Investing in professional front yard landscaping pays off big dividends. Nicely landscaped homes are estimated to be valued at from 5.5% to 12.7% higher than comparable homes with no landscaping. Buyers are looking for a neat and tidy design as well as healthy and established trees, shrubs, and perennials.
While backyards tend to be where the fun happens on families’ properties, front yards lean more towards function and appeal. Enlisting the services of landscaping professionals like us at Mirage Landscaping will help your front yard achieve major impact. We have three generations worth of experience working in Calgary, giving us extensive knowledge in what sorts of plantings work where, as well as which are the hardiest and prettiest. With a large crew and all the necessary equipment, we are also able to take on large landscape construction projects, such as deck, walkway, and retaining wall installation, as well as the design and installation of underground irrigation systems.
Maximizing the appeal of your front yard
Planning your front yard landscaping starts with considering the orientation of your house. Any house that faces north will not get good sun regardless, while east- and west-facing homes may only get sun for parts of the day. Your home’s orientation greatly affects your choices of trees, shrub, and perennials.
Front yards provide a lot of opportunity for thought and imagination to take play. Things to consider when planning your front yard landscaping include:
- Doing some shopping. Drive around your favourite neighbourhoods and make note of what you like and why – from the patios and pathways to the trees, shrubs, and plantings.
- Figuring out what matter most to you in your landscaping. Would you like shade on one part of the house for cooler comfort inside? Would you like to keep burglars away from larger and easy-to-access windows? Do you want a large and welcoming entrance with room to sit with family?
- Picking a primary focus point. For most, this is the front door. Secondary focus points may be windows or a piece of landscape architecture, such as a boulder or decorative tree.
- Keeping your landscaping choices in proportion to your home and the size of your yard.
- Choosing an overall colour scheme and theme. It’s tempting to try every pretty plant in your garden, but putting in one of everything can start to look messy unless very carefully tended to Using too many different types of plants can even lessen their chances of survival. Often, simpler designs work best for front yard landscaping.
- Considering hardy plants that can provide a splash of colour throughout the year, such as pines, spruces, and junipers, and a flowering tree always provides extra joy in the spring.
- Lots of people are taking advantage of their front yard space to install raised planting beds to grow their own vegetables, berries, herbs, and spices.
- Xeriscaping, which means landscaping for less grass by using decorative groundcovers and mulch.
- Making sure walkways are wide enough. Some say the minimum width for a walkway is one metre, but we would suggest even wider than that – especially for steps. It’s safer for your visitors and easier to care for come snow removal season. Walkways should never slope more than 10% – ideally from 1% to 5% – and should follow natural access points to your home.
- Thinking about lighting opportunities as you lay out your plan. Installing outdoor lighting such as pathway lights and lamppost that are easily controlled from inside the home is more possible than people think, plus provides added security.
Retaining walls
We highly recommend retaining walls for many front yard landscaping projects. They accentuate home exteriors when built with complimentary stone and colour choices, greatly increasing curb appeal. They allow for sloped properties to become more flat, increasing the amount of usable space for planting and allowing for more variety. Retaining walls also help control erosion and reinforce slopes.
A good retaining wall is mulched in to keep weeds down and moisture in. They lower the need for maintenance, as usually there’s a lot less lawn to have to worry about. Underground irrigation systems help save water, and precisely target your plants, shrubs, and trees to encourage and sustain their health and growth.
Professional Calgary landscaping services by Mirage
If you’re ready to take the next step for your front yard landscaping project, we’re here to provide all the assistance and expertise you need. Browse our portfolio to get the creative juices flowing and request a quote or inquire about any of our other services through our contact form.
