Unless you’re always inviting guests through the back door, your front porch is the first thing they see when they arrive at your home. A beautiful porch also serves as a peaceful haven where you can sip your morning coffee, entertain your closest friends, and wave hello to your neighbors. Perhaps you’ll watch your grandchildren grow up from your favorite rocking chair. There are more than enough reasons to improve the aesthetic of your home’s facade, which is why we’re exploring 15 front porch landscaping ideas to create a welcoming entrance.
1. Hanging Baskets
If your porch has a roof or an overhang, you have extra space that you can take advantage of. Greet your guests with petunias, ferns, or trailing ivy in a stunning basket hanging right above their line of vision. You can even cover the ropes or wires with even more greenery for a uniform look. It’s a great way to make your porch appear taller as it draws the eye upward and it doesn’t take any floor space. For year-round beauty, rotate the plants seasonally.
2. Climbing Vines
Nothing softens a porch like climbing plants. It covers those empty spots and gives you the welcoming entrance you’re longing for. Install wooden trellises for the vines to trail on or cover the walls with a type of wire mesh, like hex mesh. It all depends on the look you want and the wall space that you want to cover. For a natural look, choose a simple green option like English ivy or Virginia creeper. If you want a colorful porch, go for something in the range of a clematis or morning glory.
3. Symmetrical Shrubs
Shrubs are classic and timeless. With a bit of work and care, they can make your porch look incredible. Unlike other plants, which can easily be mixed and matched, shrubs look better in pairs of the same shape and size. Plant matching shrubs on either sides of your steps or frame your entryway and windows with symmetrical shrubs in statement pots. Your greenery should be the main event, so don’t choose large pots for small shrubs.
4. Window Boxes
There aren’t many front porch landscaping ideas that add beauty to the insides of your house as well. Window boxes overflowing with bright flowers like geraniums and impatients look beautiful from the front of your house and they brighten up your interior. Window boxes work well on smaller porches because they don’t take up any floor space. They also complement large, open porches with natural lighting.
5. Lighting Accents
You’ll never beat natural lighting, but you can make your porch stand out with some well-placed lighting accents. It’ll highlight your front porch elegantly as the sun sets in the afternoons. Warm white lightbulbs in stylish casings, like wall sconces or lanterns, can figuratively set your front porch on fire. If you don’t have space for unique light features, you can drape some string lights around the railings for a whimsical touch. Solar lighting is an even better choice because it’s more economical and environmentally friendly.
6. Seasonal Wreaths
Of all the front porch landscaping ideas to create a welcoming entrance, seasonal wreaths require the least maintenance and creativity. They need nothing more than a small spot on your front door or a piece of open wall. They’re perfect if you were thinking minimal instead of rainforest, but they can also be incorporated with any of the other ideas. You can choose to hang a different artificial wreath for each season or make your own with real plants. You also don’t need to change out the entire wreath because different flower details are just as effective.
7. Ornamental Trees
There’s no need to plant a weeping willow or a coast redwood in your yard to grab the attention of passersby. An ornamental tree or two near your porch adds height and interest as well as seasonal wonder. With the right choice you can have flowers in spring, lush leaves in summer, and colorful foliage in fall. Flowering dogwoods, Japanese maples, and crape myrtles are all good choices. If you don’t want to overcrowd your garden or you don’t have enough space, you can always take up bonsai and showcase your miniature trees on the porch.
8. Rail Planters
Walls, roofs, windows, stairs. They can all be decorated with a plethora of plants. Another part of your porch that can do with some foliage is the railing. If you add planters with herbs and flowers to the mix, your railings won’t look naked and out of place between the rest of your front porch landscaping ideas. They don’t steal any floor space and they come in a variety of shapes and styles. Some planters can be mounted over the railings, while you can hang others over them with wire hooks.
9. Raised Flower Beds
Your porch steps can pull attention away from your beautiful landscaping if they look a little bare. This is especially true if they also don’t have railings. Fortunately, this problem can be solved with some raised flower beds or planters filled with the perennials and shrubs of your choice. You can even mix them for a lush look if you’d like. Your entrance will stand out and it’ll be much easier on your back to keep your garden intact if it’s raised from the ground.
10. Water Feature Accents
Water features bring life to your home’s facade. You don’t have to buy a massive fountain that looks like something from a hotel lobby. Small fountains or bubbling urns add charm and relaxing sounds to your porch. The best part about water feature accents is that you can play around with the style and layout. They can look majestic as a focal point or surrounded by plants. And if you add some lights to your water feature, it’ll make your nights on the porch just as lovely as your days.
11. Vertical Gardens
You don’t have to settle for a cold and naked porch if you don’t have room for big landscaping wonders. There are some front porch landscaping ideas that’ll work with any amount of space. Vertical gardens are versatile and they come in many forms. You can incorporate some vertical planters with your favorite herbs or succulents, or mount your garden to an open wall. This leaves enough room to move around and you don’t have to sacrifice on quality or aesthetic appeal.
12. Outdoor Heater Accents
Water features aren’t the only things that can bring life to your front porch. In fact, heater accents provide an even warmer feeling if that’s what you’re going for. If your porch is large enough, you can add a small outdoor heater, fire bowl, or even a tabletop fire feature. Surround them with plants (safely to avoid a fire accident) and you have a haven that can be used even in cooler seasons. For smaller porches, artificial fire accents can also make a big impact.
13. Pathway Arbors
You don’t have to stick to your porch and the garden that surrounds it to make a landscaping statement. If you add an arbor with crawling plants, your welcoming entrance extends to the start of your pathway. And you can add shade, shelter, and privacy to the list of benefits that come with a pathway arbor. You can also hang a pot or two from the top if it’s tall enough and incorporate some string lights into the design.
14. Bird-Friendly Features
If you’d like to bring nature to your front porch, the first step would be to attract the birds. Add a pretty birdbath, some hanging bird feeders, or a birdhouse and the birds will show up in no time. It’s one of those front porch landscaping ideas to create a welcoming entrance that comes with some bonus benefits. The birds will sing sweet songs in the mornings and help pollinate your garden to thank you.
15. Edible Landscaping
Food always creates a warm welcome and with edible landscaping, you’ll have an endless supply of welcoming snacks at your home’s entrance. You can plant some dwarf fruit trees in beautiful large pots or decorate your porch with small lines of herbs. Think apples, pears, and plums, or mint, rosemary, and thyme. You can also incorporate the climbing vines idea with both edible landscaping and vertical gardening by growing cucumbers or tomatoes on trellises. Not only will fruit and herbs look and taste great, but they also come with their own pleasant aromas.
Jamie is the founder of The Backyard Pros. When he was 15 years old he started working at a garden centre helping people buy plants, gardening products, and lawn care products. He has real estate experience and he is a home owner. Jamie loves backyard projects, refinishing furniture, and enjoys sharing his knowledge online.