Plant a front garden with multiseason plants for nonstop curb appeal
When Ryan McEnaney moved into his Minnesota home a few years ago, the narrow border where a foundation planting used to be was completely empty. As the marketing and communications manager for Bailey Nurseries, he didn’t want to live in a home with no garden, so he designed this unique planter box that’s raised bed, windowbox and foundation planting all in one.
Filled with annuals, perennials and shrubs, it provides bright flowers and foliage from spring to frost. Greenery, colorful stems and seasonal decor keep it looking great through winter. Neighbors and passersby are fascinated by the ever-changing scene — in fact they’ll often stop by with questions or compliments when Ryan is working in the front yard.
Let’s take a look at how he came up with this head-turning design and scroll to the bottom of the article to find the key plant list!
Before
With no plants in the spot where a foundation planting used to be, Ryan came up with a simple and creative plan to quickly brighten up the north-facing front yard.
Boost curb appeal with a custom planter
Ryan custom built this planter with pressure-treated dimensional lumber from the local home improvement store. The sidewalk angles toward the front door, leaving an irregular space between it and the house. So he planned accordingly, making the 24-foot-long planter 4 feet wide at the driveway and 2 feet wide close to the front door. This left space between the planter and the sidewalk for a few annuals and perennials to soften the wall of the planter. The open slats in the planter’s sides mean that the soil has a tendency to dry out. Expect to water it more than you would an in-ground planting. And always provide extra water for the first year to help plants get established.
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The front garden planting in summer
Design a multilevel planter box
The planter boxes vary in height from 1 to 3½ feet tall, which gives small starter plants added punch right away. To leave the windows unobstructed, Ryan grows compact shrubs, such as Summer Crush bigleaf hydrangea and Lucky Devil ninebark, and keeps others shorter than 4 feet tall with pruning. Eventually a few of the original shrubs grew too big, so Ryan moved them to the border in the backyard and replaced them.
Use color to boost curb appeal
Ryan wanted colors that would pop against the siding, especially during the shady parts of the day, and raspberry pink Summer Crush bigleaf hydrangea does just that. And the contrast between the chartreuse- and burgundy-leafed plants grabs attention even from the street.
Front garden planting in fall
Create an ever-changing planting
Foundation plantings need to look good all year, and this group doesn’t disappoint. In spring, fresh new foliage is accented by tulips (Tulipa hybrids) and daffodils (Narcissus spp. and hybrids) tucked near the front of the planter. Ryan adds new ones annually to ensure a colorful display. The foliage fills in and flowers really take off in summer. Low-growing China asters rebloom with deadheading, while Bloomstruck bigleaf hydrangea’s blue to purple blooms and Pop Star’s lacecap flowers last for weeks before aging to tan. Mums, coral bells and Eclipse bigleaf hydrangea provide a rich fall color palette that really turns heads. Once a hard frost kicks off the winter season, evergreen shrubs and dried hydrangea blooms take center stage and are supplemented with evergreen branches, birch logs and colorful dogwood stems.
Add shrubs as the backbone
Just like an in-ground foundation planting, shrubs are the backbone of this planter. Upright panicle hydrangea and bright yellow Tiger Eyes cutleaf staghorn sumac provide punctuation between repeated soft mounds of bigleaf hydrangea. Ryan positioned the taller sumac on the wall between the windows to fill the empty space with color.
Terrific trailing plants
Annuals are a great way to boost color and bridge the gaps between bloom times. Ryan used a lot of them early on to fill the space between smaller perennials and shrubs. As those plant have matured, there’s less room for annuals. But there’s always room for a few trailers. Just like in a windowbox, you can tuck them near the front so they flow over and soften the edge.
The first year, Ryan planted the vigorous sweet potato vines (Ipomoea batatas) in the summer bed — one plant can take up a lot of space and put on a big show. However, as the shrubs and perennials grew larger, smaller trailers, such as English ivy (Hedera helix) and licorice plant (Helichrysum petiolare), were easier to work into the design.
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Recreate the look of this front garden
Key plants in this front garden design
Check out the lettered photo above and find the corresponding plants in the list below to grow your own front yard garden packed with curb appeal.
A) Garden mum (Chrysanthemum hybrid)
Perennial; deep purple flowers from late summer to fall; full sun; 12 to 24 in. tall and wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9
B) 'Shenandoah' switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)
Perennial Wispy pink blooms mature to tan mid- to late summer; full sun; 3 to 4 ft. tall, 2 to 3 ft wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9
C) Pop Star ® bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)
Shrub; electric blue or bright pink (depending on soil pH) lacecap blooms from early summer to frost; full sun to part shade; 18 to 36 in. tall and wide; zones 4 to 9
D) 'Wood's Blue' aster (Symphyotrichum hybrid)
Tender perennial (usually grown as an annual); blue aster shaped flowers in late summer; full sun; 2 to 3 ft. tall, 1 to 2 ft. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 8 to 11
E) Lucky Devil® ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius )
Shrub; white spring flowers, gold foliage from spring to summer changes to orange in fall; full sun; 3 to 4 ft. tall and wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 7
F) Zinnia (Zinnia marylandica)
Annual; double white blooms from late spring to frost; full sun; 12 to 18 in. tall and wide
G) Coral bells (Heuchera hybrids)
Perennial; pink, red or white blooms in late spring or midsummer; full sun to part shade; 6 to 18 in. tall, 10 to 36 in. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9
H) Berry White® panicle hydrangea (H. paniculata)
Shrub; white aging to dark pink pyramidal shaped blooms in early summer to fall; full sun to part shade; 6 to 7 ft. tall, 4 to 5 ft. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 8
I) Tiger Eyes® cutleaf staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina)
Shrub; deeply cut chartreuse spring leaves mature to yellow with rosy-pink leaf stems, bright red fall foliage; full sun to part shade; 3 to 6 ft. tall and wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8
J) BloomStruck® bigleaf hydrangea (H. macrophylla)
Shrub; rose-pink or blue-purple flowers (depending on the soil pH) in late spring to fall, red purple stems and petioles; full sun to part shade; 3 to 4 ft. tall, 4 to 5 ft. wide; full sun to part shade; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9
K) Fireside® ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)
Shrub Pale pink spring flowers accent red-purple new growth that matures to deep purple by fall; full sun; 4 to 6 ft. tall and wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 7
L) Eclipse® bigleaf hydrangea (H. macrophylla)
Shrub; cranberry pink blooms from early summer to frost, deep purple leaves that hold their color all season; full sun to part shade; 3 to 5 ft. tall and wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9
M) Flowerful® smooth hydrangea (H. arborescens )
Shrub; white flowers from early summer to fall; full sun to part shade; 3 to 4 ft. tall, 4 to 5 ft. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 8
N) Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida)
Perennial; golden yellow daisy shaped blooms from late summer to fall; full sun to part shade; 24 to 36 in. tall, 12 to 24 in. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9
O) 'Purpurascens' flame grass (Miscanthus hybrid)
Perennial; silver-pink flowers mature to tan in fall; full sun; 3 to 9 ft. tall, 2 to 6 ft. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9
P) English ivy (Hedera helix)
Perennial; green and white variegated foliage from spring to frost; Full sun to part shade; 6 to 8 in. tall, spreading; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9
