Photo Gallery: Flowers in my Front Yard Garden
Front Yard Garden
No More Front Lawn
Several years ago, I convinced my husband that we should replace our front lawn with a front yard garden. It had been difficult to grow grass in our front yard for a number of reasons, including a lot of shade and competition with tree roots. We were constantly having to reseed and water the lawn to fill in bare patches, and the results were not worth the effort. I knew there had to be a better way.
Cosmos
Replacing the lawn with plants and flowers
In the spring of 2008, my husband and I set out to create our front yard garden. He did most of the work of digging up the sod and building a couple of paths as well as a raised bed near our porch, supported with a rock wall. We added a couple of yards of soil and I got to work planting a variety of hostas, perennials, groundcovers and some annuals.
Our front yard garden has continued to develop over the years, and we have received many compliments from neighbours - something that never happened when we had our grass! I find working in the garden to be very therapeutic and relaxing, and it is immensely satisfying to see the results of my labour. I have been fortunate to have been given many plants from friends and relatives who garden, and I always keep my eye out for new additions when the local garden centres have end-of-season sales.
The perennials and groundcovers continue to fill in more each year, and I enjoy the ever changing display from spring until fall. Some of my favourite flowers include: cosmos, daisies, daylilies, echinacea, liatris and hydrangea.
Daylilies
Blazing Star / Liatris
Daisies
No Lawn, No Regrets
I have not once regretted our decision to remove all of the grass from our front yard and replace it with a garden. I would much rather spend my time pulling a few weeds and planting some annuals to fill in the bare spots than fighting a losing battle to try to maintain a lush, healthy lawn. Watching the changing display of flowers out our front window brings me a joy that a green lawn never could. I highly recommend it!
Lilies
Coneflowers / Echinacea
Flowers in my Front Yard Garden
Flower
| Type
| Sun Preference
|
|---|---|---|
Cosmos
| Annual
| Full Sun or Partial Sun
|
Daylilies
| Perennial
| Full Sun to Partial Sun
|
Liatris
| Perennial
| Full Sun
|
Echinacea
| Perennial
| Full Sun
|
Shasta Daisies
| Perennial
| Full Sun to Partial Sun
|
Osteospermum
| Annual
| Full Sun
|
Asiatic Lilies
| Perennial
| Full Sun
|
Hydrangea
| Perennial
| Partial Shade
|
Hydrangea
This book was a big help in planning my front yard garden:
Favorite Flower
Which is your favourite flower from my garden?
Comments: Flowers from my Front Yard Garden
I'm with Ihale...I'd love to see a photo of an overview of your whole front yard...the pic where we see a peek at your front porch is heavenly. That pic reminds me of my own gardens and I love mine to look like an old grandmothers garden from 100 years ago. I often tell my husband, who is always thinking my cottage garden gets too overgrown looking...that THAT is the look I'm GOING for...so THANKS!!! hahaha Your pictures are beautiful and I LOVE the idea of a plush front yard garden. I too love hydrangeas, holly hocks, daylilies, cosmos and zinnias...some years I have thousands of cosmos and zinnias in my huge cutting garden...Thanks so SO much for the pics and I'm new here but will be checking as soon as I can to see if you have more gardening stories...LOVED this hub!!!
Thank you; I am sure you are right. Stages is definitely the way I'll have to go, but I am going to try it. Will definitely keep watching your hubs!
- AUTHOR
Hi lhale. My front yard is not large. If it were, I probably would have started out by converting only sections of the lawn to a garden and expanding more gradually, instead of tackling the whole yard at once. That way, I could use divide some of the perennials to use in other areas of the garden to save money, and wouldn't get too overwhelmed by the project. However, I have seen people with larger yards than mine do it all at once. I think the key is to have a good plan before you start, and it really depends on how much time, energy and money you have available.
Thanks for the follow - I will definitely be writing some more gardening hubs soon, including tips for shade gardening, so hopefully you'll find these helpful.
I would love to see a picture of your house with yard to get an overall idea. This is a great idea, we have big oaks and no grass will grow in the shade. I do have a few daylilies, so I know they will tolerate the shade, but my yard is big. Just wondering how big yours is, and trying to visualize how I can do this. Really beautiful pictures! Your hub of the day today is what brought me over here. Will follow so I can get more ideas!
- AUTHOR
Maybe I do. I think I'll pretend I do - I like that idea!
Perhaps you do have flowes from your grandparents by way of your mom or other family members. You can pretend. :-)
- AUTHOR
Thank you Linda! I'm so happy this hub brought back fond memories of your grandfather and his flowers. I have a number of plants and flowers in my garden that have been given to me from my mom, mother-in-law and other family members. My hand-me-down plants always bring a smile to my face. I only wish I had flowers from my grandparents. Sadly, they passed on long before I had a garden of my own.
I can certainly see why Hubpages recognized you for this hub. I would love to sit in your front yard garden and soak up the beauty. My grandfather who has been gone for 30 years, loved flowers and passed the gene to me. He grew roses, dahlias, peonies, iris, pansies, daisies, and lilies and I loved them all. When he had to give up his home at the age of 86, we divided his bulbs between myself, my brother, and my Dad. Thirty years later we are still enjoying his beautiful flowers. Such wonderful memories! Thank you for reminding me.
- AUTHOR
Thank you very much Thundermama! I think you should go for it - I'm pretty sure you won't regret it. :)
Another wonderful hub with stunning photography. I long yo do this to our patchy front yard and just might now armed with all the flower info you listed here. Great!
- AUTHOR
Thanks for sharing your story with me, Johanna. Your garden sounds absolutely lovely. It must have been difficult to leave it behind, but it's nice to hear that your garden lives on in your absence. I often think about how I will feel if/when we move away from this house. I know that I would miss this garden, but I'm sure it would be fun to start over again in the next place we live.
It seems a life-time ago, but one place I lived in I did the same thing and made our front lawn into a garden with a path going round in an oval so that there was a raised 'island' of a garden in the middle with a border all around.
I planted roses, hydrangeas, tulip bulbs, 'Breath of heaven, ' daisies, fuschias, lavender and lots of other colorful plants, oh and hostas and helebores ...
It is still there today even though I am not, and some of the plants have grown larger than they should have, but had it been shaped, it would be a garden of texture and color and fragrance! Thanks for your hub on your front yard garden and sharing your joy with us
- AUTHOR
Thanks mollymeadows, rebeccamealey and DeborahNeyens. It's been a lot of fun, and I've certainly learned a lot in the process. Now that the garden is established, it's actually a lot less work than maintaining a lawn - and a lot more rewarding!
Gorgeous photos! I'd love to have less lawn and more flowers! It's so much better for the environment, too. Thanks for sharing your garden with us.
I think that you made a great choice in replacing a lawn with a flower garden. Awesome pic! You certainly have a green thumb!
These are so beautiful. I've been playing with the idea of doing this, and now I think I will. Thanks for sharing these beautiful pics!
- AUTHOR
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Mr. Happy. I'm glad you enjoyed my hub. I completely agree, each flower is beautiful in their own unique way. That's why I keep adding new varieties to my garden :)
Thank You for putting this together. I just came-by to look at your flowers, I love flowers.
I love colours too I guess and your photos have a great variety of them. It's hard to answers which one would be my favorite because they trully are all beautiful.
I suppose the Yellow Asiatic Lily maybe ... very hard to pick though - they're all gorgeous in their own unique way ...
I enjoyed your hub. Cheers!
- AUTHOR
Thanks very much for your kind words, Fennelseed and Happyboomernurse. I really have a difficult time choosing a favourite flower - I change my mind frequently on that!
I agree with Fennelseed except that my favorite flowers in your garden are the daylilies.
This was a really great solution to your original problem of having difficulty growing grass. It always amazes me how much easier it is to work with Mother Nature than against her.
Voted up, useful, awesome, beautiful and interesting.
Kathy your garden is pure magic, so beautiful and romantic and all the old favourites, beautifully captured in your photography. I love all your flowers here but the baby pink hydrangea just blows me away!! Beautiful, voting up and SHARING!
- AUTHOR
Thanks very much, Dolores. I can't wait until everything starts to bloom again!
I loved looking at the pictures of your flowers - your front yard must be a big hit in the neighborhood, it's so beautiful! I really like the way the echinacea goes with the hydrangea, great combination!
- AUTHOR
EyesStraightAhead - I have written my hub yet on shade gardening, but thanks for checking back. I will hopefully get it done soon!
- AUTHOR
Thanks for stopping by and commenting sgbrown :)
Photography and gardening seem to be hobbies that go very well together. It is always nice to find other kindred spirits that enjoy both. I can't wait for spring either!
Thank you for the follow up information...though I am late at returning to see it! :) I will check to see if you published the shade one and if not, look forward to seeing it. We have had this odd winter here with only one snowstorm and a lot of days in the upper 40s and 50s, so hopefully our spring doesn't have a lot of snow and I will be able to plant in March!
Great hub and beautiful picture. Photography and gardening are also two of my main pleasures. I can't wait until spring when my flowers are blooming! Beautiful hub, voted up and sharing! Have a wonderful day!
- AUTHOR
Allana, it sounds like you have the same challenge with your lawn as we did. I'm sure you'd get much more pleasure out of a garden than your lawn - even the weeding part isn't so bad once the plants start to fill in. A few weeds never hurt anyone, but I highly recommend putting in a mulch around your plants. This helps to reduce the number of weeds as well as keep moisture in the ground so you don't have to water the garden as much (or maybe at all, depending where you live).
Thanks randomcreative and MsDora for your kind words. Gardening and photography are two of my great pleasures in life :)
Thanks so much michabelle! I did a lot of research before we undertook this front yard garden project, but I have definitely had a few learning lessons along the way. Overall, I've been quite pleased with the results. Unfortunately, my green thumb does not extend to indoor plants - I have very little success with those :(
I may have to convince my husband of the same thing! Our front yard has a big tree that shades it most of the day. Plus the fact that everyone walks across it doesn't help the grass any. So, we don't have a very lush lawn.
The hardest part will be getting my booty out there to weed!
Exceedingly beautiful - both your gardening and the pictures. Congratulations on your nomination.
Congrats on your nomination! Your garden is beautiful. I'm glad that you don't regret your decision and enjoy working in your garden. Keep it up!
I've enjoyed your hub. The pictures are splendid and your home area must be perpetually interesting and beautiful. It's challenging to plan for perennial flowers blooming constantly. You've obviously been blessed with a green thumb.
- AUTHOR
Thanks very much rebeccamealey and Highvoltagewriter! I really appreciate the feedback. Glad to hear you enjoyed my garden photos!
Beautiful pictures! Congratulations!Flowers are among my favorite things,ranking high!
Wow, what a great garden you have! Your photography is excellent!
- AUTHOR
Thank you for your feedback and votes oceansandsunsets! It really was a pleasure to create this hub. I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it.
- AUTHOR
Thank you for your kind words sen.sush23 :)
- AUTHOR
EyesStraightAhead: it sounds like you have the same challenges in your front yard as we did! A lot of the flowers shown in this hub do require quite a bit of sun to do well. In the areas of our yard that receive heavy shade I have a lot of hostas and several other plants and ground covers that do well in shade. The flowers of shade plants aren't usually quite as eyecatching as the sun lovers, but the plants are still beautiful and a great replacement for an underachieving lawn. I plan to do a hub soon on shade gardening, so stay tuned :)
Oh my! I love this Kathy. You and your husband really took the plunge, and what a great result you have ended up with! I am so very impressed, and am glad to hear your results. I had to pick the echinacea, the pink and purple bold flowers really are knock outs, and the butterflies and bees love them too. It was hard to pick of course. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful hub and garden with us! Voted up all but funny.
I love this idea! I have a little bit of grass and then a bunch of moss in my front yard due to lack of shade and poor dirt (I assume). I have wondered how to improve this but have been told by several landscapers there is little to do. I have never asked about growing wildflowers or others that can live in poor lighting. It looks like you have a nice mix of flowers and that it is beautiful not "wild" looking. Thank you for sharing!
- AUTHOR
Thanks very much Ripplemaker! I'm glad to hear that the flower photos brightened your day.
Thanks for the link on the Hubnugget nominations. There are lots of great hubs this week.
Lovely pictures and the write up adds to the beauty. Voted up. Good luck with your HubNugget nomination. :)
Very beautiful photos of your flowers in the garden. I enjoyed looking at them. A garden really brightens up my day. :)
Congratulations on your Hubnuggets nomination. Do click on this link or read your email to find out more about it. https://redelf.hubpages.com/hubnuggets6/hub/The-Ad...
Thanks for the follow back savingkathy, I look forward to seeing more from you soon. Good luck and success to you!
- AUTHOR
Thank you! I love osteospurmums too. I just wish they were perennials instead of annuals, so I didn't have to replant them each year.
Stunning photos savingkathy. Beautiful hub and beautiful is the vote.
I love osteospurmums
- AUTHOR
Thank you Maura and Duchess :)
- AUTHOR
Thank you very much molometer! Glad you enjoyed the photos :)
I loved these photo's so much I had to come back and have another look, leave a comment and vote on my favorite.
Done lol
super, super pictures
Congrats on the hubnugget nomination! It sounds like a haven for the birds and the bees :)
Nice
- AUTHOR
Thanks very much Lesley. Now to work on getting rid of some of the back lawn this year ;)
Thank you for sharing your garden and flowers, what a treat!
A great idea to get rid of the lawn, you can't have too many flower borders!!!
Voting up, best wishes MM
- AUTHOR
Thanks very much Maggie! I enjoy sharing my flowers and photos of my garden :)
I loved the hub great flowers and great photographs too :)
- AUTHOR
Thanks for the follow & the comment Victor :)
Cool hub with great photos! Followed you here from redgage!
- AUTHOR
Always happy to share photos of flowers!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my hub, Nikipa.
Oh, Flowers...
The life wouldn't be so great without them...
Thank you for sharing that beauty!
59