Native Plants That Make a Front Yard Feel at Home

Native perennials, shrubs and grasses bring colour, wildlife and easy care to the space in front of your house. Here is how to plan a yard that belongs.

The front yard is the first thing you see when you come home and the first impression your house makes on everyone else. Yet many yards are planted with the same thirsty lawn and fussy shrubs found everywhere. Native plants offer a better way: they suit the local soil and climate, support birds and pollinators, and settle in with far less watering and feeding.

Start by reading your site

Before choosing a single plant, spend some time watching your yard. Notice where the sun falls in the morning and late afternoon, where snow lingers in spring and where water collects after a storm. A sunny, well-drained bank calls for very different plants than a damp, shady corner beside the porch.

• Full sun: look at coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, little bluestem and butterfly weed.
• Part shade: try wild geranium, foamflower, ferns and serviceberry.
• Damp spots: consider blue flag iris, swamp milkweed and red osier dogwood.

Plant in layers

Natural landscapes are layered, and the most satisfying gardens are too. Combine a small tree or large shrub for structure, mid-height shrubs for privacy, flowering perennials for colour and low groundcovers to knit everything together. Layering shades out weeds, keeps soil cool and gives the yard interest in every season.

Shrink the lawn, keep a path

You do not need to remove all your grass. Many homeowners keep a simple panel of lawn for play and replace the rest with planting beds. A stone or gravel path through the planting invites you to walk the garden and makes maintenance easy.

Let the house and garden talk to each other

Choose plants and hardscape materials that echo your home. Fieldstone edging suits an older farmhouse, while a crisp steel edge and ornamental grasses complement a modern exterior. Repeating a colour from your front door or trim in the planting ties everything together.

Care in the first year

Even tough native plants need help getting established. Water deeply during dry spells in their first season, mulch lightly with shredded leaves or bark and leave seed heads standing through winter for birds. After that, most native beds need little more than a tidy-up each spring.

If you would like help planning a native front yard, paths or porch improvements, our exterior and garden team would be glad to walk your property with you.