Front Gardens are a treat for both the visitors and the passers-by. These are a little difficult to design as there needs to be a careful allotment of space for car parks. To resolve that dilemma and help you design an inspirational garden we have illustrated four styles. Pick up the one that suits you the most and start planning.
Example 1:
Here is a typical design for the front garden. A rectangular lawn edged with a flower border, and the hedge is mainly used for seasonal bedding. The prime focus of this design is in softening the harsh demarcation between the drive and the beautiful section. Plants play a pivotal role in this design and should be arranged in an informal setting.

Challenges:
Since the drive isn’t part of the garden, it leaves the plants segregated and makes them look all the smaller.
Since the soil at the base of the hedge is weak, it does not allow the bedding plants to thrive.

Solutions:

• Enlarged flower beds have been used. The plants that can thrive all the year round, irrespective of the season are incorporated in this garden.
• The drive has been accentuated with gravel and is extended informally to the front door.
• Gravels can be replaced with pavers. Even if the majority of the plants cascade over the edge, the widening sweep will still look soft and very attractive.

Example 2:
It is always advisable to remove tall and dominating trees along the drive. One should get rid of the overpowering elements like these and then start designing.

Challenges:

• Tall hedges though offer privacy, but here they are out of proportion, and will obstruct the natural light from reaching the other plants in the garden.
• A small rose bed in a rectangular garden is not advisable and makes the lawn look incongruous.
• The narrow hedges around the lawn will make it look all the smaller. Hence, avoid those too.

Solutions:

• Pave the driveway with bricks.
• To break the monotony of the bricks add a green central planting strip.
• Demarcate the tall, dark hedge with a white ranch fence Plant Alpines in the gravelled area beneath.
• Opt for climbing roses and let the aroma add life to your garden.
• Replace the seasonal bedding plants with small shrubs such as herbs and lavenders along with the low growing perennials.
• Replace the large conifer in the corner with a small deciduous tree, a crabapple and plant the spring flowering buds in the area below it.
• The circular area in the center is enlarged and is filled with gravels and decorated with colourful containers.
• The narrow bed of grass has been eliminated, and the bricks and blocks form a crisp edge.

Example 3:
This is an apt example of a flat garden. The concrete drive, the small narrow flower bed and a single flowering cherry tree leave no stone unturned to make the garden an unattractive space. A simple approach can modify this garden into a stunning space. As the redesigned garden shows, the cottage garden style made using various plants and peripherals makes for a good looking garden area.
Challenges:

• Since the cherry tree looks good only for a few weeks, it can be removed from here.
• Unclothed wooden fences make the garden look all the more drab.
• Small flower beds like these lack impact and are too small due to which shrubs or herbaceous perennials cannot be used.

Solutions:

• After eliminating the lawn and the tree various dwarf shrubs, herbaceous perennials, hardy annuals and bulbs can be used.
• Stepping stones have been incorporated for easy access to the garden

Walls have replaced the fences
Example 4:
The garden is created using various shapes that differ in sizes but lacks a sense of style. In the redesigned garden the shape of space has been retained, lines have been simplified, and appropriate plants have been used.

Challenges:

• Rock Gardens look good on a flat site because it is only on a flat site that the position of the rocks will look convincing.
• The tree in the center, when grows, will dominate the garden.
• Small beds are colourful only during summers.
• The curve does not complement the straight line.

Solutions:

• The rock garden had been paved so that the cultivated area is not separated by the drive.
• Gravel, when replaced with the lawn, offers a good foil for the plants.
• Dwarf and medium-sized conifers create height and cover. The foliage of various shapes and colours makes the garden look very attractive.
• Placement of stepping stones creates a sense of mystery in the backyard and invites the visitor to explore more.
• A water feature can be added for more appeal.
• The narrow curving strip has been turned into a stream of circulating water flowing over a cascade leading to the pond.

(Article and Image Source - Practical Gardening by Peter McHoy)