Garden Tour: A Front Garden Gets a Contemporary Update
This front garden went from overlooked and tricky to navigate to having a sunny, sunken seating area and lots more trees
Designer Terrey Maufe’s clients contacted her when they wanted to give their front garden a more contemporary look. There was also some troubleshooting to do. “You couldn’t see the front door as you approached the house; you had to walk down higgledy-piggledy concrete steps with manholes in them,” she explains.
The narrow driveway was also problematic and tyre marks had become a feature of the lawn, while a lack of screening meant passers-by could see directly into the front room.
The narrow driveway was also problematic and tyre marks had become a feature of the lawn, while a lack of screening meant passers-by could see directly into the front room.
One of the first issues Terrey tackled, though, was access to the front door, which, as seen in this ‘before’ photo, had previously been an indirect pathway that created a small, unused patch of grass on one side.
“I think it’s really important with a front garden to create a welcoming experience, so you want to see the front door,” Terrey says. Now, you can. “The new path funnels off from the driveway,” she says, “so you approach the door front-on rather than from 90 degrees, as before.”
The garden had also been a space of two halves, divided by the driveway. This image shows the main front garden area. The pathway leads from the front door (from where the photo was taken) up to the driveway. Turn right after the hedge and you’re on your way out of the property; go ahead (the other side of the blue van) and you’re in the secondary part of the garden.
“I think it’s really important with a front garden to create a welcoming experience, so you want to see the front door,” Terrey says. Now, you can. “The new path funnels off from the driveway,” she says, “so you approach the door front-on rather than from 90 degrees, as before.”
The garden had also been a space of two halves, divided by the driveway. This image shows the main front garden area. The pathway leads from the front door (from where the photo was taken) up to the driveway. Turn right after the hedge and you’re on your way out of the property; go ahead (the other side of the blue van) and you’re in the secondary part of the garden.
This is the view of the pathway from the front door to the driveway now. A gentle curve, made from slimline Dutch paviers, provides a more welcoming and direct approach.
Because the garden gets plenty of sun, Terrey was able to add lots of colour. The palette comes from the homeowners’ wedding – the wife had orange and blue in her bouquet. “We used those tones – from the palest of blues through to purple, with bronzes and oranges – throughout the front and back gardens,” Terrey explains, “but there was more opportunity at the front, as it’s sunnier.”
The bed by the hedge includes lavender, perovskia,
Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’, rosemary and salvia. The Erysimum is evergreen, which, along with grasses and ferns elsewhere, provides structure during the colder months.
The bed on the left includes the orange-coloured Heucherella ‘Sweet Tea’, purple salvias, copper ferns and some grasses.
“They’re all pretty bombproof plants,” Terrey says, “and it’s not really a garden that needs watering.”
Because the garden gets plenty of sun, Terrey was able to add lots of colour. The palette comes from the homeowners’ wedding – the wife had orange and blue in her bouquet. “We used those tones – from the palest of blues through to purple, with bronzes and oranges – throughout the front and back gardens,” Terrey explains, “but there was more opportunity at the front, as it’s sunnier.”
The bed by the hedge includes lavender, perovskia,
Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’, rosemary and salvia. The Erysimum is evergreen, which, along with grasses and ferns elsewhere, provides structure during the colder months.
The bed on the left includes the orange-coloured Heucherella ‘Sweet Tea’, purple salvias, copper ferns and some grasses.
“They’re all pretty bombproof plants,” Terrey says, “and it’s not really a garden that needs watering.”
Here, you’re looking across the same flowerbed, but side-on, with the house on the right.
Terrey planted these cherry trees (Prunus maackii ‘Amber Beauty’) at the boundary. “They have shiny, mahogany-coloured bark, so they work really well with the colour theme,” she says. “They also turn a lovely colour in the autumn.”
Find the perfect landscape architect or garden designer for your project in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
Terrey planted these cherry trees (Prunus maackii ‘Amber Beauty’) at the boundary. “They have shiny, mahogany-coloured bark, so they work really well with the colour theme,” she says. “They also turn a lovely colour in the autumn.”
Find the perfect landscape architect or garden designer for your project in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
This shows the path from the driveway, curving down to the front door.
On the right is the sunken seating area Terrey created. “It’s a real suntrap,” she says. “The bench is lovely and beautifully made. It’s also really heavy – useful, as it’s less likely to walk, which can be an issue in a front garden.”
Discreet and adjustable copper lights blend with the palette; one can just be seen at the top of the bed, to highlight where the path starts.
The pale grey path that runs in front of the other side of the house leads to a shed, a gate to the back garden, and tucked-away wheelie bins, which had previously lived on the too-small drive.
Bench, Foras Stone.
Discreet and adjustable copper lights blend with the palette; one can just be seen at the top of the bed, to highlight where the path starts.
The pale grey path that runs in front of the other side of the house leads to a shed, a gate to the back garden, and tucked-away wheelie bins, which had previously lived on the too-small drive.
Bench, Foras Stone.
Terrey planted evergreen jasmines, Trachelospermum jasminoides, in the seating area to ‘green up’ the front of the house.
The grey stone is granite; the gravel is granite chippings. A spherical, Corten steel leaf sculpture sits in the middle of the flowerbed as a focal point as you look across from the bench and window.
The grey stone is granite; the gravel is granite chippings. A spherical, Corten steel leaf sculpture sits in the middle of the flowerbed as a focal point as you look across from the bench and window.
The Corten steel, doughnut-shaped raised bed was built to allow the homeowners to grow fruit and vegetables here, since the front garden gets more light than the back. So it doesn’t look bare, the owners have planted wildflowers in it until they’re ready to start the veg patch.
The gravel path around it is for access and also makes mowing the lawn easier. Inside the central circle (obscured here by the poppies) there’s a birdbath.
The gravel path around it is for access and also makes mowing the lawn easier. Inside the central circle (obscured here by the poppies) there’s a birdbath.
This before photo of the ‘secondary’ side of the garden shows the tyre marks on the grass; the driveway was built for older, narrower cars and the grass was repeatedly driven over.
Terrey removed an ailing cherry tree and planted three tall hornbeams to help shield the garden from properties behind the wall.
Terrey removed an ailing cherry tree and planted three tall hornbeams to help shield the garden from properties behind the wall.
Here’s the secondary garden from the other side of the driveway.
“This shows how separate the two sides of the garden felt,” Terrey says. “With the curves we introduced, we’ve tried to link the two sides, so they relate to each other better. The planting helps, but the curves also notionally tie the two sides together, too, so it now feels like one garden.”
The space in front of the garage was not quite wide enough for two modern cars to park side-by-side and people were either having to squeeze out between doors or step onto the grass as they got out of their vehicles.
“This shows how separate the two sides of the garden felt,” Terrey says. “With the curves we introduced, we’ve tried to link the two sides, so they relate to each other better. The planting helps, but the curves also notionally tie the two sides together, too, so it now feels like one garden.”
The space in front of the garage was not quite wide enough for two modern cars to park side-by-side and people were either having to squeeze out between doors or step onto the grass as they got out of their vehicles.
Terrey widened the driveway and re-covered it. She also added a post with the house number on it that’s visible from the street.
Sensor-activated post lighting illuminates the boundary automatically for cars after dark.
Read more: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Designing a Front Garden.
Sensor-activated post lighting illuminates the boundary automatically for cars after dark.
Read more: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Designing a Front Garden.
This split-screen before and after shows the secondary side of the garden before and during the landscaping.
The planting now ties in with the flowerbeds in the main area for a harmonious space.
Terrey’s plan of the garden.
Tell us…
What are your favourite ideas from Terrey’s design? Let us know – and share your own front garden issues or transformations – in the Comments.
Tell us…
What are your favourite ideas from Terrey’s design? Let us know – and share your own front garden issues or transformations – in the Comments.
Who lives here? A family of three with a daughter
Location Outskirts of Bristol
Property A 1990s detached ‘executive home’ with a garage, within a four-house development
Garden dimensions 22m wide x 23m at the deepest point
Designer Terrey Maufe of Outerspace Creative Landscaping
Terrey was called in to design the front and back gardens of this rural home, and says the front garden gets much more sunshine. As such, she could see the potential for making it somewhere the owners could enjoy spending time, not just a green thoroughfare to the front door.
New key features include a sunny courtyard seating area, a striking circular raised bed for vegetable growing, and nine new trees to help give the space a little more privacy from the road.