The key to making friends with your neighbours starts with your front yard. Truly! By making your front yard garden a welcoming space, you’ll feel inspired to get outside more, spark conversation, and help to revitalize your community. I have a trove of front yard garden ideas to share with you.
It’s no secret that gardening brings people together. It gives people a place to get outside of the house and make new friends, it improves food security, and it teaches the next generation how to decompress and reconnect to the earth.
Front yard gardens are one of the main areas that people focus on maintaining, even those who aren’t into gardening. After all, it creates the first impression for your home.
Front yard gardens aren’t just a display for the house. They don’t have to be a place you walk through to your front door, or the patch of lawn next to your parked car.
No, front yards can be powerful players in building community if you’re willing to put in the effort. Even rethinking the value and how you use your front yard can make a huge difference.
Today, I’m going to try to convince you that your front yard is the key to making your neighbourhood thrive, and give you some front yard garden ideas to help inspire you.
- The Rise of Gardening
- Meeting Your Neighbours
- ReThink How You Use Your Front Yard
- Front Yard Garden Ideas to Inspire Community
- More Ways to Build Community
The Rise of Gardening
Centuries ago, front yards were seen as a status symbol. Just look at Stinzen planting. While a beautiful thing to do, it started as a way to show off how many bulbs you could afford to plant in your lawn.
In a way, this idea of the front yard has persisted for a long time. If you close your eyes and picture a front yard, chances are you see a perfectly trimmed turf lawn, some decorative flowers, a walkway to the front yard, and perhaps a driveway.
We think of front yard spaces as transitional. When really, they’re underutilized areas that can easily extend into more living space for your home.
The pandemic made this especially clear. More people had time to get outside. They wanted to expand their living space and find safe ways to meet with people outside.
Gardening surged in popularity as a result, a trend that continues today. In a world marked by growing isolation, gardening offers us a way to reconnect with the earth and with each other.
Front yard gardens can be a tool to help replace loneliness with moments of connection. I saw this firsthand with my wildflower lawn in my front yard.
When I planted the wildflower lawn, I knew it would be an easy way to make my lawn look beautiful, all while supporting pollinators and being more drought-tolerant.
What I didn’t expect was how many neighbours would be drawn to my front yard. It inspired conversations and became a space for connection for people in the neighbourhood.
Meeting Your Neighbours
There are fewer people biking, walking, and hanging out in neighbourhood streets. While I consider my neighbourhood vibrant, I notice how few people are out and about when I visit other areas. Especially compared to my childhood.
I want people to actually use the neighbourhood. The more people you have outside bringing liveliness to the neighbourhood, the more successful and safe the community will feel.
By nature, front yard gardens are more public. We meet more of our neighbours when working in our front gardens. It starts with spontaneous conversations, but then it can evolve into more if you’re willing. Ask them to go for a walk, get coffee, have a playdate with the kids, or host a happy hour or BBQ.
ReThink How You Use Your Front Yard
Rethinking how you use your front yard is a good place to start. What changes could you make that will encourage you to get outside more often? A few simple design decisions can really make a difference in how you use your yard, and in turn, foster community.
Here are a few examples:
- Extend your porch. Many porches are too small to really hang out in. If budget and space allow it, open it up to make it an extended living space.
- Add a small courtyard or sitting area. Make it cozy and welcoming enough that you’ll actually want to use it!
- Change up fencing. If you have tall fencing that obstructs views and makes your yard uninviting, could changing it open up the space?
- Add a focal point. What can draw the eye of people passing by? Water features, sculptures, bird bath, garden art, unique and bright plants, etc.
Front Yard Garden Ideas to Inspire Community
In one of my previous gardens, I had a circular design with a bench in the center of it. The shape of it was incredibly welcoming, so I would often find people sitting out on my bench or enjoying my garden as if it were a public space.
Rather than shoo people out, I would invite them in. “Want to try my chocolate mint?”
The sharing economy is such a huge component of community building. Sure, you can ask your neighbour for a cup of sugar, but you can also ask them for hedge shears.
I love seeing little libraries or seed libraries, encouraging people to share what they have in excess. I’ve seen all kinds of versions of this, from mini art galleries, fibre arts sharing, tool lending, magazine collections, and more. What do you feel like sharing in your front yard?
Attract those that you have in common with touches to your garden. Love art? Paint your fence with a mural? Looking for doggie friends? Add a “free stick” collection and a doggy bowl. Get creative!
Spend time in your front yard. To be a part of the community, you have to get outside. Add seating or other areas in your garden that you will want to hang out in.
Change up what kind of plants you add to your front yard. If you spend a lot of time vegetable gardening, add vegetables to the front instead of just the back. You’ll automatically spend more time out there.
Decorate your garden. It’s so lovely to stop and see all the little details that people add to their gardens. From actual artwork hanging on fences to intricate bird houses to tiny fairy doors, there are lots of ways you can decorate your garden just like you would the inside of your home.
Make your garden yours. Adding personality to your garden is a huge way to invite community. Every part of it can become a talking point, and it makes the space feel infinitely more welcoming.
Compare a cookie-cutter community with perfect lawns in contrast to homes that are abundant in greenery and artistic touches. Which feels more homey to you? The answer is clear to me!
I feel like I have so many front yard gardening ideas to make your garden feel more personal and inviting. I recently revamped my front yard patio, which I documented in The Wild & Free Garden.
Please share how you’ve revamped your front yard below! People would love to see your ideas as well.
More Ways to Build Community
- From Lawn to Urban Meadow: My Wildflower Lawn Guide
- Start a Gardening Club to Find Community and Connection
- How to Make a Little Seed Library in Your Community
- Spread the Flower Love With an Urban Flower Farm Stand
- Plants and Tips to Create a Bee-Friendly Garden
A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
