boring about this front yard landscaping idea!
Rock Gardens Will Last A Lifetime
Whether you’re going for a rustic or modern look, you can incorporate rocks into the landscape to make it last a lifetime. They can also make your landscaping more low maintenance by reducing the number of plants and mulch it takes to fill a flowerbed.
This homeowner has incorporated boulders into their more rustic-looking landscape beautifully. They’ve added a handful of shrubs, small trees, and a few flowers among the boulders to liven up the space. The boulders also serve a utilitarian purpose here since they help prevent erosion in this sloped front yard. Adding the rock garden to the slope of the hill also saves this homeowner from having to mow a sloped lawn which can be back-breaking work. They’ve made mowing the lawn easier while adding a marvelous landscape feature!
This rock garden is buried below a jungle of flowering summer plants that cascade over them magnificently! The unruly garden helps to soften the straight lines of the architecture of this modern home. The boulders will also help prevent weeds from growing which saves you some time when it comes to maintaining flower beds. In the winter, when the flowers and foliage fade, the boulders will become the star of the landscape design. Using boulders instead of evergreens to add winter interest to your front yard is a fabulous idea! For more ideas on how to incorporate boulders into your design, check out our Boulder Landscaping Ideas article.
Evergreen Landscapes Are Picturesque Year-Round
Evergreens are perennial plants that won’t lose their leaves in winter. Adding them to the landscape will ensure your design looks beautiful year-round. They’re also more low maintenance since you won’t have to rake up their leaves each fall. You can add a variety of colors and textures with coniferous evergreens as they have here by using blue-green spruces and a weeping cypress tree. Broadleaf evergreens like the purple Loropetalums and boxwoods in this design add even more character to a landscape full of evergreens. Boxwoods are perfect for creating a border along the stair on a hill like this. Since these homeowners are on a slope, they’ve added terraced flower beds next to the driveway which allows them to use smaller shrubs up top that won’t be hidden by the shrubs below.
Colorful Borders Make A Paved Front Yard Patio Pop
The colorful plants lining this paved front patio draw attention to the neutral, swirling designs of the stones. This minimal design doesn’t feel minimal because it is bursting with colors! I like that they’ve grouped plants with similar colors together which makes the design look more intentional. Using smaller shrubs and flowers also ensures that the colorful landscape doesn’t overshadow the exquisite woodwork on this craftsman-style home.
Retaining Walls Have Multiple Uses
If you have a slope in your front yard, a retaining wall will allow you to easily install landscaping plants. Here they’ve created two terraces with retaining walls. The beauty of a terrace is how it can turn a sloped yard into a flat yard with multiple levels. This makes installing landscape plants easy and enables you to use larger shrubs and trees in the yard. Without a terrace, it can be tricky to install larger plants on a slope because they tend to lean. I adore how they’ve matched the stonework of the retaining wall to the stonework at the base of the columns on the patio!
You can also use a retaining wall to create an elevated front yard patio. They’ve used stucco siding and terracotta-colored stones which are perfect for this Spanish-style home. They’ve added some taller trees and shrubs alongside the walls to add life to the space. Matching the patio furniture to the shutters and trim ties everything together seamlessly!
Courtyard Patios Create A Private Front Yard Oasis
If you have a recessed area along the front of your home, why not turn it into a front yard patio courtyard? A courtyard can allow you to have some added privacy while enjoying your front yard. Here they’ve added seating all around which allows you to find a shady spot no matter where the sun is. It also provides ample seating room for entertaining guests in your garden oasis. Potted plants will allow you to carry the landscaping into the courtyard, tying it into the front yard nicely.
Covered Concrete Patios Make Comfortable Front Yard Retreats
Having a covered concrete patio in your front yard will allow you to enjoy it anytime. The cover keeps you from getting wet in the rain and provides a shady retreat when the weather is hot. The way they’ve tied the winding walkway into the landscape by pouring a custom border around the island flowerbed is admirable. I think it’s a shame that most people don’t consider adding a front yard patio. It limits their ability to enjoy the hard work they put into giving their home outstanding curb appeal.
A Small Front Yard Patio Fits Any Yard
You don’t have to have a huge front yard to add a patio to it. Here they’ve added a small patio with room for two chairs which fits the space superbly! It also helps to balance out the covered porch area on the other side of the house. Since the patio is right off their dining room, they can easily enjoy an evening nightcap outside after dinner. Who wouldn’t want to spend more time enjoying this idyllic and charming front yard?
Shady Patios Are Perfect For Enjoying Front Yard Garden
This front yard garden is teaming with an array of fabulous plants! From the hostas to the dwarf Japanese maple to the golden Japanese forest grass, this landscape design is a garden lover’s dream! Not to mention the landscaping with rocks that they’ve added. The winding dry river bed adds even more visual interest to the mix. To top it all off they have an inviting shady seating area where they can sit back and enjoy the view!
