But First…Function

Hello!

I have now had two neighbors recently ask for my opinion on their front yards, but not only for simple aesthetics. Good design isn’t only beautiful, it is first, and foremost, functional. My neighbors have noticed our guests and delivery drivers ALWAYS use our front walkway and don’t go through our lawn and garden beds. So their question is, “What do you recommend we do to our front yard so people don’t walk through it to get to the front door?” The answer is pretty simple through smart design.

Fun little fact – there are publications out there that have studied how human behavior and emotion can be influenced by design, and landscape design is no different. Take my neighborhood for example. It is pretty standard in the sense that you have a driveway on one side and a pathway near the top of the driveway that connect to the front porch. And everyone placed their house numbers in a different spot – near the door or garage. So when a delivery driver comes into our neighborhood looking for a house, they will stop once they see the house number, which, depending on whether your driveway or door comes first, may be after they pass the easy access point to your walkway. In that case, they aren’t going to walk back to your driveway and around to your front door, they are going to take the most direct route – through your yard.

Solutions –

1. If your driveway comes first, move your house numbers so they are near your garage. Make sure they are large and visible against your paint color. (Also a great excuse to update the style of your house numbers!)
2. If you are finding even yourself cutting through your lawn at times to reach the front door, consider adding a pathway to connect the street/sidewalk to your front door in a more direct path. If you park cars in your driveway – I highly recommend this!
3. Build up your garden bed with evergreens around your pathway to provide a visible barrier. This will direct people to go around it, and not through it.

And that’s it! Simple, functional and beautiful! Let us know what other questions you have!