DIY Landscape Design: Planning the Front Door Landscape
The spur for home improvement occurs in the spring and fall. Everyone wakes from winter slumber wanting something new, fresh, and bright while fall awakens the need for a slower life, muted tones, and the smell of a crackling fire. But while we are feverishly changing accessories inside the home and planting seasonal vegetation we commonly overlook the landscaping around our front door.
This area is one that is commonly overlooked because we assume that merely landscaping the front yard will address that very special area but not necessarily. In landscaping the front door is the entrance or gateway to your home and much like you give directions to the pizza guy, a homeowner must guide the visitor to where it is appropriate to enter the home. This map or landscape GPS to the front door is in the form of non-verbal communication that includes sidewalks, stepping-stones, and door color.
Sidewalks, and stepping-stones present the simple path to the home hearth but if the visitor is not guided in that direction all the non-verbal communication in the world will not encourage the visitor to use that path. This is where color comes into play. The color one paints their front door or entrance way is crucial in communicating where you want the visitor to enter. While door color is a personal choice, there does exist some superstitions associated with color. Red, the Chinese believe, brings the homeowner good luck while some real-estate agents believe that painting the front door yellow will help to sell it quicker. But regardless of what color door you choose, make sure it is a bright color that will guide one’s visitors down the garden path home.
Lighting is another means of communicating where it is appropriate to tread and where it is not. Plus, lighting the path to the front entrance creates a safe environment where no surprises will appear and possibly harm one’s visitors.
Well-placed plant material is another form of gardening non-verbal communication. The brightest colored vegetation and/or flowers needs to be placed around the front door. This once again creates a visual beckon that can add color, seasonal charm and/or holiday cheer. But remember when planning your front door landscaping, do not use plants that will obstruct pathways or block the view of the front door.
Another addition that will guide visitors is house numbers. While this element may seem simple it is a great way of posting identification for the pizza delivery driver, floral shop, and even for emergency help such as police, EMT, and the fire department. Many tragedies have happened when houses were not numbered, incorrectly numbered or the numbers were obscured. So make sure your house numbers are in plain view and can be seen from the road to maximize their usefulness. Outdora provides a vast selection of address plaques from a number of manufacturers.
Characteristics of plants that work well for a front door landscape are low growing or slow growing vegetation that represents the brightest color in your front landscape. Shrubs and trees can be used if they are going to be pruned so consider the amount of time you are willing to spend on maintaining the landscape. Also a basic palette of plants can be used and bulbs and/or flowering plants can be added to incorporate seasonal interest. These can be mums, pansies, tulips, iris, or even annuals such as geraniums and marigolds. But always remember to plan any landscape based on the mature size of the plant not what size it is now. Many homeowners have found that cute 3 foot tree that to their surprise in 5 years became a 10 foot giant that has now blocked the view of their front door and threatened their safety by blocking the view of the house numbers.
Planning a front door landscape with a welcoming front entrance goes beyond laying out the welcome mat. It consists of planning an appropriate walk way or path, lighting the path’s way and utilizing color to create a focal point that will guide the visitor to the entrance way. So before the first hole is dug or the first coat of paint is placed on the front door do a little role-playing and become your own visitor. Is the path that visitors use inviting and clear of obstructions? Are the plants around the front door representative of the brightest color in your front landscaping? And does the front door color coordinate with the front yard landscaping? These are just a few things to think about before heading down to the home improvement center and joining all the other homeowners in the fall round up for home improvement hoedown.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mindy McIntosh-Shetter has been an Agricultural Science educator, and is a horticulture and/or environmental blogger who earned a degree from Purdue University in Agriculture Education with a minor in biology, and natural resources. Presently she is finishing up her Masters in Environmental Education and Urban Planning for the University of Louisville while working on her own agriculture/environmental blog.
