The National Garden Bureau discovered that gardening trends for 2024 may be on the way after online searches for terms like “front yard” and “entryway makeover” spiked last winter.
A spring survey of 1,400 gardeners by Monrovia Nursery found similar results: interest in re-creating front yards is on the rise.
Katie Tamoney, Monrovia’s chief marketing officer and trendspotter, thinks this could be something of a sequel to the COVID-19-inspired backyard sanctuary project.
“During the pandemic, many people invested in their backyard spaces, where they spent more time,” she says. “Now their attention is shifting to their front yards.”
NGB Executive Director Diane Blazek suspects the same thing.
“Now people are loving their front yards,” she says.
But Tamony said the new renovation philosophy goes beyond simply improving the exterior appeal.
“Homeowners may want to remove the lawn and create a more water-efficient landscape, increase outdoor living space, or simply give the area a more modern feel,” she says.
This coincides with what Dr. Alyssa Collins, director of the Southeast Lancaster County Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Pennsylvania State University, calls a “change in tone” across the way many homeowners view their yards these days.
She says more and more homeowners are seeing their landscaping not just as a collection of pretty plants, but as an important part of local wildlife, the surrounding ecosystem and the overall health of the planet.
Meanwhile, a report from the National Association of Landscape Professionals says front yard renovations are often just a case of homeowners improving the appearance of a front yard that is overgrown, outdated or otherwise unkempt.
Whatever the motivation, it looks like the 2024 to-do list will include a lot of backyard projects.
Below are eight looks that could be part of what Monrovia is calling its “Great Forecourt Refresh 2024.”
More pollinators, less grass
High on the wish list is a move towards a more “natural” front yard – one with less lawn and more islands and borders of plants that attract pollinators, especially native plants.
This is the opposite of what Dauphin County Master Gardener Kevin Kelly says has been the “default” look of our front yards since the 1950s: “mostly clipped yews and boxwoods” and “uniformly neat lawns maintained with fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides.”
“The new reality of declining populations of bees, butterflies, fireflies and other beneficial insects has us looking to transform our front yards into beautiful flower beds that support pollinators,” Kelly says.
Adams County landscape designer Erica Jo Shafer has also noticed a lot of interest in planting native and pollinator plants in front and back yards.
“Interest in native species comes up in conversations almost everywhere gardeners gather, so it’s hard not to notice,” she says. “Realizing that our native areas are being bulldozed and knowing we can help native pollinators resonates with our ‘save the planet’ attitude as gardeners.”
Her recent designs primarily feature native perennials, such as summersweet.Cretora), wildflowers such as Virginia sweetspire, winterberry holly, and darkleaf ninebark, as well as smaller native trees such as American fringetree, winter king hawthorn, sweet bay magnolia, and redbud.
Alyssa Hagerman, horticulture manager at Hershey Gardens, suggests creating a wildflower “mini meadow” as another option for a lawn reduction project.
“Adding hardscape items such as a wooden trellis, old wagon wheels or wooden barrels are easy and inexpensive additions that, when juxtaposed with rambling wildflowers, can create visual interest in your front yard,” says Hagerman.
More color, less work
Schafer said most gardeners these days want more color in their front yards than the outdated facades of yew and boxwood.
But they want it without adding any extra work or maintenance.
One answer, she says, is increased demand for compact flowering shrubs, especially those with deep or golden leaves and those that provide berries and colorful fall foliage in addition to seasonal flowers.
“Compact means it doesn’t need to be trimmed or doesn’t grow too large,” she says.
Plant breeders have produced many new compact, colorful varieties that were not available just a few years ago.
Some of Shafer’s favorite compact shrubs include Drift Rose, Rose Creek Abelia, Bobo Dwarf Pansy Hydrangea, Midnight Wine Dwarf Weigela and Tiny Wine Dwarf Ninebark.
“I love adding things that can’t be trimmed into squares or meatballs,” Shaffer says, adding that most gardeners seem to be more receptive to the “freer” look of the facades these days.
Beyond the “Two-Week Miracle”
Shafer said gardeners also seem to be interested in spreading out the colors throughout the seasons, including winter, for a varied display rather than “always looking the same.”
This can be achieved by taking advantage of the extended flowering periods that breeders have achieved in both shrubs and perennials, and by deliberately selecting varieties that flower at different times of the year, she says.
Increasing plant numbers and diversity generally helps too.
And small changes in maintenance can make a difference, Schaffer adds, such as “leaving some perennials through the winter for the birds and their winter enjoyment, rather than cutting them all down.”
Water in the front yard?
Water gardens are popular in backyards and make great centerpieces for resting areas, but there’s no reason you can’t have a small water feature in your front yard, especially if you’re looking to attract pollinators, says Kelly.
Kelly installed a prefabricated kidney-shaped pond near the front entrance of his award-winning, one-third-acre suburban estate in Lower Paxton Township.
“We put pavers on top of the plastic and built a little bank behind the pond to add some interest,” he says. “The space is planted with weeping maples, perennials and annuals. It attracts frogs and lots of pollinators. Birds come down to drink.”
Visitors are greeted with the sound of flowing water.
Road sign colors
An often overlooked part of the front yard is the very front, the two- to three-foot strip that runs between the sidewalk and the street on many homes.
Rather than leaving the grass alone, which would often be a struggle anyway, Kelly planted the walkways with a variety of colorful, hardy plants, including dwarf cypress, Virginia sweetspire, and drought-tolerant perennials such as lamb’s ear, purple coneflower, yarrow, dwarf asters and sedum.
He discovered that tulips and even colorful edible plants like Swiss chard, kale, peppers, onions and beets could thrive with just a few soil amendments.
“The key is to keep plantings to no more than three feet so as not to obstruct drivers’ views,” Kelly added.
Vegetables in the front yard
Speaking of edible plants, Hagerman says it may be “unconventional,” but there’s no reason you can’t grow vegetables in your front yard, especially if it’s the sunniest spot in your garden.
“These days, homeowners are making the most of their outdoor space by growing fruits and vegetables in their front yards,” says Hagerman. “Raised flower beds made from attractive stone, cement pavers, or wood planks create an orderly look and add visual interest to your front yard. Asparagus, fennel, lettuce varieties, and flowering herbs like chives, oregano, thyme, basil, and sage are great examples of plants that are easy to care for and add texture — plus, they can be enjoyed at the dinner table.”
Eye level color
If you’re investing in annuals to provide color throughout the season, it makes sense to plant them in a place where they’ll be most visible.
Two great locations that are often overlooked are window boxes fixed beneath a front window and hanging baskets suspended from a front porch or portico.
These maximize the color, effort, and impact of your flowers by elevating them to eye level with constant year-round blooms from spring through to fall.
Baskets and window boxes require regular watering and fertilization, but on the other hand, they require no digging, little weeding and are less likely to be eaten by rabbits or deer.
Pot Watcher
Finally, a quick and easy way to improve your front yard is to place large flower pots on either side of your entrance.
You can plant the same plant on either side of these “sentinel pots” if you prefer a more formal, symmetrical look, or you can plant a mix of different plants if you prefer a more “wild” or bouquet-like look.
