10 Ideas for Front Gardens That Sneak in a Parking Space
These fab front spaces combine great architectural and garden design with clever ideas for incorporating a car, too
Although they are seen by anyone passing by, front gardens are often a bit of an afterthought. We tend to spend time designing and nurturing the outdoor space at the rear of our homes, while neglecting the patch at the front. If we are lucky enough to have off-street parking, all too often this space becomes home to a car and little else, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Clever design can make the approach to your home appealing, with room for four wheels, gorgeous planting and some nifty design details, too.
Plant between the paving stones
Planting hardy green ground cover between paving stones helps to soften the appearance of a driveway, while also drawing attention to the mix of slabs in various sizes. This detail is teamed with beds created using chunky stone, giving this house front both texture and greenery.
Planting hardy green ground cover between paving stones helps to soften the appearance of a driveway, while also drawing attention to the mix of slabs in various sizes. This detail is teamed with beds created using chunky stone, giving this house front both texture and greenery.
Create a curve
Front gardens with a driveway often suffer from being rather straight – both in shape and style! Building a curved driveway that becomes a path to the front door creates some movement and energy. A mix of lawn and planting further boosts the interest outside this stylish home.
Front gardens with a driveway often suffer from being rather straight – both in shape and style! Building a curved driveway that becomes a path to the front door creates some movement and energy. A mix of lawn and planting further boosts the interest outside this stylish home.
Use recycled materials
Reclaimed railway sleepers mixed with scoria stones make a rugged, textural driveway at the front of this Australian home. A low-maintenance mix of shrubby planting is all that’s needed to add some greenery.
Reclaimed railway sleepers mixed with scoria stones make a rugged, textural driveway at the front of this Australian home. A low-maintenance mix of shrubby planting is all that’s needed to add some greenery.
Keep it simple
A neat, low fence borders the parking space at the front of this house. It sits just below the property’s floor level, leaving space for log storage beneath. The lush hedgerow makes a fabulous green border, so there’s no need for more formal planting out front.
See more of this converted telephone exchange
A neat, low fence borders the parking space at the front of this house. It sits just below the property’s floor level, leaving space for log storage beneath. The lush hedgerow makes a fabulous green border, so there’s no need for more formal planting out front.
See more of this converted telephone exchange
Box clever
The contemporary design of this suburban front garden uses a series of box shapes to give structure to a standard space. Square flower beds are teamed with simple square paving, laid with wide margins for a handsome grid effect. The path leads the eye towards the front door and away from the driveway, which is on the left.
Read more about geometric garden design
The contemporary design of this suburban front garden uses a series of box shapes to give structure to a standard space. Square flower beds are teamed with simple square paving, laid with wide margins for a handsome grid effect. The path leads the eye towards the front door and away from the driveway, which is on the left.
Read more about geometric garden design
Max up the features
This contemporary family home has a wealth of stylish features out front. A mix of planting, from hedges and trees to box bushes in tall planters, adds green detail on one side, while a water features cascades down to the left of the path. There is lawn and a mix of paving, too, so that the driveway to the side barely registers, stylishly eclipsed by this beautifully designed space.
This contemporary family home has a wealth of stylish features out front. A mix of planting, from hedges and trees to box bushes in tall planters, adds green detail on one side, while a water features cascades down to the left of the path. There is lawn and a mix of paving, too, so that the driveway to the side barely registers, stylishly eclipsed by this beautifully designed space.
Fit fabulous doors
Dreary garage doors don’t do anything for the front of your house, but super-modern bi-fold doors like these, in American black walnut, make a big functional car park look exceptionally stylish.
Dreary garage doors don’t do anything for the front of your house, but super-modern bi-fold doors like these, in American black walnut, make a big functional car park look exceptionally stylish.
Make much of the access
This modernist house sits on a small plot in the Bronx, New York. Steps lead up to the front door, boxed in by a structure made with thin timber slats that allow the stairs to be glimpsed within. There is off-street parking and a small patch of green, too, but the access up to the house is the show-stopping element of this exterior.
This modernist house sits on a small plot in the Bronx, New York. Steps lead up to the front door, boxed in by a structure made with thin timber slats that allow the stairs to be glimpsed within. There is off-street parking and a small patch of green, too, but the access up to the house is the show-stopping element of this exterior.
Build up
This modernist house is elevated, leaving space underneath for car parking. Anyone in the house will have views of the surrounding countryside, unspoiled by the site of a vehicle.
Share your thoughts on good designs for front gardens in the Comments section below.
This modernist house is elevated, leaving space underneath for car parking. Anyone in the house will have views of the surrounding countryside, unspoiled by the site of a vehicle.
Share your thoughts on good designs for front gardens in the Comments section below.
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Delineate your off-street parking by laying a surface that’s different to the adjoining road and pavement. Here, gravel creates a crunchy contrast and also boosts security, as you can hear anyone walking across it.