If you're like most Americans, your front landscaping is the first thing to welcome you home every day. It also serves as a welcoming environment to friends and family who come to call. If you're thinking about selling your home, then it can significantly increase your home’s curb appeal. On the other hand, if you do not like its current appearance, give it a new updated look by employing these 12 ideas.

1. Make Your Front Door a Focal Point

Your front door should be the focal point of the landscaping in front of your home. Prune or remove anything hiding it and give it a fresh paint of coat or replace your tired-looking one with a new option. 

2. Create a Beautiful Walkway

Keep people from walking on your grass by creating a beautiful walkway for everyone to use. The best path is always the shortest one because it is the one that people will naturally follow. 

3. Choose the Right Plants to Place Around Your Foundation

If you have plants along your foundation that are blocking light from entering your home, then they need to be pruned or removed. Replace them with dwarf shrubs or other plants that will not grow taller than the bottom of your windows when mature. 

4. Add Privacy

Nosy neighbors can be quite a nuisance, especially if they do not keep their area clean. Opt for plant shrubs or tall plants to block their view. Be sure to choose options that thrive in your environment without much care. 

5. Deter Against Common Pests

Learn what pests, like deer or rabbits, are common in your neighborhood. Choose plants that they hate. There is no need to invite them to destroy your landscaping. 

6. Know Your Light

If your home faces north, then you need to choose plants that thrive in partial sun because your home will block the light throughout part of the day. If your home faces east or west, you may get beautiful sun throughout the day, depending on what buildings and other objects are nearby. 

7. Choose the Right Trees

Trees can be a real asset if you plant them in the right location. Think about how long their roots will get when the tree is mature. Plant it far enough away that the tree’s roots will not destroy your home’s foundation. 

8. Give Your Driveway a Fresh Look

Adding an asphalt or concrete driveway is a great way to enhance your front landscaping. If you already have one, powerwash it so that it is clean. Adding a border can also make it look better. 

9. Think About Water Flow

Your home should have great gutters and rain spouts. Plan how the water will move quickly from there to enter your city’s wastewater so that it does not sit around your home’s foundation. 

10. Use Native Plants

When you create your flower beds, choose native plants. They will come back year after year and are usually resistant to diseases in your environment. Generally, they require less care and use less water. 

11. Think Throughout the Year

Be sure to think about your landscaping throughout the year. Create at least one area of your landscaping that will add visual interest to your yard every season. 

12. Keep It Simple

If you have a small yard, do not try to cram too many ideas into it. Keep your landscaping simple, and you will not only love the look, but its upkeep will be easier. 

Follow these tips to create a beautiful entrance to your home. You will love it, and so will your friends and neighbors.

1. Reduce the Size of Your Lawn

The first thing that you can do is to decrease the size of your lawn. One easy and cheap way to kill grass is to lay down newspapers to get rid of the grass. You can also cover your lawn with a tarp, but if you do, you should cover the tarp with mulch. One reason you should cover the tarp with mulch is so your lawn still looks good. 

The mulch also makes sure that the tarp doesn't blow around, and it safeguards the tarp against wear and tear from people walking across your lawn. The main advantage of using a tarp to smother the grass and kill is that it quickly kills the grass and it is easy. However, you should know that you should not cut through a tarp and pocket plant in any holes that you create. You should not cut through a tarp because tarps are not permeable and do not let either water or air to get through to the soil as well as because cutting through a tarp will compromise the tarp's material and make it shred. 

2. Hardscape on a Budget

If you are someone who likes to do things yourself, you can probably install a modern pump and pond liners pretty easily and cheaply. With some creativity and effort, you can add some stones to build small waterfalls if you like. If you get permission first, you can look for free stones at construction sites. You might be able to get some free stones if you have a relative who lives out in the country, as well. You can make your lawn look even better with a high-quality cascading fountain pot made of clay. 

3. Landscape With Cheap Plants

You can easily buy cheap plants at a supermarket, but if you don't know how to tell if a plant is healthy or not, you should probably bring along someone who can do this. You should at least check plants to see if they are diseased or if they have bugs. Obviously, you should not buy any diseased plants or plants with bugs on them. 

You should make sure to take care of your plants properly. You might need to work a little harder to take care of cheap plants. Aside from supermarkets, you can easily get several cheap plants at once if you look for them online. 

4. Conserve Water

Water conservation is another part of landscaping on a budget. You should get drought-tolerant perennials since they can sustain themselves better than many other kinds of plants. Getting drought-tolerant plants is part of xeriscaping, which is simply one landscaping approach that centers around water conservation. 

5. Use Cheap Containers and Free Fertilizer

Getting cheap containers and gardening using these cheap containers helps you landscape cheaply. You can often get cheap gardening containers at yard sales, but you should clean them thoroughly to make sure they don't have any diseases. You can also build a compost bin in order to make free fertilizer. All you have to do is toss things like raked leaves or scraps from your kitchen into the compost bin, mix it, and water it occasionally for a ready supply of compost.