A front garden doesn't just give you more room for planting – it’s a distinct space with different sun, wind, temperature and soil to your back garden, which means you’ll be able to grow a completely new palette of plants there. Here are five different schemes to choose from...
Shady front gardens
These are an opportunity to enjoy a calming mix of shade-tolerant plants: a garden of subtle greens and textured leaves, with occasional spots of colour. Many evergreens are shade lovers, and will give structure and interest even in the depths of winter. If you like topiary, Euonymous ‘Microphyllus’ is the perfect plant to shape into neat globes. Pittosporum tenuifolium types, with their variety of green, variegated and purple leaves, can also be clipped, or left to grow tall for hedging or screening. Think of your shady front garden as a miniature woodland, full of ferns, hostas, bergenias and my favourite, Epimedium x perralchicum ‘Fröhnleiten’, with sprays of sulphur yellow flowers.
Sunny front gardens
You can have masses of colour here, but don’t forget to add structure. Try flowering shrubs, such as the compact Weigela All Summer series, which flower from April to October. The dwarf Buddleja Butterfly Candy series attracts butterflies in droves, without the unruliness of the old varieties. Or opt for white-flowered Philadelphus ‘Belle Étoile’ with its famous mock orange scent. It doesn’t flower for long, so plant mauve Clematis ‘Frances Rivis’ to scramble up through it. Climbing roses will leave space for colourful underplanting, such as Geranium ‘Dragon Heart’, Penstemon ‘Catherine de la Mare’ and Agastache ‘Blackadder’. If you like grasses, Molinia ‘Poul Petersen’ is compact and low-growing, or for more impact, Stipa gigantea has 2m stems.
Flower beds next to paths and driveways
Compact and robust plants, such as lavender, santolina and upright grasses like Panicum virgatum ‘Shenandoah’ work best in these limited spaces. It would be lovely to brush against the scented leaves of rosemary or fluffy Nassella tenuissima grass. If you like a little organised chaos, nooks and narrow beds are also ideal spots to allow self-seeding of Erigeron karvinskianus ‘Lavender Lady’, forget-me-nots and, if there’s space, hollyhocks.
Containers
An ornamental pot creates a lovely focal point and can also help protect plants from slugs: cannas and dahlias will thrive. Maximise pot space by combining plants – just keep the compost moist and feed them well. Underplanting with bulbs such as Narcissus ‘Baby Moon’, tulips and Allium ‘Purple Rain’ will give you a succession of spring-to-summer colour.
Window boxes
Even a narrow window box can be packed full of colour. Think three-dimensionally, with trailing lobelias, Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ or nasturtiums. Add height with Antirrhinum majus and fill out with long-flowering cosmos, Coreopsis ‘Moonbeam’ and hardy Geranium pratense ‘Splish Splash’.
