How to Design a Private Front Yard

While front lawns are usually designed to extend a public, inviting atmosphere, you might have the urge to create a feeling of seclusion and privacy in your front yard. Whether that goal includes camouflaging your home, completely decreasing your home and lawn’s visibility or placing limits on people’s ability to enter your lawn, you get a vast array of natural and artificial alternatives. Determine your particular purpose and consider mixing your procedures of design to get a neighborhood-friendly approach to a private front lawn.

Erect a brief fence, including a picket fence, or one with spaced slats for a feeling of privacy without completely blocking off your lawn’s visibility if you’re just seeking to create sensible solitude. Put in a taller fence without gaps for complete privacy. Select from a variety of materials, such as wood or stone, to get a softer look, brick for a formal look or vinyl to get the most weather-resistant option.

Plant big, dense trees in front lawn near and away from your home to offer only a scattered into completely shielded view from the street. Plant trees, such as sycamores (Platanus occidentalis), which reach heights of around 90 feet with a spread of around 70 feet and thrive at U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4b through 9a.

Line the border of the front yard with evergreen shrubs as a hedge. Plant a tree with dense foliage and visual impact, such as cherry laurels (Prunus caroliniana), which hit a height of 40 feet, a spread of 25 feet and which thrive in USDA hardiness zones 8a through 10a. Prune regularly with shears to maintain the desired height and shape.

Add layers of plants in tall to short in the front lawn, beginning along the sidewalk, as a natural, less intense approach to creating privacy. Plant shorter plants, such as chrysanthemums (Dendranthema x grandiflora), blossoms that thrive in USDA hardiness zones 8 through 10a, as the outermost layer. Plant shrubs supporting the mums, such as evergreen boxwoods, which show a height of around 20 feet, a rounded habit and thrive in USDA hardiness zones 5 through 8. Add additional interest for your own visual and partly to get passersby with an ornamental tree, such as the saucer magnolia (Magnolia x soulangiana), which displays cuplike purple, white or pink flowers with an overall tree height of 30 feet and greatest performance in USDA hardiness zones 5 through 8.

Put in a locked gate at the walkway inside the artificial or living fence you’ve added into the front lawn for complete privacy, including an intercom system or doorbell. Put in a gate with an easy latch for partial privacy if you wish to enable individuals to get into your front yard.

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