GARDENING

A front garden Elly designed in Redland

Making an entrance

A well-designed, well-kept front garden increases a property’s saleability, and creates important wildlife corridors, says Elly West

This morning I visited a client whose front garden I designed last year. It’s really starting to come into its own now, with areas of meadow, gravel, plenty of plants, a few trees and space for a car, plus a beautiful round pond just outside the front door. It’s not a huge space, but works effectively and while it’s slightly unusual to have a pond in a front garden, chatting to my client made me rethink how important front gardens are.

It may sound obvious but our front gardens provide the first impression of our home. They welcome visitors and are seen and walked through every single time we enter and leave the front door. They also provide a view when we look out of our ground-floor windows to see what’s going on in the world outside.

As my client commented, if the pond had been in their back garden, they probably wouldn’t look at it half as often as they do – it’s visible each time they go anywhere and with young children in the house, it’s somewhere to stop and investigate every day after school, to spot dragonflies and (in early June when I was there) a multitude of wriggling, fat tadpoles in the shallows.

A well-designed and well-kept front garden can increase a property’s saleability, with buyers judging a house by what the frontage looks like before they’ve even stepped inside. In this case, first impressions definitely count. “A nice front garden makes a massive difference,” explains assistant manager Scott Higgins, at Debbie Fortune Estate Agents. “People often do drive-bys before they book a viewing and if the garden looks welcoming and looked after, it indicates a happy, friendly home.” Although reluctant to put a percentage figure on the difference to property value, he adds, “The difference between a messy front garden and a nice one could add £10,000 or more, depending on the property. I’m always very honest and will tell clients to sort out the front garden if necessary, and add some colour. Palms are very popular, and acers as they make a statement and attract someone’s eye.”

While there’s no doubt that off-street parking is highly desirable in estate agents’ and buyers’ eyes, ramping up the asking price, it doesn’t have to take over the whole space, or be installed to the detriment of wildlife. Front gardens make important habitats and wildlife corridors for bees, butterflies and other small beneficial creatures, so even if you don’t have much room, try to include some large planted container displays or even just a window box or two. Separate Mori polls commissioned by the Royal Horticultural Society in 2005 and 2015 revealed that three times as many front gardens had been paved over during that 10-year interval, causing problems with flash-flooding and water run-off, as well as loss of wildlife habitats. So if you are introducing somewhere to park your car, then consider options such as gravel or permeable bricks, and keep hard surfaces to a minimum.

As well as benefitting wildlife, a container brimming with colourful

If the pond had been in their back garden, they probably wouldn’t look at it half as often as they do

plants is an instant way to create a warm welcome and smarten up your entrance, and it’s easy to ring the changes through the seasons. While it’s good to include plants for seasonal interest in any garden, it’s perhaps more important at the front, seen all year round. It’s also very achievable in interchangeable pots. Winter pansies, skimmia, ivy and cyclamen are good options for winter containers, while in summer you’re spoilt for choice with the trays of bedding plants on offer in garden centres, market stalls and supermarkets, suitable for creating a vibrant potted display.

Alternatively you might want something more formal and permanent, such as some evergreen structural shrubs. A couple of topiary bay trees or box balls either side of a doorway, or a neatly clipped box hedge never seems to fall out of fashion. Likewise, you can’t go too wrong with a lavender-lined path leading to the front door if you have a south- or west-facing plot. Climbing plants on a wall are a good option, particularly if you don’t have much room as they’ll maximise your vertical space. A wisteria, climbing rose, honeysuckle or star jasmine will all provide a gorgeous waft of sweet fragrance as you enter and leave your house.

If you’re considering redesigning your front garden, think about the materials you want and their colours. It’s perhaps more important at the front that it ties in with the materials and colours of the house exterior, as it’s so close and will be seen as a whole package. A path should take the most direct route to the front door if you don’t want visitors and delivery people cutting across a lawn or border to make their journey shorter.

Think, too, about storage. Do you need space for bins and recycling, or bikes? Some options will improve the space more than others – a wooden store with a green roof is going to create an attractive feature in a way that a metal lock-up, or a haphazard clutter of bins won’t. If there’s room, it’s also nice to include seating. When my children were younger they played on the communal space at the front of my house, and a bench provided the perfect spot to keep an eye on their antics while soaking up the evening sun and watching the world go by. It also makes the garden feel more sociable – which is good if you’re lucky enough to have nice neighbours. Lighting is also a way to spruce up the front of your house both for practicality and security, but also to add to the welcoming ambience. I noticed last year that lots of people left their Christmas lights out for longer than they usually might, perhaps because we all needed a bit of frivolity and a boost at that time, and I’m all for a few fairy lights twisted in a tree whatever the time of year. n • ellyswellies.co.uk; Instagram: @ellyswellies1

Plant of the month: Erigeron karvinskianus

Also known as Mexican daisies, these are spilling over walls in front gardens everywhere at the moment, and will carry on doing so well into autumn, which is one of the reasons that I love them. They start in May and produce their pink and white daisy flowers in abundance with no need for deadheading or any kind of maintenance, save for chopping them back when their work is done and they retire for winter. They’re perennials, so will rev into gear again with the first signs of summer. Erigeron self-seeds prolifically, but is easy to pull out if it starts to take over. As mentioned, these low-growing plants are ideal for trailing over the edges of walls and containers, or at the front of a border where they’ll spill on to the path. They also suit gravel gardens. I love the way the white flowers fade through different shades of pink as they age, giving that cheerful, multi-tone effect.

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