28 Front Yard Landscaping Ideas With Rocks and Mulch

Your front yard is the first thing your guests and neighbors see and is an essential component of establishing good curb appeal. Luckily, creating an eye-catching front yard is relatively easy and budget-friendly if you use the right materials.

Implementing landscaping rocks and mulch is a low-cost and low-maintenance way to add texture and definition to your front landscape.

In addition to being aesthetically pleasing, landscaping rocks and mulch have other benefits such as controlling erosion, adding texture and color, and improving drainage. This allows you to use more low-maintenance plants and means less watering while adding visual appeal to your yard.

Below, we share our favorite front yard landscaping ideas with rocks and mulch.

Contrasting Textures and Colors

You'll find many materials and textures in this front yard from the natural wood fence to the white brick exterior. The pathway leading up to the home is not short on texture with its sleek concrete slabs and landscape rocks. A mulch garden bed helps soften the look.

Stunning Dimension With Large Boulders

Large stones and boulders can add height and dimension to a front yard, not to mention they're more low-maintenance than planting annuals and perennials without compromising on beauty.

The Perfect Combo

To give your home's curb appeal a complete look, consider adding a matching front pathway and driveway made of concrete pavers and landscape rocks. To help soften the look and for extra greenery, plant a mulch garden bed.

Pebble Garden Border

A smooth pebble border in this front garden provides a beautiful contrast with the dark garden mulch. Plus, using pebbles makes it easier to adjust the size and shape of your front garden by simply moving the pebbles.

Minimalist Front Yard Design

A minimalist home exterior needs a minimalist front yard to match. This front yard consists of landscaping rocks with a small circular patch of mulch for a contrast in color. The low-maintenance yard is the perfect complement to the rest of the home's design.

Leveling With Rocks

A sloped front yard is a great opportunity to create a stunning garden. This sloped yard features boulders to help level the garden, while mulch brings a clean, classic look.

Small Front Yard With Rocks and Mulch

In lieu of a large front garden, this home's front exterior features an eye-catching driveway and a smaller garden with beautiful landscaping. Landscape rocks fill the pathway for a low-maintenance way to add more texture and visual appeal.

A Clean, Simple Look

This home's breezeway, made with landscaping rocks and concrete, helps connect the front yard with the backyard. Mulch landscaping flanks the walkway for a streamlined, simple look.

Curved Landscape Gravel With Evergreens

This beautiful green lawn gets a spruce up with cypress bushes, landscaping rocks and mulch. The curved design adds a one-of-a-kind look that's also timeless.

Clean Lines

This home features clean lines throughout including the roof line, the porch, the fence, and the garage door. The driveway features sleek concrete slabs and landscaping rocks that look beautiful with the green landscaping on either side.

Sloped Large Boulders and Red Mulch

If your front yard is on a slope, stones are a great way to take advantage of the height. The stones in this yard act as garden art as well as steps to get from one side of the yard to the other.

Complementary Colors

This front yard features many lush plants from shrubs to matching topiaries. The large walkway up to the front door features landscaping rocks that complement the home's white exterior, light blue front door and dark mulch landscaping.

Multiple Garden Areas

This front yard features different areas of mulch throughout that provide multiple focal points. Each area features greenery and large boulders for a beautiful, clean look.

A Garden for the Fire Pit

This fire pit area features sleek, clean lines from the concrete pavers to the sleek chairs. Landscape rocks and a mulch garden surrounding the fire pit add texture and interest to the space.

Stacked Stone

Stacked stone is a relatively easy way to elevate your garden. The stacked stone border in this yard adds to the natural look of this garden while helping the perennials and annuals stand out.

Rock Garden Landscaping

Choosing a rock garden as a landscaping option is a low-maintenance way to add visual appeal to your yard. This patterned rock garden features a variety of landscape rocks in varying shades that resembles a piece of art.

Mulch Bed...

Think outside the box when it comes to filling a mulch bed. Not only can you plant flowers, but you can add large stones, pavers, planter boxes, and free-standing plant hangers for more variety and visual appeal.

Earthy Exterior Tones Coupled With Natural Landscape Design

The beautiful, earthy tones of this home exterior blend beautifully with its natural surroundings. Even from afar, the home's front garden stands out with the combination of boulders and a brown mulch garden.

A Grand Look

If you have a large front yard to work with, you can go big. This front yard features a large mulch garden that's bordered by several large rocks that provide a grand look.

Under a Tree Garden

A large tree in a front yard is a great opportunity to extend your garden. This tree is surrounded by a mulch garden bordered with large rocks that instantly draw the eye.

Outdoor Zones

If your yard features different zones, you can use different types of flooring to differentiate them. This yard has gravel in the sitting area while the rest of the yard consists of mulch and other natural materials.

Red Mulch and Pea Gravel Border

Mulch, like landscape rocks, come in a few varieties: black, brown and red. Each type of mulch has their advantages. Red mulch provides a beautiful look when paired with warm neutrals like in this yard that's filled with landscape rocks.

Safe and Budget-Friendly

Landscape rocks are a budget-friendly and safe option for fire pit areas. This fire pit area is surrounded by a mulch garden that provides a contrast with the landscape rocks.

Alternating Rocks and Mulch

When picking out what to fill your garden with, a good rule of thumb is to go with a variety of textures and colors. This garden features a few types of landscape rocks in varying shades that add interest, as well as some mulch for extra contrast.

A Symmetrical Look

The gravel and concrete pathway that leads to the front door of this home is a budget-friendly, easy DIY landscaping project that will complement any style garden.

A Tranquil Spot

A garden bed can be decorated and filled with whatever makes you happy. This mulch garden features an area with landscape rocks and pavers that lead to a small bench. The design feature adds a one-of-a-kind look to the garden while providing a tranquil spot to relax.

Front Yard Landscaping With Rocks and Succulents

This home in the southwestern part of the United States is surrounded by beautiful, natural stone, from the mound in the backyard to the front yard landscaping. The succulents leading up the stairs add an unexpected touch without the maintenance of a garden, perfect for a desert landscape.

Corner Yard

The corner of a yard is like a blank canvas that can really elevate a yard's look. This yard features a stacked stone border with red mulch that helps the green plants stand out.

Preparing Landscaping for Rocks

When it comes to preparing the ground for landscaping rocks, there are some steps that must be followed for the best results possible. First, dig up any turfgrass and level the ground. From there, add the aforementioned landscaping fabric or newspaper, cutting the edges to cover the area. This will prevent weeds from growing between the rocks, and it's easier to lift the fabric to remove the rocks than to dig them up.

Once the ground is prepped, it's time to calculate how many rocks you'll need to achieve your desired look. Once you have your number, add the rocks, spreading them evenly. Make sure to leave room for the plants.

Types of Landscaping Rocks

There are various types of landscaping rocks to choose from, each offering different looks and benefits.

• River rock: These are smooth, rounded rocks that were naturally shaped by erosion such as weather, or within a water setting (hence, river rocks). River rocks do not pack, meaning they will be loose and roll around. These are great decorative accents, however, and can help with drainage.

• Crushed rock: Also known as angular rock, crushed rock contains jagged edges. While you wouldn't want to walk across crushed rock, these are great for replacing mulch and being placed around various plants.

• Pea gravel: Pea gravel are soft, smooth rocks often used for walkways because of their softness. Pea gravel also works great as a border for your front yard's garden.

• Flagstones: Flagstones are an incredibly versatile landscaping option. Also known as natural stone, flagstone is a sedimentary rock that can be sliced into a variety of pieces and layers. Potential picks for flagstones include quartzite, slate, and limestone.

• Lava rock: A durable, volcanic rock used in "hardscape" landscape design. Lava rocks can function as permanent mulch.

• Brick chips: Brick chips are constructed of bricks that have been broken into smaller pieces. Brick chips are often red in color, making these an enticing option for anyone wanting to make a colorful statement in their front yard landscaping.
  

Is It Better to Use Mulch or Landscaping Rocks?

Both mulch and landscaping rocks have their advantages and disadvantages. Landscaping rocks last for years, as opposed to mulch that needs to be replaced every year, which saves money in the long run. Landscaping rocks also come in a variety of shapes, sizes and color, so they can add a lot of curb appeal. They also don't attract pests like mulch does. However, rocks aren't an organic material like mulch, so they don't aid in plant growth, and rocks can overheat your plants and require more watering.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best landscaping rocks?

The best landscaping rocks will depend on your specific needs and desired look. Some popular options to research include river rocks, pea gravel, lava rock, flagstone, brick chips, and boulders.

What is the best thing to put under rocks to prevent weeds?

Placing landscaping fabric or newspaper underneath landscaping rocks is a great way to prevent weeds.

What is the easiest landscaping to maintain?

Landscaping with rocks, artificial grass, mulch, and evergreens can help make your front yard more low maintenance.

Read the original article on The Spruce.