Landscaping Ideas for Side & Main Entries

There are many landscaping ideas for different entryways.

If you're ready to give the side or main entrance of your home or business a makeover, there are many landscaping ideas from which you can draw inspiration. Landscaping the area around the front or side entrances will make them inviting while projecting a little bit of your personal style to your neighbors and other onlookers.

Things You'll Need

• Sketch paper and pencil
• Sod
• Flowers, shrubs or decorative plants
• Small trees
• Arbor
• Stepping stones or bricks

Instructions

1. Add an arbor near your door to create a a more grand, charming or even romantic entrance. Arbors made of wood, plastic or metal are available in many styles and sizes from most garden centers, and they are great for marking transitions between property lines as well as entryways. Plant decorative climbing vines, such as an evergreen ivy, or a flowering specimen, like jasmine, to embellish the arbor a bit.

2. Install a new walkway from your driveway or the street to your entryways. Instead of a boring concrete sidewalk, consider laying down a brick walkway, a path of gravel or stepping stones to lead guests to your entrances. Dig up some sod and partially bury brick and stone walkways to prevent them from sliding underfoot.

3. Trade in your gravel or sod for a flower garden in the areas surrounding your side or main entryways. Choose flowers of various heights, colors and growing habits to have a year-round display of different blooms. Keep the sunlight and watering requirements of individual flowers and decorative plants in mind so you can place species with similar needs near each other.

Tips & Warnings

• Sketch out different landscaping ideas on scrap paper before making any changes to your entryways to get a better idea of what the end result will look like and how much work will be involved.

• Add potted flowers and decorative plants to the areas near your entrances if you don't want to plant anything permanently.

References

• LandscapingNetwork.com: Front Garden Makeover Ideas
• Gateway Property Maintenance and Landscape Design: Front Entrance Landscape Design for Your Home -- Ideas, Tips and Techniques for Professional-Looking Results