22 Budget-Friendly Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

Between labor and material costs, a landscaping bill adds up fast. However, there are several changes you can tackle yourself in just a weekend for around $100. If you're up for some slightly more expensive and involved changes, you might even yield a return on your investment due to lower maintenance costs and a property value increase. So, take inspiration from these front yard landscapes and then head outside with a shovel in tow.

Use Large Flower Pots as Landscaping Features

Oversized flower pots placed in areas like your front porch and driveway can make just as much impact as a large flower bed. Container gardening also requires fewer tools and less soil. Go for common landscaping plants like arborvitae, bamboo, feather reed grass, boxwood, and elephant ears since they all thrive in large containers.

Plant Additional Flower Beds Around Existing Features

Not every flower bed needs a dedicated retaining wall. If you want to add extra plants to your front yard, you don't need to build additional features.

For example, you can simply plant a row of evergreens alongside an already existing walkway to give it a sense of structure and intention. Line the area around your newly added plants with mulch to create a bit of contrast and to keep weeds and grass from growing around them.

Opt for Pea Gravel and Stepping Stones Over Concrete

Pea gravel is cheaper and a more stylish alternative to concrete. A pea gravel patio or walkway is also a fairly easy DIY, so it'll save you on any labor costs. If you still want a smooth surface to walk on leading up to your house, just add stepping stones to the mix.

Just Stick With Pavers

If your yard already has lush grass on it, there's no sense in covering it with gravel or concrete to make a walkway. A few affordable pavers will make a perfect spot for your feet to land.

Edge Your Driveway With Pavers or Reclaimed Bricks

It's often the small details that make a front yard picture-perfect. We love the simple addition of the stone pavers along the driveway in this design by Kate Marker Interiors.

If you have a long driveway, you can always check for free or affordable reclaimed brick on Facebook Marketplace to keep the cost down. You might have to source your brick from multiple sellers, but sticking with the same color will keep the design cohesive.

Keep Your Plant Choices Simple

Sticking with just one to two types of plants in your flower beds can help keep things affordable. Plus, you may qualify for a bulk discount if you purchase several of the same plants.

Choosing one evergreen and one blooming bush creates a sense of texture and variety. Options like hydrangeas and boxwood grow large and fill more space as they mature.

Go With an Xeriscape if Your Region Is Drought-Prone

Xeriscape landscaping involves choosing plants that thrive in desert-like conditions. This landscaping method is ideal for regions that experience little rainfall and lots of sunlight.

Drought-tolerant and desert plants are less likely to die in regions like this, which means you are less likely to have to re-buy them mid-season. Additionally, choosing plants that require less water can save you a lot of money in the case of a water surcharge during a drought.

Start Native Plants From Seed

Even if you don't live in a drought-prone region, it's still important to think about what type of plants will do best in your front yard. Otherwise, you might be wasting your money on a plant that won't make it to late summer.

Choosing native plants is a great way to do this. Blooming native plants are great for your local ecosystem since they provide nectar for pollinators and attract bugs for birds to eat. Certain natives are very easy to grow from seed, which is a cheaper alternative to purchasing starter plants.

Stick With Perennials

Perennials are plants that are cold-hardy and will return in the spring year after year. With proper care, they are pretty much just a one-time investment.

Fill in Gaps With Landscaping Rocks

If you already have some large landscaping rocks on hand, moving them into a flowerbed in the place of a missing plant is a quick and easy fix. A few medium landscaping rocks run similar in cost to a large landscaping plant.

Mulch Your Large Garden Beds

While gravel is a chic, long-lasting option for covering your garden beds, mulch requires less upfront investment. Its lower cost also makes it an especially great option if you have extra large garden beds that you need to cover. Just keep in mind that you may need to replace the mulch within one year to keep it looking its best.

Spruce Up Your Landscaping Beds With Multi-Colored Gravel

If your garden beds contain mulch and you're ready for an upgrade, topping it off with a layer of multi-colored gravel can elevate the overall look. Plus, gravel lasts longer than mulch, so you'll get more use out of your purchase.

You can also add a new color to your already-existing gravel to add some intrigue. Just use a rake to mix the two colors together.

Guide Your Eyes to the Door With Plants

If you have a front door that you love, you can draw even more attention to it by lining either side of your walkway with small shrubs. This will direct your gaze straight to the door and immediately make guests feel like they're already welcomed inside. You can still do this even if you have a walkway that curves or angles before reaching the door.

Select Plants That Look Good Year-Round

Certain landscaping plants look amazing in every season. Evergreens are a no-brainer if you want greenery in your yard even in the dead of winter. Additionally, hydrangeas have a long blooming season, and their dried clusters look beautiful on the bushes throughout the winter.

Up Your Curb Appeal by Planting at the Curb

When landscaping your front yard, you don't have to limit yourself to garden beds only along the edge of your house. Adding plants by your sidewalk will make it a pleasant path for all your neighbors to stroll.

Create Sculptural Lawn Art

Planting flowers isn't the only way to add color and interest to your front yard. If you have a free weekend, you could DIY some sculptural lawn art using materials from the hardware store, like cylinder pipes and paint.

Plant Tulips for Early Spring Cheer

Tulip bulbs are very affordable landscaping plants. They are among some of the first plants to bloom in the spring, so they provide a nice touch to your lawn while you're waiting for your other landscaping plants to flourish after a long winter.

Tulip bulbs last and re-bloom for several years; certain modern varieties can survive in the ground for longer than a decade.

Add Just One New Row of Plants at Time

Start slow if you're working with a blank canvas on your landscaping. Adding just one new row of plants once a year can keep the feelings of overwhelm at bay and make your plant budget seem more manageable.

Let Vines Climb

Vining plants quickly take off from a small, affordable starter or even seed. A retaining wall or short front yard fence makes an excellent surface for the vines to sprawl.

Fill Your Garden Beds With No-Prune Shrubs

Keeping up with trimming shrubs is a chore, and outsourcing this task might be costly. Certain evergreen shrubs, like Gem Box Ink Berry Holly, require no trimming or pruning.

Go With Gardens Over Grass

This design by @ladylandscape proves that you don't need a lawn of pristine grass for a beautiful front yard. Filling your lawn with grass presents an upfront cost but also a maintenance cost.

Turf grass isn't native to North America, so you'll need to water it to keep it looking green. With a garden, you can often get by with just letting the rain do its thing. You can start your garden small and by seed to keep the cost low.

Keep Your Garden Bed Small

If you're on a budget, adopt a quality-over-quantity mindset regarding your garden bed. If you limit the square footage of your bed, you can opt for higher-end plants like roses and pea gravel.

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